A personal rundown of Mortal Kombat & Injustice veterans' kostume redesigns (MK/Injustice series spoilers)

[Scrappy-Fan92]

SUPER EDIT: Have a poll now that this thread is basically complete: https://strawpoll.com/polls/1Mnwvr1zKy7

EDIT: I forgot to mention, credit goes to L Thammy for providing me advice on thread construction and setting the tone for a good OP.

So here it is. My only first thread. I wasn't expecting it to be this of all things. There have been many discussions about Mortal Kombat online. Talk about the Fatalities, the employee suffering caused by researching for the Fatalities, the lore, the animations, and the years and years of rumors and secrets. The designs of the various kombatants have also been a subject of frequent discussion, occasionally colored by when someone came on board with the franchise. And yet, I feel like it's something we kind of take for granted; the franchise has always featured a colorful assortment of fighters whose designers haven't been afraid to visually retool -- sometimes drastically -- to line up with story developments or just for kicks. And now I will take up the self-inflicted task of providing my personal thoughts on the various journeys the veterans of the Mortal Kombat franchise have gone on in the kostumes department.

I am not an artist and I am not a fashion designer by trade, I'm just a dude who played Deadly Alliance way too young and seemingly got attached to the people of this Power Rangers by way of death metal album world and the fantasy kitchen sink threads they've donned over the years.

We start with the franchise's first sequel.

Mortal Kombat II released less than seven months after the original game proved to be a smash success. As such, the ambition of this game increased rather drastically. More kharacters, more finishing moves, more violence. "Mortal Kombat, but with a bigger budget" seems to have been the meta aesthetic to the game's actual aesthetic. Moving beyond the Enter the Dragon send-up of the inaugural entry, MKII opted to take a more dark fantasy direction, and its newcomer designs (most prominently Baraka) reflect this...but we're not talking about the new guys. We're talking about the old guys, who finally got to have some color added to their designs thanks to this Outworld sorcery technique called "money."

Since there are only really two games to compare for this post, that makes my job formatting easy. Images on the left are from Mortal Kombat; images on the right are from Mortal Kombat II.

This could take a while, so here's some music to set the mood:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkRR7yNemB4

Liu Kang...

Mortal Kombat II's sprites were much brighter than those of its predecessor, and from what I know they were also bigger in general. Midway's team of programmers and artists made the most of the arcade hardware and kharacter design took a more detailed approach. OG Bruce Lee clone Liu Kang certainly benefitted from this new aesthetic splash. Moving away from his simple martial arts pants and shoes, he instead adopted a slightly more bombastic look that would set the tone for all of his subsequent designs. The black and red are just wonderful contrasts and are neat to see on a then-incorruptible video game protagonist as opposed to being strictly reserved for villains, and the headband improves his silhouette ever so slightly. His metal arm bracelets also give his top half a bit more...well, just a bit more. And sometimes that's all you need.

Raiden...

The God of Thunder probably had one of the more striking silhouettes among the playable fighters in the first outing and it's been largely maintained for the sequel. Just as Liu Kang would come to be associated with a recurring support color from the second game onwards, Raiden would take one as well, in this case, blue. I've seen someone refer to the blue overtunic(?) as a bib at the old place and I don't entirely disagree. I welcome the flair added to many of the veterans, though in this case, the splash of color looks a little odd at times. I like Raiden wearing blue and love several of his designs that feature the overtunic with even more extravagant designs, folds, and the like. In this case, however, I think it's the boxiness of the tunic that makes it look like a plain apron. Defenders of the Realm and the arcade games' promotional art admittedly make the design look better, but I think I actually prefer Raiden's less ostentatious white robes from the first game. Amusingly, Raiden's sprite in the second game seems to have widened his hat to obscure his eyes. You'd think they'd want players to see Raiden's eyes more when his depiction transitioned to that of a more benevolent deity in the lore.

Johnny Cage...

Much like Liu Kang, this is an example of a kharacter taking steps away from their real-world inspiration and gradually taking more of a life of their own. In Johnny's case, his inspiration was a Bloodsport-era Jean-Claude Van Damme, but MKII opted to ditch the MMA shorts and red sash for exercise pants and white shoes with splashes of blue to serve as a contrast. This would effectively be the template for all of Johnny's default designs up through the reboot, and while I think later games would provide better takes on the design, I like the 1993 version as well. I do like that similarly to Kitana's attire they chose a darker shade of blue to set him apart from Sub-Zero.

...Still no sunglasses in the default sprite yet, though.

Scorpion...

Yay, I get to be redundant with these guys. The palette swaps probably got the least overt changes between games and were touched up in more subtle ways, probably because they had strong silhouettes and upfront colors to begin with. Scorpion (and by extension Sub-Zero and Reptile) got the expected budget increase glow-up, meaning the quilted pattern on their tunics was more easily noticeable. Some additional padding to their leg areas and new belts, pretty under-the-radar differences. Honestly, the best thing they got as far as I'm concerned is the new masks. They're my favorite of the arcade-era ninja masks, maybe it's because I just love the venting on them, maybe it's because they're the closest thing we got to the awesome movie ninja masks. Overall, the trio just received small but welcome adjustments to their already iconic designs.

Sub-Zero(s)...

Yeah, I guess we have to deal with this early. You all know the drill, there was Bi-Han in the first game, Kuai Liang in the sequels, and Bi-Han was eventually revealed to have become Noob Saibot. So we're just going to compare all of them right now. Maybe I'll split them up for MK3 and MK9.

Yeah, Bi-Han got his glow-up like Scorpion did and decided to hide it by dumping a bucket of printer ink all over himself. I've got nothing else to say.

Reptile...

The original secret fighter finally got promoted to a playable role and celebrated with an idle animation he could actually call his own. And his green tunic became a few shades lighter, which fits with his whole acid-spitting gimmick. That's about all I can say other than that this is the first game where we actually see glimpses of Reptile truly being a reptile underneath the mask. But that's a larger discussion for another time.

Shang Tsung...

And finally, we have the original final boss of the series, now "demoted" to a playable fighter. Keeping in line with the sequel's story as seen in its opening, Shang Tsung has seen his youth restored by his superior Shao Kahn so that he can take a more active role in thwarting the forces of Earthrealm. Alas, I miss the evil kung fu wizard look he sported in the first game. His new kostume is certainly more conducive for maneuverability for the actor and the spriters, but the robes provided a stronger silhouette and I personally preferred the color scheme. Now, Shang Tsung is basically in his corrupted former Mortal Kombat Champion state. He looks like could've been the protagonist of another series or Mortal Kombat in an alternate timeline, which is an interesting conceit I'll admit. The suspenders are also interesting, and I admit I don't know if they have some real-world inspiration relating to Shang Tsung's Chinese background or if that was just Tobias and co. getting creative.

---

Overall, we have a quite solid set of redesigns for the first sequel. "The first game but with a budget" is surprisingly an effective means by which to retool kharacters' kostumes (no, I will not stop putting "k" in these words). Truthfully, just the wholehearted embrace of color is something that I appreciate. No reason the ninjas have to have all the fun. Liu Kang, Raiden, and Johnny all got what would effectively become their iconic looks just with a bit of tweaking upon their original designs. It should be noted that in my pursuit of deliberately focusing on the veterans, I'm missing the whole of these games' aesthetics. For example, a good portion of the dark fantasy vibe of Mortal Kombat II's aesthetic is notably because of the more eccentric fighters like Shao Kahn, Baraka, and to a slightly lesser extent Mileena. With any luck, I'll actually update this thread and talk about how they changed or didn't change in Mortal Kombat 3 and its updates.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

And we're back.

After the dark fantasy outing of Mortal Kombat II, Midway took a bit longer for the next entry. Mortal Kombat 3 released in April 1995, and was notable for introducing a slew of new kharacters (as well as initially omitting many old ones) and taking the story into a more urban fantasy direction. Outworld's forces would invade Earthrealm directly, meaning Raiden's champions would have to take to the streets to defend their home. Keeping in line with this more "grounded" story and definitely not because Daniel Pesina got dismissed, MK3 would pivot away from the original recolors the series had become famous for and alter its Lin Kuei warriors accordingly (mostly via roboticization). Hope you like WWF, because we're about to enter the wacky pants era.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6a7Ku87tRc&pp=ygUjbWszIGNoYXJhY3RlciBzZWxlY3QgdGhlbWUgZXh0ZW5kZWQ%3D

Liu Kang...

I told you the MKII design set the stage for his subsequent looks. Liu Kang's largely entered the third game with the same kostume as he had before with perhaps one key difference: the black bindings around his legs. Those too would be consistent parts of the overall look from here on out.

Sonya...

Remember how I mentioned ad nauseam that the first sequel basically took the original game's designs and supercharged them with additional details and colors? That's more or less how I feel about Sonya's new duds here. Taking the basic MMA fighter/aerobics instructor garb of the first game and adding some detailed patterning and another support color. I'm digging the gloves, too. You skipped a game, Sonya, but it seems Midway made it up to you with a snazzy new look.

Sub-Zero (Kuai Liang)...

Now I can separate the two Cryomancer brothers because they each have their own unique designs. For the younger Sub-Zero, story decisions led to him abandoning the Lin Kuei lifestyle over objections to their internal corruption (and that whole thing about them forcibly converting their ranks into soulless cyborgs). For the first time ever, Kuai Liang is truly his own man. This is probably the most controversial of the redesigns featured in this game, but you know what, I like it. Could've done without the blue crotch patch, but the suit's unique and would provide the foundation for some similar suspender-centric kostumes down the line. It's only just occurred to me how much metal plating there is on this design compared to the previous one, which is funny given what Kuai Liang's trying to run away from...

Kano...

Black and red and evil all over, it's Kano alright. He already looked like a no-nonsense mercenary in the first game, but MK3 Kano? He looks like he's ready to kill you and his outfit is just bragging about how he's going to do it. Look at those knife holders. I didn't even know he had them until today. I love this redesign, and I love that MK9 basically reused it. Pre-Trevor Goddard Kano went out in style.

Shang Tsung...

His kostume in MK3 is kind of just an inversion of the MKII one. Black pants with a yellow sash and straps jutting outward are succeeded by yellow pants with a black sash and straps closer to the neck. Underoos aside, I think I prefer this new design. For me, I'm not even sure it's a less-is-more situation so much as a same-but-somehow-better one. Also, honorable mention to the facial markings. Are they there to mask the identity of the new actor? Possibly. But they look cool on their own merits and it's a little weird they never really showed up again.

Jax...

At last, Major Briggs gets his most famous attribute. For the purposes of this thread, the metal arms will be counted as clothing and I say they look awesome here. They give him something he can really call his own. Putting that aside, I just prefer the pants he has in MK3 as well. For him, two colors work better than the specific three he had in MKII, and this shade of purple is something no one really had at the time, so it adds further uniqueness to him. Amusingly enough, I think the belt and boots are the same between both designs. All in all, Jax got a glow-up.

Kung Lao...

The other Shaolin monk finally gets his due. Admittedly, I prefer the color scheme of his first kostume and it seems the devs agreed given how the former's palette served as the basis of many of his other designs for the next 16 years. With that said, his garb in MKII hits a similar snag as Raiden's. The outfit's fabric just looks a bit flimsy to me. CMM1215 on the NintendoEra Discord server offhandedly referred to it as a trash bag, and now I can't unsee it. The MK3 design, while trading away the snazzy blue undersuit just flows a bit better. I like the patterning on one of his suspenders, the shinier gauntlets, and the loincloth, and even the way his hat is tipped here looks cooler in his idle stance. He almost looks evil here, but Kung Lao's just a douche at worst in canon and largely a boy scout at this point in the series, so I'll take Tony Marquez at his word when he cited the Man with No Name as the inspiration for the kharacter's look.

Smoke...

And so begins the long road of the other heroic Lin Kuei getting screwed over in canon. Not the design itself, though, it's awesome. I love the klassic cyborgs. Discount Predators in BMX gear is the specific kind of stupidity I didn't know I needed in this series. And the klassic designs are probably the only time the cyber "ninja" actually looked the part (note: I'm just saying that because the metal loincloths are here. I feel they contribute a fair deal in making the robots look less naked). Not sure why his armor is more of a purplish blue as opposed to gray, but I dig it.

Noob Saibot...

Noob returned as a secret opponent in vanilla MK3. Unfortunately for him, there was no traditional ninja template for him to copy off of, so the devs just darkened Kano's sprites. Why they didn't just use the unmasked Sub-Zero as a base I don't know.

Shao Kahn...

Unlike everyone else in vanilla and Ultimate MK3, Shao Kahn retained his sprite from the prior sequel, though with some new attacks added. Shao Kahn needs no elaborate description. He's human Bowser if he opted to wear red armor and become a stripper warlord, and as such he's the perfect foil to Shang Tsung's appearance in the original game. On the right of his sprite is concept art from MK Trilogy which opted to depict Shao Kahn with a cape for the first time. I think it completes the look and this too will be something carried over into subsequent titles.

That about covers every returning fighter in the original version of MK3. Now let's talk about the army of recolors.

Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3

Scorpion...

Heck yes. This is what I consider to be the definitive Scorpion design. The sprites to some extent don't do him justice. The skull lining (or very skull-esque shadows) on his mask in concept art is awesome and MK4 would thankfully make it more apparent in-game. I miss the hockey masks and cross-stitched tunics of the MKII ninjas, but they were replaced by something slightly more unique and thankfully still aesthetically pleasing in its own right.

Sub-Zero (Bi-Han)...

Seems Bi-Han got to retain the sky blue while his baby brother opted for a shade closer to Kitana's blue. Pretty much everything I said about Scorpion applies to him as well.

Reptile...

His tunic's taken a more pastel shade of green now. If I may digress, I think this is the best idle he ever had in the 2D arcade games. It's just snakelike swagger. Now before I move on, I want you all to take a good long look at Reptile right here, because this is the last game to fully commit to the disguised human in green gimmick. He'll get to more unique (and greener, much greener) pastures eventually, and for the most part I'm alright with that.

Kitana...

It's hard to modify what's effectively a one-piece swimsuit, but I think Midway pulled it off. The heavier use of black on the female ninjas' outfits works well without completely overtaking the primary colors, and I like the new boots. If I have any real complaint about the new outfit, it's that the MKII kostume looks more comfortable to wear.

Jade...

Second verse, same as the first. Jade would honestly take more long-term inspiration from her UMK3 attire than Mileena or even Kitana ever would which is certainly interesting.

Mileena...

After the second, is the third verse I reckon. I suppose now would be as good a time as any to point out MK3's more muted color palette. I'm personally fonder of MKII's brighter colors which helped make the outfits pop. Mileena's kostume and its coloration still pop, mind you, I just prefer the brighter shade of purple. If When I get to MK4 and beyond, I'll finally be able to go more in-depth on the other Edenian women's outfits once they stop stealing from Kitana's wardrobe.

Smoke...Smoke? Again?

UMK3 offered a secret input to change Cyber Smoke back into his human counterpart, which means we get Gray Scorpion again. Oddly enough, I think I prefer human Smoke in his MKII attire. I don't even know why, I just like the shade of gray he's rocking with the hockey mask and kneepads.

Ermac...

Ermac started off as a color-display error from the original game due to Midway's use of digitally altered red suits for the ninja motion capture, which apparently became a schoolyard rumor that was eventually brought to life. Most assumed he became an official kharacter with UMK3's arcade release, but I've apparently learned otherwise. According to this decade-old Tweet from series co-creator John Tobias, Ermac made his first appearance in the MKII collector's edition tie-in comic that was apparently published in 1993 or 1994. He's seen pictured in the comic alongside Kuai Liang, Smoke, and the Shaolin monks as their ally which contradicts his (original) canonical role as an amalgamation of souls serving under Shao Kahn. For his comic appearance, he wears the comic's rendition of the MKII ninja uniform.

Noob Saibot...again...

Finally, he can be a normal recolor again. I'm noticing the ninjas this time around seem to share idle stances more. More importantly, we can actually make out some features on Noob this time around which roughly coincides with when he started having actual story relevance and thus graduated from a mere shadow to a shadow with an agenda.

And finally, we can move on to the rest. With the exception of one kharacter, none of the following received new battle sprites.

Mortal Kombat Trilogy

Raiden...

He's back with the apron (and his original design is accessible via input, a feature that also applies to Kano, Jax, and Kung Lao). On the right is his versus screen sprite, which actually has Raiden portrayed by Sal Divita instead of Carlos Pesina.

Johnny Cage...

Let me be upfront. The Trilogy design is not red by default, the P2 version is just the only sprite I could find. Color change aside, it's not all that different aside from the black shoes and more elaborate gloves. Frankly, I'm just happy he wears his shades by default for the first time.

Goro...and Kintaro...

Yeah, I'm putting these two next to each other. They've got no MK3 art and no versus screens I could use because they're veteran sub-bosses who were added into MK3 in its last major revision. So for fun, I'll compare the two Shokan to each other. Goro is iconic for a reason and Kintaro very much fills the same Claymation monster niche in MKII. And because he's from MKII, Kintaro animates better and has more detail. Alas, our tiger-themed friend's appearances would be quite sparse after Trilogy, and Goro's designs would largely stay the same for the remainder of the 90s and 2000s, so I won't get to talk much about either of these guys for a while.

Baraka...

And we end this section with the first overtly monstrous playable kharacter in the series (Goro's playable stint in the first title's Game Boy version notwithstanding). Baraka's cool. He's a jobber in a Halloween mask, but he's cool. He always had a surprisingly basic design for a high-ranking general of the villain faction's main grunts. Given we learn the Tarkatans are a nomadic warrior tribe who had the misfortune to fall under Shao Kahn's dominion, I think it works. Likely coincidental, but it is funny that Richard Divizio wound up playing two different villains with contrasting color schemes in MK Trilogy. On an unrelated note, the metal loincloth was always an interesting choice to me. Not bad, just interesting. I am a little surprised that in-game and in MKII's concept art, his eyes just look like empty black voids. It's interesting that Midway changed that come the next game.

---

And such are the designs of Mortal Kombat 3 and its revisions. Like I said, Mortal Kombat II did a lot of the heavy lifting in sprucing up kharacters, but honestly, I like just about every redesign in this game. Even ones people might be iffy on like Kuai Liang and Cyber Smoke are at least interesting in concept and demonstrate unique implications for "the lore" (arguably the first time a sequel in this series attempted to do so through kostume design for the veterans). And even so, they're mitigated by "klassic" versions being provided in UMK3.

Now unfortunately for this game's batch of newcomers, I won't be able to talk about them as a collective for the next mainline game as I was for MKII's newcomers here due to the simple fact that MK4 never built itself up to becoming a Dream Match via asset reuse. Though I'm getting ahead of myself, 'cause I'm going to take a brief detour to the franchise's first spin-off -- and the only one definitively in continuity with the fighting games -- Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero. Stay tuned.

EDIT: I realize I missed someone else featured in multiple games.

Dan Forden...

I gotta say, the decision to improve Dan's color palette with a purple shirt was a stroke of genius. He sticks out far more when he pops up in battles now and it's a nice way to tie into his story arc where he fakes his allegiance to Rain. One of MK3's best redesigns.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

Alright, we close out Midway's digitized actor era with the experimental side-game/prequel Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero. As this game boasted FMV cutscenes with live actors, I've used their un-digitized likenesses for comparison shots whenever in-game sprites weren't available.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5WdsAeprhI

Raiden...

Despite Mythologies being a prequel to the original Mortal Kombat (while also setting up some plot points for the almost concurrently released Mortal Kombat 4), Raiden's design in this game is pretty much a modified version of his MKII attire. Though I'd say this kostume handles the blue tunic better, basically by segmenting the "apron." I'm also noticing stuff like the black shoulder pads and kneepads, design elements that would carry over into MK4. Overall, it's a nice take. And as a silly trivia bonus, while vanilla MK3's intro was the first time Raiden was depicted with a staff in-game, Mythologies is the first title to actually feature Raiden with his staff and have him move around with it.

Scorpion...

Mythologies' sprites have a somewhat claylike look to them, no? I do wonder if the digitization process was significantly different for the first Mortal Kombat game made specifically for home consoles. Regardless, Scorpion looks fine here. He and Bi-Han are basically just wearing modified versions of their original game outfits, which makes sense given this is a prequel. It should be noted that Scorpion's (first) in-game sprite differs heavily from his appearance in cutscenes after he becomes a spectre:

Here, he's just wearing his UMK3 kostume with a hard vented mask akin to MKII's. It works.

Sub-Zero...

The elder Sub-Zero gets his turn in the spotlight in the only game that has him playable but not Scorpion as well. He's opted for a darker shade of blue this time around, and his kostume (much like Scorpion's) looks like a mix of MK1 and MKII's ninja Lin Kuei designs. I'm digging the color-coded padding on the gloves as well, which UMK3's ninja designs may have inspired.

Shang Tsung...

Shang made an appearance in the "good" ending of this game to give Bi-Han his mission to attend the upcoming Mortal Kombat tournament. As such, he's reverted to his old-man sorcerer design. It's nice to see him in a game wearing the old robes without being a floating brick for a change.

Quan Chi...

And we end this section with a comparison for the series' most famous canon immigrant. Quan Chi was a one-shot villain from the 1996 animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm and was integrated into the games' lore a year later. DOTR took a few liberties with kharacter designs from time to time, but it seems Midway didn't really feel the need to do the reverse with Qualm Cheeky here. He's got more belts(?) around and below the waist, his gloves' fabric centers around his middle fingers now, and his blue robes took a more aqua tint in the transition to the games (game Quan Chi is also sporting a black turtleneck), but most of his design silhouette is maintained for the jump to the games. If anything, the most notable changes are the more pronounced spikes and collar. That's admittedly one area I think the cartoon's design handled better. The game's tweaks are largely fine, but do look a bit cumbersome for his movement.

---

I enjoyed this write-up being relatively short. I will return with a look at the franchise's first full foray into 3D graphics and how Midway visually adapted its kharacters into the extra dimension.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

And now we arrive at Mortal Kombat 4. A game of extremities; the first to feature fully polygonal visuals, and the last to see an arcade release. The first mainline game to integrate kharacters from spin-offs and non-game media, and the last mainline game to have involvement from John Tobias. Ed Boon's mission statement for this entry seemed to be taking the franchise back to its darker and more vaguely Eastern roots. Gone are the rent-a-cops, the Indigenous American shamans, and (initially) the cyborgs. Out with Kuai Liang's suspenders, in with Bi-Han's hand-me-downs, mask included. I have no idea if this attempted "darkening" had any serious influence on how kharacter design was dictated. With that said, it does seem that something influenced some of the receding of the...let's call them eccentricities of MK3's kostumes. This game released in the same month as Mythologies: Sub-Zero and the two games' narratives are linked by the presence of several kharacters.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRJ5UU-MHQA

Liu Kang...

The funny thing about this design is that it's arguably one of the more daring kostumes for the simple fact that Liu Kang gets to wear a shirt for the first and last time in the original continuity. It's MK3 Liu Kang with a red tank top and more black around his waist. It's the most lateral design shift I can think of in this game and yet this is one of my favorite -- if not my all-time favorite -- Liu Kang designs. I won't lie, it's probably just because I'm reminded of Robin Shou's get-up from the film and Jason from Power Rangers. They could've just taken the left design, put it into 3D as is, and called it a day which they did with an alt and we're not discussing those extensively or we'd be here all night, but they gave us a little extra and I appreciate that.

Raiden...

I considered excluding his Mythologies design and opting to simply compare the fighting game designs, but for a myriad of petty reasons, I will keep it for the comparison. Frankly, it just works as a bridge to denote the evolution between MKII and MK4. The latter definitely borrowed a lot from Raiden's appearance in its sister game, though the designers opted to conjoin the blue tunic below the waist somewhat similarly to his 2D arcade appearances. I do sort of prefer how Mythologies Raiden's shoulder pads rest in the picture above, but his 3D counterpart is a fine retooling in its own right and arguably the first time the white and blue were able to coexist in a mainline game without the latter overpowering the former.

Sonya...

Amusingly, she might be the only kharacter who actually lost her bright colors in the transition to 3D. If I were to describe Sonya's design in MK4, I would say it's streamlined. Less flashy color contrast, a more reserved palette, and even her aerobics headband has been replaced with a cap, presumably issued by the newly formed Outer World Investigation Agency. The most ornate parts of this new design are the futuristic belt and the bullet holder wrapped around her leg. Sonya was always a no-nonsense military woman, but this design is probably the closest she ever came to looking the part in the 90s. A solid retool, and they at least kept some green on her even if it's darkened to the point where I thought it was black.

Johnny Cage...

Welcome back to the land of the launch roster, Mr. Cage. Unlike most everyone else here, he only had about one year between his two most recent playable appearances. As such, it seems Midway didn't do much to change his outfit, beyond stripping the black from his gauntlets and adding white stripes to his pants (which now look less loose than before). He also seems like he got new shoes.

Scorpion...

He's gone back to his UMK3 look and not a single soul complained. Even better, they touched it up with some unique details like a skull belt and that skull lining on the mask I mentioned earlier. I don't fault Midway for keeping the look, it's awesome. And since the other two ninjas from MK1 would begin to diverge more starting with this game, the UMK3 look is basically unique by process of elimination. Victory by technicality is the best kind of victory.

Sub-Zero...

Say it with me now: hand-me-down. I guess Midway decided Kuai Liang flew a bit too close to the sun in creating his own look after leaving the Lin Kuei, so they had him adopt a more traditional look for his next appearance. In-universe, Kuai Liang is wearing his late brother's uniform due to realizing that Bi-Han's mission during the events of Mythologies could provide some answers to the issues at hand with a recently unleashed Shinnok wreaking havoc on the realms. It's a fine design, though not really something Kuai Liang can call his own (they did thankfully retain his scar on the kharacter model just so you can tell it's the younger Sub-Zero). In light of the small touches done to Scorpion's outfit, I wish they had added some new details to Kuai Liang's. Shout-out to one of his alternate skins which allows Kuai Liang to go maskless and attain a happy compromise of sorts.

Reptile...

Here we go. By far the most drastic of the redesigns featured in this game and with the possible exception of one other, probably my least favorite in the game period. Let me be clear: I think lizard Reptile on paper is better than recolor Reptile. I just don't think Midway did the best job making the transition this time around. Series lore states that Reptile (effectively an endling of the Zaterran race) suffering prolonged separation from other members of his species causes him to "devolve" into a more overtly reptilian appearance. Whether that devolution extends to the scales seen here or just the more bestial appearance he would later take in Deadly Alliance, I don't know, but later games covering the events of the original games would make his non-human nature more apparent from the beginning.

...I'm not really talking about the kostume right now. I'm not a big fan of it. I like the silver boots, don't like the silver diaper. The black and purple are interesting color choices (and possibly for the best, given his UMK3-inspired alt kostume had perhaps a bit too much green in conjunction with his already green scales), but I really think what ruins this design is the mask. I'd rather Reptile just go "naked" from the neck up than try and utterly fail at hiding his new look. And this is apropos of nothing, but he looks like a Goomba from the 1993 Mario movie to me. Sorry, MK4, I think this one is a miss.

Jax...

And now for something more positive. A lot of the stuff I said about Sonya could also apply to Jax. Just a more streamlined design, and while missing some iconic flair, I think it reads better on an aesthetic level. Jax's pants retain the two-tone style of MK3 with the less overly segmented look of MKII and I think it works. I also just really like how Jax's arms look in this render. Sleek without being overdesigned.

Fujin...

Fujin was one of several bosses Bi-Han fought in Mythologies, and he's returned in MK4 to assist Raiden's forces in opposing Shinnok. The God of Wind has mostly retained his primary design quirks in the jump to 3D, with one tragic exception. He lost his headband His flowing red cape was effectively taken away from his in-game and cutscene models in MK4 and that's a shame. It lends so much to the silhouette and provides a nice complement to the black and blue. Alas, Fujin would never wear a full cape in any of his default kostumes in his handful of later appearances.

Quan Chi...

Frankly, he looks about the same. The chestpiece on the MK4 render just looks less loose because it's not a prop on an actor anymore.

Shinnok...

I've got the Tobias art in this comparison because I feel the static sprite I was able to find doesn't quite do justice to Shinnok's original design on its own. Dark Sith Lord-esque deity of evil, it's immaculate. For his playable debut, Shinnok ditched the long robes but kept the color scheme. Honestly, I don't hate it. I just don't like it as much as the Mythologies design. Now that's a final boss design. The MK4 get-up does make more sense for a more active Shinnok no longer encumbered by the shackles of the Netherrealm and who's also more willing to get his hands dirty. It's an odd mix of armor and cloth, and perhaps doesn't have the straightforward oomph of Shao Kahn's barbarian shogun regalia, but it works for Shinnok, gaudy warmongering deity that he is. But that Mythologies design tho-

Goro...

It's Goro. He's got bracelets for his arms now and is notably missing the knot from his sash from his 2D appearances (which is a shame), but he hasn't changed much otherwise.

Noob Saibot...

Digging the blue eyes in the render. Overall, it's Noob. Since he's a secret kharacter with no endings added to the home ports after newcomer Reiko took his place, he's not really had any significant design shifts. He's taken design cues from Kuai Liang, who's taken design cues from Bi-Han which is a retroactively amusing coincidence if there ever was one. I'd argue the more interesting parts of Noob's presence in MK4 are his two alternate kostumes which do unmask him (despite him being a faceless shroud at this point in time) and give us some indication that there is a being with his own personality underneath the black suit.

That's all for the playable kharacters featured in vanilla MK4 and its initial ports, but Kitana (who narrowly missed the cut and was replaced with newcomer and fellow Edenian Tanya) was featured in Liu Kang's ending, from which a screenshot is posted below:

It's obscured by the fact that she's communicating via astral projection, but she seems to be wearing what looks like a black leotard with boots and a choker. If the outfit is actually black, then I do wonder if the 1995 film played a part in influencing the design, but that's never been confirmed. Though I suppose it's a moot point, considering what happened when Mortal Kombat 4 was ported to the Dreamcast in 1999...

Mortal Kombat Gold

Kitana...

When Kitana properly returned to the roster two years after MK4's arcade launch alongside five other veterans, most of them just retained their designs from the previous mainline game. Kitana's effectively back to her UMK3 look sans mask. Now I don't know why she's maskless, perhaps it was so she could have a more emotional heart-to-heart with Liu Kang in the aforementioned ending and the devs just decided to keep consistency for her playable appearance here. Or maybe it was to show a newly ruling Kitana of a newly liberated Edenia taking on a more personable appearance and trying to put her past as an assassin in Shao Kahn's employ behind her. It's a minor change, but I do like it. Various cutscenes also mean players can make out the corset design Midway was likely going for all along. She and her sister are still suffering from massive wedgies, though.

Mileena...

At last, the veteran female ninjas begin to gain their own identities. Mileena, now with likely Baraka-inspired white eyes, has opted to go for new boots and a different leotard sans corset. She's also kept her mask for obvious reasons and began sporting the ponytail that would become her trademark throughout the 2000s. It is funny to think of how relatively cautious Midway was in differentiating the former palette swaps for the first 3D game. It's like all of the weirdness was channeled into Reptile and everyone else got minor variations akin to the Sailor Soldiers.

Kung Lao...

More armored footwear aside, Kung Lao's been largely unchanged. I have no problem with this.

Baraka...

Much like Reptile, I appreciate the attempts at trying something new. Also like Reptile, I kind of dig the weird armored boots Baraka's sporting. The visible stitches (showing where Kung Lao bisected him with his hat) are a nice touch as well. It's everything else that falls a bit flat for me. The metal diaper strikes again and what I'm going to presume is a support collar to keep his torso in one piece does look a bit odd on its own. I'd love to hear from the art team about the design elements for Baraka in MK Gold. If nothing else, it'd give me a greater appreciation for why kharacters get changed the way they do.

Cyrax...

One of only two returning newcomers from MK3, Cyrax has been largely unchanged for his jump to 3D. If anything, the jump meant he no longer had to be constrained by the limitations of formerly being a man bravely pulling off fight choreography in an uncomfortable prop suit. His BMX suit pieces now look like actual (fictional) metal. The Cyber Lin Kuei look quite nice.

Sektor...

Sektor, much like Noob Saibot, was a hidden kharacter when MK Gold hit shelves, so I suppose he wasn't given much priority for a new design to differentiate himself from Cyrax. I suppose it works and got some justification in the lore. The Cyber Lin Kuei are mass-produced killing machines with little individuality beyond color and the remnants of the Lin Kuei have fallen on hard times at this point in the series, which would mean they'd have little interest in exterior customization for exterior customization's sake. Not when they were so desperate they had to literally dig out a malfunctioning Cyrax from the desert just so they wouldn't be understaffed.

---

And there you have it. All in all, I would say MK4 did well with kharacter redesigns. Far less drastic reinterpretations than you would expect for the first 3D entry. These are very much Tobias' designs that could go toe to toe with the rest of his output, even if MK4 itself is sort of treated like a black sheep among the fandom. If anything, the redesigns are perhaps a little too safe at points and Midway could've maybe strove to give MK4 a bit more of its own visual identity as it was starting a new story. Nonetheless, I appreciate the general simplicity and generally brighter colors which are especially helpful when trying to read these kharacters without the aid of higher-quality promotional renders. The efforts to begin the diversification process for the old palette swaps en masse are also appreciated. These would be the last "klassic" takes for a lot of Mortal Kombat's regulars before the mainline series took a bit of a hiatus as the new millennium approached. But Midway would have one last game from this interregnum between the original trilogy and the later Dragon King trilogy, one that would somewhat forcibly close the book on the first era of Mortal Kombat's art direction.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

And now we approach the designs of the infamous Mortal Kombat: Special Forces. This spin-off of dubious canonicity served as a prequel of sorts focusing on series regular Jax as he, Sonya, and the Black Dragon criminal syndicate fought to attain the powers of an ancient mystical artifact. Please ignore that Jax is already sporting his prosthetics despite this game ostensibly taking place before Mortal Kombat 3. The development of this title was tumultuous and resulted in a culling of content, allegedly including Sonya as a playable kharacter and an explanation as to why Jax was already breaking out the artificial sleeves. The development woes of Special Forces would be exacerbated (if not caused outright) by the departure of several veteran Midway developers before the game's release, including series co-creator and primary kharacter designer John Tobias.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUIlUzTZsEc

Sonya...

I have never played Special Forces. I do know that Sonya was supposed to have a far bigger role in it than she wound up getting, which in the final project apparently consisted of not even showing up. There are pre-release screenshots of her in-game though, and as evidenced above she had concept art done for her new design. It looks like a merger of her MK1 and MK3 kostumes, with platform boots? Certainly an inspired choice. Almost as inspired as the green thong wedged up her yoga pants. Tobias' designs, even for the relatively normal humans, were very much in the vein of a superhero comic, which meant everyone wore their undies on the outside. They were obviously trying to harken back to Sonya's pants from the original game, though I think that one pulled it off better. Regardless, it's a solid enough send-off for Sonya's aerobics days.

Kano...

The 1995 live-action film would have a fair deal of influence on the games, some instances more overt than others. One of the more obvious cases of the movie's pull was Kano being modeled on the late Trevor Goddard's likeness after his well-received performance (Kano's Japanese-American heritage would also be retconned away in favor of an Australian background). Even with the beard and full head of hair, he's still recognizably Kano. The metal-plated eye and bandolier are retained and this game's version would even keep the MK3 incarnation's affinity for black. This design is certainly more grounded and missing the deliciously evil flair of his MK3 counterpart, but it works.

Jax...

And now we meet the star of the show himself. Art for this man is a little inconsistent (just look at the cover above with the red bandana). His in-game appearance is closer to that of the picture in the middle (though the pants are a darker shade of green in the game proper). It's a more overtly military Jax, but that's mostly just because of the camo pants. To the right is his concept art, which shows a lot more of the traditional Tobias style. I do like that his and Sonya's pants and boots were meant to match (and Jax seems to be displaying the bulkier frame that he'd be rocking in Deadly Alliance) though I do think the more restrained design in the middle wound up working better for the final game.

Jarek...

I admittedly forgot that doing the games by release order meant I would get to talk about him earlier than I expected. There isn't much to say about Jarek's design. It's rough criminal gear that's thankfully brightened up by those lovely green pants. His in-game design between MK4 and Special Forces (middle picture, Jarek on the far right) didn't really change much if at all, but his mugshot from Special Forces' intro (rightmost picture) does imply that he was supposed to have a few more tweaks for his second appearance, including a necklace and earrings. But those never show up in the game proper as far as I know, so we're just left with a relatively humble kostume for Kano's one-time replacement. It is funny that Jarek's design here would be loosely reinterpreted for his boss' kostume in Deadly Alliance, bringing things full circle I suppose.

---

And that's it. These are the final redesigns of the Tobias era of Mortal Kombat. There will always be a part of me that ponders over what could've been for the series' first foray into games made exclusively for the sixth-generation systems, though I guess Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus can provide me one possible answer. When we return, we'll be going over Mortal Kombat making its first notable effort to retool itself with a new story direction and a new visual identity...which means this is as good a time as any to make a request of you all. I am a bigger apologist for the franchise's PS2 run than most people, but even I know Midway's rendering and kharacter models could leave a lot to be desired at times. I will try to stay on topic to the best of my abilities because this thread is about discussing outfits, not faces unless it's Reptile's face and I ask everyone else do the same to avoid derails.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

Welcome, readers, to the next installment of my rundown of Mortal Kombat veteran redesigns. This is the part where I would go into some extended diatribe about how John Tobias' departure would inevitably lead to a shift in design sensibilities for the series' next mainline game (and it did) while trying to weave some coherent narrative about how and what the individual new designers did to make the series their own. Unfortunately, specific correlation on which Midway artists did which designs for these years is a bit spotty. I've seen the likes of Steve Beran, Herman Sanchez, Luis Mangubat, and various others generally credited for the art for Deadly Alliance and its two immediate sequels, but I don't know much beyond that. Steve Beran is credited as the one who did the concept sketches for kharacters in this game, so there's that at least. Nonetheless, this is the fifth mainline game and the start of a new story arc. To quote Raiden, Liu Kang is dead. And that's not even the weirdest thing in this sequel. Take a listen to the awesome kharacter select theme and get comfortable.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flQEnC6pjPE

Raiden...

With the first MK game built from the ground up for sixth-gen consoles (and the first entirely new mainline game to forgo the arcades), there was an opportunity to take advantage of the power of the PS2, Xbox, and GameCube and demonstrate it through the kharacters' far more detailed garb. Look at Raiden. He's moved beyond his humble days of simple robes and dresses himself in something far more ornate; even his hat has ornamental plating. Still, he's recognizably Raiden. They even kept the general silhouette of his overtunic (which has more of a sea green color now), just with more detailed fabric and gold trim. I really do like the gold trim running throughout the kostume. The cape is also a great addition, it really helps sell the look of a proud deity (one who at this point in the lore recently renounced his status as Elder God). Also of note is his hood/cowl, loosened so that for the first time in a game we can actually see Raiden's hair poking out (and in a possible nod to the movies and Mortal Kombat: Conquest, it's pure white). Raiden's design has always looked pretty baggy since MKII, but Deadly Alliance's rendition makes it look even baggier. You can almost feel the layers just by looking at the render. Amusingly, I'd say the design element I like the least here is the knotted belt. As far as prime examples of Deadly Alliance's style goes, Raiden is a pretty good initial indicator for how many of the other veterans would be interpreted, though I'd say he got one of the best overhauls out of the bunch.

Sonya...

I told you all the aerobics era was ending. With this game, Sonya begins her transition from comic book MMA fighter to sexy Halloween military lady, which means consecutive designs that attempt to convey a serious military warrior but can't help themselves from throwing in needless elements. If Deadly Alliance's redesigns are generally remembered for excess of armor and plating, then Sonya's redesigns from this era should be remembered for Midway's obsession with putting her in a thong. It's the one real gripe (outside of the weird boobsock thing her shirt's doing in the render) I have with this kostume, which gives her a jacket and some gloves that I like. It's also just unfortunate that she doesn't really have a bright color to call her own anymore. It was shared with Reptile and later Jade, but green was Sonya's thing. It helped her stand out in the lineup and now it's either gone outright or darkened to the point where I can't even call it green. One of the few redesigns I'm split almost down the middle on.

Johnny Cage...

I don't know if this was intentional, but a few designs in this game do feel oddly nostalgic (by the standards of 2002) despite the attempts at revamping everyone's looks. Take Johnny for instance. His MKII color scheme is maintained, but he's looking a little closer to MK1 with the shorter pants (with the name "Cage" on the side of one of the legs, a nice touch) and bindings around the ankles and wrists. He's even got a sash of sorts again. Of course, he's also got a slew of new bells and whistles: arm bracelets, additional blue wrapping, and that honking lion door knocker champion belt. This kitschy Hollywood Muay Thai look would probably suck if it wasn't Johnny Cage wearing it. Since it's Johnny Cage, I'm willing to go easy on it, but I would maybe remove the door knocker belt or some of the additional wrapping. One or the other. It's a serviceable redesign, albeit one that could've maybe used some streamlining.

Scorpion...

Osu 16 Bit mused that Scorpion and Sub-Zero are always recognizable despite being as susceptible to visual retools as anyone else in this series. She's right. Even underneath all of the armor, you can still pick Scorpion out from a crowd. This time around, he's opted to go for a harder material for his tunic, contrasted with a new skull belt and matching skull thigh guards. Even his boots have gotten edgier, being adorned with spiked ankle bracelets above his tabi sandals (I didn't even know he had those until today). Interestingly, the new armor initiative doesn't seem to have extended to his mask, which appears to be made of a simple fabric with no fancy patterning. An interesting choice if there ever was one. As I alluded to earlier in the thread, Deadly Alliance was my first real exposure to Mortal Kombat, so this was my introduction to Scorpion. The design is edgy 2000s aesthetic to a tee and probably one of the only real examples of this game's default ninjas opting for a more steel-plated look (Cyrax being the obvious other example), the former of which was to be expected for Scorpion. The latter less so, especially for what was basically the kharacter's first wholly unique design in the series. While I think later games would execute the armored yellow ninja motif better, this is a fine first attempt.

Sub-Zero...

They're back! I do wonder how fans felt being suddenly greeted with the return of Kuai Liang's suspenders. Excuse me, Grandmaster Kuai Liang's suspenders. The real-life time gap between entries four and five was accompanied by an in-universe time gap where relative peace reigned. Sub-Zero has reformed the Lin Kuei into a force for good and I guess he decided to pull rank by presiding over them in a modified version of the outfit he wore while he was specifically trying to get away from them. Honestly, I think this is a great design. The ice arms (first featured in Sub-Zero's alternate skins from MK4) are a nice touch and contrast with the black forearm bindings. Midway even fixed my biggest problem with the kostume's counterpart from MK3 (the crotch patch) by just adding a loincloth to the pants, and the whole thing just looks better now that they don't have to worry about it being a constructed kostume made with a limited prop budget. I would've personally added more blue squares to the straps like its predecessor outfit boasted, but this is a prime example of how to retool a divisive look.

Reptile...

Speaking of divisive looks, let's talk about Reptile. I'll be upfront: I think this -- both as a kostume and as a general rendition of the lizard form -- is better than his look in MK4. I'm generally of the opinion that if Reptile has to be visibly non-human, then you may as well commit to it. Based on concept sketches I've seen over the years, Reptile's new look here (explained in-universe as further devolution due to isolation from his kin) was based off of a proposed kharacter named Tiamat who also boasted a more bestial lizardlike appearance than the other Zaterrans we'd seen up to this point. Reptile's always had interesting lore about him, and this design does at least provide foreshadowing for his role in Deception. As for the kostume itself, I actually like it a lot. Midway wisely decided to treat green as an accent color since Reptile's scales already provide a lot of green on their own, and opted to complement it with black and gold on the ninja uniform. Honestly, I'd argue Reptile's a little too well-dressed for someone losing the last vestiges of his sanity and spending half of his story in this game wandering about the Outworld wastelands. His alt kostume (which does resemble Tiamat's proposed design) probably fits the depraved wasteland warrior Midway wanted to convey, but the default kostume is just a good look, lizard or no lizard.

Kano...

Kano's transformation into Trevor Goddard reaches the mainline series, and I'd say he got one of the better redesigns among the returning veterans. The traffic light bandolier is sadly gone here (though featured in an alt kostume harkening back to MK1 Kano) and replaced with an open vest and a hairy chest. It's so hairy, and the graphics are so 2002. And that's not a shark-tooth necklace he's wearing by the way. That's a lock of Sonya's hair he ripped away while being kicked off a roof during the events of MK3. Thankfully, his MK3 color scheme is maintained via the red lining on the inside of the vest. It's a simple but effective look for a simple but effective crook like Kano.

Shang Tsung...

We get to talk about one half of the titular Deadly Alliance now. After his absence in MK4, the soul-sucking sorcerer is back with a vengeance and a wild mane of hair. He's basically MK3 Shang if he had the fashion sense of his older counterpart and I'm perfectly fine with that. Much like Raiden, the kostume looks a little cumbersome to move around in due to all the layers involved (including a hoodie on the back of the robes and some tassels in the front that are strangely absent in the CG intro). The red, orange, brown, and gold color scheme works quite well even if I usually associated Shang Tsung with darker colors, and I dig the patterning on his boots. All around, it's a welcome return to his evil wizard days with a contemporary twist.

Kitana...

I'd say that this is a surprisingly conservative redesign, but that's possibly because this was originally meant as an alternate kostume for a comparatively more out-there look. This is in notable contrast to Sub-Zero and Kung Lao, who kept their more untraditional looks as their defaults for this game. For whatever reason, the devs swapped the kostumes around and this one is what we got on the kharacter select screen. It's a nice mix of the MKII and UMK3 outfits, and in a reversal of what happened with Sonya and Sareena (and would later be demonstrated with Jade and Mileena) is ironically enough probably less risqué than what she wore previously. The almost grayer shade of blue works well, and I like the two-tone look of her new boots and mask. Shout-out to the extremely long braid she's got going on. One of the strongest designs of the 2002-08 run in my humble opinion.

Jax...

Hmm. This is an odd one for me. When I first saw Jax as a child, I thought he was the coolest guy on the roster. I also thought he was wearing sunglasses and not goggles. Yes, those are goggles he's wearing. They're presumably protective eyewear for the heavy-duty firearm he wields now, but it's a choice that definitely made me tilt my head when I first noticed. I actually do like most of this design: the bandolier, the green and red contrast between the pants and beret, the kneepads. The goggles just look a bit odd. Really, my biggest issue is with the arms. It's been several years since MK4 so I'd expect Jax to upgrade them for future threats and they are probably closer to how bionic sleeves would look in the real world circa 2002, but they come off as a little overdesigned due to all the segmenting of the metal plating. You guys remember that RoboSapien toy that got popular in the 2000s? That's what the arms remind me of. Truth be told, I think they look better in-game (they almost come off as more white than their actual silver in the render above).

Kung Lao...

Now this is an interesting one. Much like Kitana, it seems Kung Lao also got his intended default kostume swapped around during the prerelease period. Unlike Kitana, his new default is in deliberate contrast to his established look. Honestly, I kind of think it works better for where Kung Lao was at this point in the series. As revealed in Mortal Kombat Gold, he had faked his death and retired to a quiet life to refocus himself on Shaolin teachings before all that nonsense with Shinnok and Goro got his attention. Now, he's presumably had time to resume a civilian's life for several more years until Liu Kang's death calls him back into action, so this more grounded outfit works. I imagine this is probably closer to what actual Shaolin monks would wear in real life, with some possible video game liberties taken. The gold trim around the uniform and boots complements the red sash and greenish-gray hàn fú(?) well. His hair has grown out in the interim as well, which is probably why he doesn't wear his hat (which is stored on his back for when he needs to toss it). One of the more drastic redesigns, but more so because of how restrained it is rather than for any notable excess of accessories. It serves its purpose for what Kung Lao was doing at this point in the series and I respect it for that, even if his alternate/intended default would be the one to influence his designs for the next decade.

Cyrax...

His legs look like the scream canisters from Monsters, Inc. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I can talk about Cyrax properly. Most of the "ninja" influence has been stripped away, but he's no longer a Lin Kuei at this point, having thrown in his lot with Special Forces after they restored his memories as a human. As such, he's traded in his loincloth for metal tights. That in conjunction with the new chestplate does inadvertently give him a bikini look, but he just narrowly pulls it off. I do find it interesting that his presumed upgrades courtesy of the OWIA left him with more exposed machinery than before. His new gauntlet panels could and in canon do get damaged pretty easily, to say nothing of the tubing around his leg joints. His MK3 and Gold designs, by virtue of being an actual man in a suit and a 3D translation of said man in a suit respectively, ironically conveyed a more human-looking Cyrax than the game where he's already regained his human memories. I don't think that's a strike against Deadly Alliance's rendition, just a funny observation. Anyways, Midway seems to have left his helmet unchanged from Tobias' designs, which I think was the right decision. This would be the last new design of Cyrax to keep the original head shape and his last new primary design from the Midway years.

Quan Chi...

This is a case where Midway opted to operate under the assumption that less is more. I'd say it worked out quite well and gave them a chance to really make Quan Chi come into his own. He's abandoned his necromancer robes for a pair of pants and some gloves, though they did thankfully honor his old color scheme with the teal fabric adorning his pants. Going shirtless means he also gets to display all of the new tattoos he's gained in the interim. I also like that they repurposed his spikes by integrating them somewhat more subtly into the new bandolier. Keeping in line with the events of Mythologies and MK4, he's also got Shinnok's amulet proudly on display. Really, that amulet shows up more than Shinnok himself. Much like how Liu Kang, Raiden, and Johnny's MKII attire would serve as the general templates for the majority of their future looks, this is for all intents and purposes the Quan Chi design, being utilized 1:1 or modified lightly for his appearances in Deception, Shaolin Monks, Armageddon, MKvsDCU, and MK9.

Blaze...

You see that orange guy in the background of the picture on the left? That's Blaze, formerly Torch, a minor kharacter seen on the Pit II stage in MKII and MK Trilogy. Deadly Alliance would be the last game to feature standalone secret playable kharacters that were completely hidden away on the select screen, and it seems the devs wanted to revisit an earlier kharacter for one of their special secret fighters. Now Blaze has been repurposed from a fiery Liu Kang sprite into a pure fire Elemental, which means he's the Human Torch in black undies and chains. He's somewhat reminiscent of the Fire God from Mythologies, except committing more heavily to the whole flaming naked golem look. One could argue it's generic, but I don't mind. It looks very flashy in-game as well when his skin's lighting changes with the flames around him.

That concludes our section on the playable kharacters featured in the console versions. Now a look at some of the NPKs featured in Deadly Alliance:

Liu Kang...

Yep, it's Liu Kang from MK3 in 3D. Not much to say other than noting that he's missing his arm bracelets.

Shao Kahn...

Shao Kahn('s doppelganger) seen on the right is basically just the MKII design brought into 3D for his brief appearance in the opening cutscene of Deadly Alliance. The skull emblem on the chestpiece is notably missing and the spikes on the shoulder pads appear to be more numerous, but it's Shao Kahn through and through.

...And here's a concept sketch to show what Shao Kahn (center of the image) could've looked like if he had a bigger role, courtesy of the MK Warehouse:

This also isn't too much of a departure from what he normally wears, other than the missing center straps, and the new helmet which looks to be modeled after the skull of some Outworld beast. Or a ram.

Kai...

Oh, Kai. One of the few newcomers added to MK4 that wasn't inherited from Mythologies or a last-minute replacement of another kharacter. You were so close to making it into Deadly Alliance, but alas. On the right is a concept sketch for his planned appearance in Deadly Alliance, which opted for what looks to be more of a Sherpa swordsman look. Fitting, given his Nepalese background (EDIT: It has come to my attention that Kai may not be Nepalese, background info that I randomly took from another site that has been removed since the last time I checked said site). I'm of two minds on the stripes being applied to his face. They look nice and striking in the art, but would probably have looked like a total mess on a kharacter model. If Kai ever resurfaces, I wouldn't mind this design serving as an inspiration for a new kostume.

Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance was released on the three active major home consoles of the sixth generation, with a "port" seeing release on the Game Boy Advance within a week's time. The GBA version carried over roughly half of the fighters seen in the console release, and would receive a sister game of sorts in 2003 titled Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition. Tournament Edition would retain Scorpion, Shang Tsung, and Quan Chi and feature most of the kharacters not available in the earlier GBA game. It also featured a handful of exclusive kharacters.

Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition

Noob Saibot...

He's Scorpion but with the color black in this game, keeping the palette swap tradition going on just a little longer. I do like that they retained the blue eyes from MK4.

Sektor...

The Ketchup to Cyrax's Mustard also took advantage of asset reuse and adopted Cyrax's new design for his own. What I said about Cyrax largely applies to him as well.

Sareena...

One of Bi-Han's allies from Mythologies makes her playable debut here, after being passed over for a spot in Deadly Alliance's console roster (which is presumably why she gets the fancy renders and wholly unique model compared to her recolored TE brethren). Much like Sonya, she's been given a more fanservicey makeover -- not that her original design was particularly modest to begin with, but it still had to accommodate a real actress doing the stunts -- swapping out her corset for a bikini top. The red on her original outfit has also been swapped out for maroon accents, including on her studded gloves. I prefer the Mythologies design, but I like the patterning and details of the Tournament Edition design more and wouldn't have minded a composite.

---

...And that is about all I have to say about the redesigns for Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance and Tournament Edition. Goro shows up in Noob's ending in TE, but he looks about the same. There were some growing pains in the transition to a different art team, but I'd say they did well enough for the first new Mortal Kombat game since the departure of so many Midway developers, with the caveat that many of the things that would dog the series' visual identity in its later years effectively started in earnest here.

Next time, we'll look at the sixth mainline game's visual overhauls, including those for many kharacters who hadn't had a major role in years. But for now, I need to rest.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

SentosEdge Good catch on Quan Chi's origins.

We're back to talk about the second game of the Dragon King trilogy, and the first one to actually feature the Dragon King (Onaga, as seen above in the two cover images). Mortal Kombat: Deception released in the Fall of 2004 and continued its predecessor's work of reinterpreting the old guard in the 3D space while taking the old palette swaps further away from their recolor origins. This game is notable for its somewhat unusual playable roster. Gone are the usual standbys like Sonya, Johnny, Kung Lao, and (initially) Jax and Kitana. In their place are eight new kharacters and a slew of returning ones who hadn't seen the light of day in years. Let's see how they fared.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1H3PLzg0Cw

Liu Kang...

This is certainly an unusual turn of events. I've long held that Mortal Kombat is like a comic book, and there's nothing more comic booky than characters going through random changes that are as much plot-driven as they are a nifty excuse for the artists to stretch their talents. And that is how we wind up with zombie Liu Kang, a reanimated version of our series protagonist. Dark Raiden (we'll get to that soon) opts to bypass the Elder Gods and violate the laws of nature by resurrecting his chosen champion himself, and as such he comes back wrong. Everyone's favorite Bruce Lee clone is now sporting a grayish pallor and some wicked chains...and surprisingly not much else is different. It's MK3 Liu Kang with messier hair. Makes sense, he's effectively lumbering about in the same clothes he died in (which does raise the question of whether he was actually entombed in the same get-up as when Shang Tsung snapped his neck). It is interesting that Midway didn't feel much impetus to significantly change his outfit while the company's artists were going to town with everyone else's looks. A testament to the strength of his earlier redesigns, or subtle hints that the MK team was losing interest in its old poster boy? That's for you to decide.

And here's his alternate kostume for comparison's sake:

It's MK3 Liu Kang with messier hair...and no rotting flesh.

(Dark) Raiden...

I told you we'd get to this soon. After the arrival of Onaga and the combined attacks of Raiden, Shang Tsung, and Quan Chi failing, the God of Thunder (initially seen in Deception as represented by the middle picture above) concentrated his remaining energies into one desperate attack that destroyed him and Shang Tsung. Raiden reforms himself in Earthrealm shortly thereafter, but his resurrection process was tainted by Onaga's presence, awakening a resentment for the very mortals he was supposed to protect and thus creating Dark Raiden. This is Raiden but as a ruthless enforcer, and his more hardline stance is reflected in his more militarized appearance. I like Dark Raiden as a visual concept if nothing else, the black attire serves as a nice contrast to his usual white. Something I didn't notice until recently was just how similar the Dark Raiden outfit is to his Deadly Alliance outfit; The outer fabric even retains the quilted pattern and gold trim. The tattered cape and red eyes are obvious visual shorthand for an evil counterpart, but they work. This won't be the last time we see Dark Raiden, which means we get to compare two versions of the kharacter from here on out.

Scorpion...

It took twelve years, but our former Earthrealm ninja/spectre/champion of the Elder Gods finally got sleeves. Okay, they're armored shoulder pads, but they kind of look like sleeves. Scorpion's basically taken his more armored appearance from Deadly Alliance and ran with it, adding the aforementioned shoulder pads, a bulkier chestpiece, and two extraneous belts into the mix to make the MK equivalent of Samurai Shodown's Hanzo Hattori. His yellow also looks more gold this time around; overall, he's almost got a fitting design for a hellspawn knight in the service of the Elder Gods. As over-the-top as it looks to some people, I dig this design. The black and gold complement each other well and I like the new mask with the silver cross-stitching.

Sub-Zero...

This is good. No, this is cool. After burying his not-quite-dead disciple Frost, Kuai Liang discovers the location of his Cryomancer ancestors' ancient armor and dons it before Kenshi calls him to do battle with the reawakened Onaga. What is there to say about the Sub-Shredder kostume? You either love it or you hate it, and I love it. I love the belt ornament and shoulder pads, the helmet, the gratuitous fur lining around the collar. It's a fancy-schmancy suit of armor and it owns it. I'd almost argue it's not armored enough, because the tunic leaves Sub-Zero's sides completely exposed. But I can't hate this design. It conveys an ice "ninja" going to war and I adore it for that.

Jade...

After nearly a decade's absence, Kitana's comrade-in-arms returns, and begins her journey of stepping out of Kitana's wardrobe. I'm not really sure what this new design is specifically supposed to convey in-universe. It's not particularly armored like Scorpion or Sub-Zero's new kostumes. It's not specifically evoking older designs like Kitana's Deadly Alliance default did. It's just what we can only presume is casual Edenian fashion. Not that the lady ninjas' kostumes were ever particularly believable as professional assassins' wear, but this looks more like the garb you'd expect of a palace dancer than a trained bodyguard of the princess. And yet I'm not really fussed about it? It's literally just a bikini and a loincloth, but I don't see it as an eyesore like Sonya's designs from this era can be. Maybe it's just the green, black, and gold working together rather deftly (the headband and braids are a nice addition as well). Maybe I'm just impressed with the relative restraint shown when I know they can go, have gone, and will be going much further in sexualizing outfits in this series. I like it. Don't know if anyone other than Jade can pull off the sultry MMO advertisement woman look, but it's something she can claim for her own I suppose.

Mileena...

Talking about Jade and Mileena back to back feels like a cosmic joke I played on myself. If Jade's new design showed some relative restraint, then Mileena's opted to embrace the subtly of a brick to the groin. It's technically more fabric than Jade's kostume, and yet it looks like a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen. It really does look like a recolored version of the MK Gold kostume with sleeves added and the sash taken away. I do think the idea to go with black as the main color this time around was an inspired choice; the large sleeves and breechcloth -- yes, that's a word I just learned -- certainly help in giving the design a better silhouette as well. While I appreciate the torso strap for providing an answer as to how her outfit doesn't completely come apart, it does kind of add more visual noise to the design, which feels like it has too much and not enough going on at the same time. Really, I think this design is saved by the somehow see-through veil, completing the whole Arabian Nights-esque assassin look with fang patterning at the top. This kostume would arguably become Mileena's most famous one, influencing later designs in Shaolin Monks, MK9, and MKX. It's certainly when the devs really went whole-hog on the "beautiful body, monstrous mouth" thing that was already present in her earlier designs. I've got my caveats with this design, but I like some of the ideas it was going for.

Baraka...

Looking at Baraka here, he actually looks like a composite of his MKII and MK Gold designs. Metallic loincloth and "vest" from the former, red pants and metallic boots from the latter. It works. In fact, this might actually be my favorite Baraka design. He's graduated to a metallic chestpiece with straps that appear to be made from bone. It's an interesting juxtaposition that works for a high-ranking fantasy nomad like Baraka.

Noob-Smoke...

Yeah, two for the price of one. In Deception, Noob Saibot finds the deactivated Cyber Smoke in Shao Kahn's dungeons and rewires him to serve as his partner, which means they're a package deal. Keeping in line with the other palette swaps, they've been given entirely unique designs for the first time ever, and I'd say they're both pretty solid if a bit unusual. More so for Noob, who's looking a bit more human than one would expect. His flesh is still kind of gray here, I'm just used to it being jet black. The kostume itself is nice, the silver ornaments meshing well with the black suit, though I'd argue his alternate kostume which harkens back to klassic Noob makes it look even better. As for Smoke, he's abandoned his BMX gear but still kept shades of blue on his exterior armor, which is nice. His body itself is a bit lankier than the other cyborgs which I find a bit odd. It's like Midway wanted to convey years of imprisonment and emaciation on a robot who probably doesn't need to eat. Unlike Cyrax and Sektor now, his "locs" plug into the back of his body, which is interesting if nothing else. His head's general shape (now with actual glowing eyes!) is otherwise fairly reminiscent of the MK3 Cyber Lin Kuei, though with more liberties taken for its design than was the case for Cyrax and Sektor's. Pairing the two less colorful Lin Kuei members does serve to demonstrate how well their darker colors complement each other. Good designs all around, though I would've personally swapped Noob's default and alternate around.

Nightwolf...

After several games' absence, Nightwolf returns. His general design ethos hasn't seen much change, the red/blue/black color scheme is maintained and the general Native American warrior trappings are kept (I'm kind of iffy on the facial markings, to be frank). It's mostly a bunch of minor but welcome adjustments for him. Better pants and his vest going from black to a brighter red. The blue and black lining on said vest is also a nice addition. Nightwolf is always hard for me to judge properly. There are design elements here that I like even if many are very stereotypical. Though of all the pre-Matoka retcon default Nightwolf designs, this is probably the one I find to be the most aesthetically interesting I suppose.

Kabal...

It's interesting to see the devs revisit ideas when hardware allows them to. Back during the production period for MK3, Midway's art team made sketches of the on-again, off-again Black Dragon member with a longcoat and an electronic backpack (possibly to work in conjunction with his respirator), two design elements that were discarded due to the limitations of the sprites. Now, Kabal gets to don them freely, wearing a coat that also reminds me of his Red Dragon rival -- and one-time owner of his hookswords -- Mavado. Updated silhouette aside, this is largely Kabal, outback bounty hunter Darth Vader clone that he is. The green/black/brown color scheme is maintained to great effect and his boots and kneepads have been updated with metal plating. If anything, my only real gripe with this design is that the mask looks weirder than usual now. His alternate kostume I think provides a better translation of the original mask in 3D.

Sindel...

The Queen of Edenia returns, this time fighting for the side of good. Her design has largely kept its general outline of a black and purple one-piece with long boots, with some gold lining and opera gloves thrown into the mix. It's like an armored version of one of Kitana's designs. The most notable thing about this Sindel is her hair being shorter and less like Elvira's. This outfit's basically a logical facelift of her original design while also serving as a dry run for her MK9 look, though I'd say Deception did the modernization better.

Ermac...

The honorary ascended rumor of the franchise finally gets a unique design that he can call his own by moving away from the red Scorpion look to a mummy-sorcerer motif that would kast the die for many of his subsequent looks. It's a striking retool and one that I think paid off. The black wrappings around his head give him a distinct appearance while still honoring his roots as a palette swap, and his red and black wizard's robes evoke a similar silhouette to his UMK3 appearance while also serving as a complement to his new BFF Kenshi's attire. The metallic finish on his boots with the green gems ornamenting them is also great. This design just works and helped one of the numerous ninjas in the series find their voice.

Tanya...

And now we get to talk about Kitana's one-time replacement from MK4. Tanya is the daughter of an Edenian ambassador and decided that instead of following in her daddy's footsteps she would throw her lot in with Shinnok, making herself an enemy to Kitana and Jade for life as a result. After missing Deadly Alliance, she's back and with a few tweaks as well. She's supplemented her leotard (still rocking the neat black patterning) with corset strings and a sarong around the waist, along with new gloves and boots with slightly different patterning. She's also gotten the same white demon eyes that Mileena had in her last game appearance. It's a lateral design change, but one that gives her a bit more of a unique voice.

Kenshi...

Probably the most popular of Deadly Alliance's newcomers, Kenshi here has gotten a makeover. He's ditched his old bodysuit for a sleeveless leathered look (though it seems he's still wearing his sash underneath the vest), with his black boots replaced with red ones to make up for the loss of red up top. The padded gloves are cool I must admit, though I do think something was lost in abandoning the relative simplicity of his original kostume (crotch patch aside, I will never escape that design trope). It's not a bad redesign, though, and I think the leather look of it would fit rather well with the kharacters of Mortal Kombat 11 and its fabric rendering style.

Li Mei...

Yeah, I'm not entirely sure what happened here. During the events of Deadly Alliance, plucky Outworld resident Li Mei was captured by Shang Tsung's forces to have her soul extracted and placed in the mummified bodies of one of the Dragon King's soldiers. Bo' Rai Cho intervened and was able to save Li Mei's soul, though the process left her a bit corrupted afterward. It also made her want to dress like a pirate swimsuit model for some reason. I don't think Li Mei's original design was the greatest thing ever, but it felt a bit less generic (even if the use of four shades of purple was maybe pushing it). I like the texture of her new design's "armor" and the retaining of the sash, but this doesn't really say anything about her. The alt kostume (which is a full suit of purple and silver armor) probably would've worked better to convey her darker personality.

Bo' Rai Cho...

Despite the events of Deadly Alliance and Deception taking place effectively back-to-back, Bo' Rai Cho's beard has grown out immensely. Honestly, I prefer it bushier. As for the outfit itself, the designers opted to give him fur lining across his coat and emphasize burgundy over his original green. It's fine, though I'd argue his original drunken master design did more with less by virtue of being less busy. The golden chestpiece and new pants are good, though.

EDIT:

Onaga...

I only realized less than a day ago that Onaga did in fact make an appearance of sorts in Deadly Alliance as seen in the center-right of a still from Raiden's ending on the left, so now I'm adding him to this post. Though you can barely make out much of it due to the nature of him appearing as one of those patented not-quite-hallucinatory horizon apparitions, his design definitely went through some overhauling in the interim. The horns on the head definitely became more prominent, and I can definitely make out the shoulder pads more easily.

Several months after Deception's initial launch, a port on the GameCube was released, featuring two additional kharacters:

Goro...

It's Goro, with his original sash restored and some new gold bracelets.

Shao Kahn...

For the first time ever, Shao Kahn finally gets to wear his cape in-game, and it. Is. Glorious. He's also got some armored hip guards to create a sort of skirt as well as a new loincloth and some open-toed boots. A good update to his original design. Also, don't let the render fool you, his armor's still red in-game.

And here's what he looked like in Konquest Mode:

It's OG Shao Kahn in 3D.

EDIT: Speaking of Konquest cameos, let's talk about...

Meat...

Meat was among several veteran kombatants who made non-playable appearances in Deception's Konquest Mode. I'm only noting him here and not the rest because he actually got some notable design changes in the jump to the Dragon King trilogy. His bloodied skeleton body now looks darker, kind of like dry-rubbed steak as macabre as that is to say. Also, for the first and final time, he has no eyes whatsoever. For the purposes of this thread, let's just pretend body parts are accessories.

And I'd be remiss to not mention Kitana as seen in various kharacter endings. She was originally planned for the console versions before being swapped out for Jade.

Her intended design was basically repurposed for Mileena's default, and I'd say that Mileena wears it better.

And that's it for the console versions of Deception. Roughly two years after its initial release (and shortly after the release of its sequel Mortal Kombat: Armageddon), a port on the PlayStation Portable would see release and feature four additional kharacters, imported straight from Deadly Alliance while trying to weave narrative ties between Deception and Armageddon through their arcade endings.

Mortal Kombat: Unchained

Kitana...

Since she missed the boat on the console releases, that means she also missed the boat on getting a new kharacter model and outfit. She's kept her Deadly Alliance design, and I have no problems with that. It is worth noting that much like in Deadly Alliance, her ending in Unchained puts her in her purple alternate outfit.

Jax...

He's exactly the same.

Frost...

Spoiler: Content Warning: Blood and violence ahead

She also kept her DA design, but I never got to talk about it before now. It's reminiscent of Sub-Zero's outfit from MKII but with a more leathery padding and a sash around the right leg. It's simple but effective and it's about what I'd expect a female member of the Lin Kuei to wear circa MKII.

Blaze...

And finally, we have Blaze. Still on fire, still chained by fashion. In his arcade ending, he begins to transform into his lava golem form seen in Armageddon, but to avoid later redundancy I'll hold off on talking about that design.

---

And that's about it. I'd say most of the redesigns for returning kharacters are solid, with the caveat that the sexualization really does start to ramp up here. Interestingly enough, I'd say the strongest retools came for fighters who never had unique designs of their own before this, Ermac in particular. The benefits of not really having a pre-existing individualized design template that people would give you grief over straying away from, I suppose. Next time, we will not talk about Armageddon and instead take a detour to the last major spin-off title in the franchise, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. And since that game harkens back so closely to the earlier parts of the timeline, I'll be using the 2D games' sprites for the "Before" side of my comparisons. Stay tuned.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

And so we have reached the fan favorite spin-off, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. Released in September of 2005, it served as a non-canonical retelling of the events of Mortal Kombat II featuring the exploits of Liu Kang and Kung Lao, the titular Shaolin Monks. As the game was harkening back to the series' earlier days, the designers opted to revisit many of the 2D games' outfits while marrying them to the aesthetic evolution the kharacters had gone through in the decade-plus since MKII's release. As such, the kharacters are a bit of an aesthetic mishmash, neither as simple and "off the shelf" as their arcade counterparts nor as ornate as their Dragon King trilogy incarnations (usually). Let's get to it, shall we?


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdKLTJXt5RU

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k52QuTj1mJI

Liu Kang...

There's something oddly cartoony about Shaolin Monks' promotional renders. I'm not sure if that was a deliberate choice or just a limitation of the hardware at the time, but it gives the game a unique look relative to the rest of the franchise and I wouldn't mind seeing it revisited. Anyways, Liu Kang here is largely a touched-up version of his MK3 look, retroactively backported to a game that actually starts off in the aftermath of MK1's events. The silver studs on his bracelets have become full-on spikes in this render, and a dragon pattern has been added to his pants to give them a bit more detail. A lateral but effective refresh.

Raiden...

The God of Thunder has taken a design closer to MK4 than MKII, what with the black shoulder pads and specific folds of the outer tunic. Featured on the right is his in-game model, which adds gold trim to the aforementioned outer tunic (of which the loincloth is also notably shorter than it is in the official render. This won't be the last discrepancy between kharacters' promotional and in-game looks). Another decent reworking, and I like that the yellow symbol on the sleeves was retained in the redesign.

Sonya...

Some kharacters got more faithful retools than others, but the art team opted to have later designs serve as the primary influence for Sonya in this game, which means visible thongs again. Joy. That aside, it's a good look. The camo pants give her the noticeable splash of green that she'd been missing since 2002 and I like that they kept a jacket for her (a jacket which completely changes length and color from render to in-game model). The headband is also a nice nod to her original looks.

Johnny Cage...

Much like Raiden, Johnny got some of his MK4 design flairs backported into his new-old design...at least in the promotional render. His in-game model forwent the white segmented stripes on the pants for two long blue stripes, adding some subtle tweaks to the arguably basic MKII look. There's not much else for me to say here. It's Johnny Cage in his 90s Bally Total Fitness glory.

Scorpion...

Now I've mused about the discrepancies between the renders and the actual in-game models multiple times already, but these probably take the cake. They're two completely different designs. The render kostume honestly looks like a dry-run for the MKvsDCU design while the actual kostume looks like a retooled UMK3 design, with the gauntlets and color scheme being the only things shared between them. For what it's worth, I think I prefer the in-game kostume simply due to lacking the studs on the tunic. Render Scorpion has the more interesting-looking mask due to the cool venting, though.

Sub-Zero(s)...

Based on my paltry knowledge of this game (I've read a Wiki synopsis and have viewed the awesome opening several times), Bi-Han and Kuai Liang both wear the same Lin Kuei attire during the story, so I'm comparing them both. Sub-Zero here has opted for a slightly more armored look than Scorpion, adorning his person with shoulder pads and his own vented mask. I like the look, it's a happy aesthetic medium between the designs of old and the more armored appearances the kast generally had in these years. The black stripes across the tunic also work in touching up the old design's monochromatism and (accidentally or otherwise) serve as a dual reference for Sub-Zero and Noob Saibot.

Reptile...

Haha, you were probably expecting a human Reptile for this throwback game, weren't you?...Well, your assumptions were well-founded, human Reptile is the alternate look for the versus mode. While he's far more humanoid than he was during his turn in Deadly Alliance, Reptile here has also snatched a healthy deal of influence from his then-more contemporary looks, resulting in this quasi-hybrid of MKII and MK4 Reptile. The ninja outfit itself is aces, returning him to that acid green cloth he rocked way back in 1993. Admittedly, I'm not too fond of the head bandages for Reptile and the exposed mouth showing up again, though I'd say it's better handled here than in MK4. The gold trim does wonders for making sure the tunic is readable from a distance, instead of being at risk of blending into Reptile's scales (the shield-shaped kneepads are also cool). A decent kostume on a rather out-of-place Reptile.

Kano...

It really is just a touched-up MK1 Kano, with Trevor Goddard's likeness and the red light on the bandolier from MK3 applied (though only in the promotional render it seems). A fine reworking, though one I'm surprised is as conservative as it is.

Goro...

It's Goro, gold bracelets from Deception retained.

Shang Tsung...

Two for the price of one again. Both of Shang Tsung's designs in this game are rather faithful translations of his garb in the first two MK games, though with his old man robes taking more of a purple shade over their original blue (to say nothing of the more visible patterning across the hem of the inner robe. Young Shang Tsung's headwear is a bit more apparent in 3D, which is also nice.

Kitana...

It's a reworking of her MKII kostume with the one sexy ninja visual trope I'm surprised took so long to be used for a default outfit: mesh. It's a decent facelift to her admittedly basic original look, opting to add black highlights to the torso area and mask and swapping out her opera gloves for spandex bracelets. I also like the ribbon in her hair (honestly I really like her hair in-game in general, more unique than the UMK3-inspired top bun she has in the promo render seen above). It's interesting that she clearly has heels on in the promo render, but flat boots in-game. It's like Klassic (TM) Midway and Modern Midway were having fights over how to properly represent Kitana and they compromised.

Jade...

This might be my favorite of Jade's 2000s designs. It complements Kitana's new duds well while still allowing Jade a degree of uniqueness for herself. I'm very much a fan of the longer gloves and hair sticks, and even the gratuitous asymmetrical shoulder pad works well. It's interesting seeing how this is probably Jade's only post-90s outfit to not really feature gold in conjunction with her usual green and black, the role of prerequisite third color going to silver this time due to the aforementioned shoulder pad and...belt buckle? I'm not really sure why that's there. It looks like an absolute hindrance to any kind of free movement. I mean, the loincloth would probably trip her up too, but that at least goes well with the rest of her suit, the buckle just kind of sits there and I don't really know what to think of it. It's an odd duck at points, but I'd say this is a pretty solid reimagining of her MKII look.

Mileena...

Yep, I think her Deception design caught on. She's retained the veil (and the lack of...everything else) from her prior outing, now backported into this design for her secret boss fight. It's missing something by lacking the flowy sleeves, though I appreciate it for looking like less of a sensory assault. Don't have much to say here, it's Mileena achieving her "true" form in the klassic era.

Jax...

I appreciate the devs' commitment to the purple pants, I really do. I'm not exactly great at always describing why I like certain kostumes, but something about this one just flows nicely. The purple complements the black without attempting a hostile takeover like MK3 Jax's pants arguably suffered from, the gauntlets and straps keep the top half from looking naked in a game where Jax's bionic arms can't really happen yet, and the belt just kind of brings everything together in a way that loosely resembles MKII Jax's belt. I wouldn't be surprised if this design served as an inspiration for past Jax's get-up in Mortal Kombat 11.

Kung Lao...

Alright, we can finally talk about the other Shaolin Monk. I mentioned a few days back that Kung Lao's alternate in Deadly Alliance (also his default in the GBA version!) would serve as the Rosetta Stone from which all other Kung Lao designs for the next decade would be derived, and this is why. The Shaolin Monks kostume, much like the DA alternate, served as retooled homages to Kung Lao's original outfit, opting to swap out the loose tunic for what appears to be a modified sleeveless changshan. However, the Shaolin Monks version of the outfit would forgo the bright diagonal sash and large tassels of Deadly Alliance's rendition in favor of a simple red sash around the waist. It's less ornate, but more faithful to the MKII original, right down to the color scheme. I gotta say, I dig the red shinguards he's got, gives him more red to offset the loss of the original tunic symbol.

Baraka...

Baraka has not changed much. The most notable difference from MKII to Shaolin Monks comes from the removal of the red stripes on Baraka's pants to be supplemented with what appear to be red bindings. His shoes also go from white to black and the red trim around his gi has a hook pattern on both sides. A mostly lateral design shift.

Smoke...

This kostume has so much black on it that I wouldn't be surprised if people mistook him for Noob Saibot. Like, this is a lot of black for the gray Lin Kuei. I like that he's got an ornamental headpiece similar to Sub-Shredder's from Deception, even if it's hard to see in the image I posted. It's a nice look overall, treating the gray like it's an ornamental silver was a unique choice if nothing else, and I like that his mask matches Sub-Zero's. It's a striking redesign and a solid first effort for human Smoke's first wholly individualized kostume...it just needs more gray.

Noob Saibot...

And now for the last secret opponent of MKII. His model looks to be a close recolor, if not an outright recolor of Sub-Zero's model. Seeing as this was the first game released after Deception revealed that Noob Saibot and Sub-Zero Bi-Han are in fact one and the same, I suppose we can allow it under clever referencing instead of shameless asset reuse. His blue eyes are even retained here, which I appreciate. Sub-Zero's kostume works well in black, and it seems the devs agreed because Sub-Zero's alternate skin in the versus mode is just Noob Saibot with ice arms to reference Bi-Han.

Kintaro...

Kintaro begins to finally show some signs of individuality and it's through the smallest of ways. His formerly red belt is now gray 🎉.

Shao Kahn...

Shao Kahn has also not changed too much from MKII or Deception, though based on his official render they somehow found a way to make him look even spikier than he was before. He is featured with his cape as seen in the render above, though his in-game model lacks it. I've got to say, there's something a bit odd about Shao Kahn's helmet. The horns/crest of the helmet have/has more of an organic look than usual to me. Like, the crest of his helmet in the 2D games I could reasonably believe was made out of metal even if the helmet itself is probably made from a skull. The crest on the Shaolin Monks helmet, though? All bone, probably from some Outworld rabbit.

Kabal...

Yes, kharacters outside of the scope of the first two games made appearances in Shaolin Monks, including a pre-injuries Kabal. He's largely just wearing a 3D version of his original outfit, sans mask. Without it, he kind of looks like Jarek.

Ermac...

Ermac appears as a secret boss in Shaolin Monks, and much like Mileena it seems that the devs enjoyed his Deception makeover so much they weaved it into this retelling of the earlier games. His kostume here is largely the Deception default but with added gold trim around the robes as well as modified gloves and boots. And I have no idea why, but the additional gold somehow makes me think of Jafar from Aladdin, which amuses me to no end. Ermac's new look worked in Deception, and it works here.

Quan Chi...

Quan Chi makes an appearance at the end of the game to collect Shinnok's amulet (which was in Shao Kahn's possession during the events of this title for some reason). For his brief appearance, it seems Midway just reused his design (or a very close analog) from Deadly Alliance and Deception. Would've been interesting to see them try and reinterpret his old wizard robes, though I could understand them not wanting to bother for a kharacter making a drop-in cameo.

EDIT:

Blaze and Hornbuckle...

I just found out that both of these guys made an appearance in this game. Introduced on the Pit II stage of Mortal Kombat II, Torch Blaze and his friend Hornbuckle (the green-clad Liu Kang palette swap seen on the left in both images above) were notable background kharacters that gained a following. While Blaze would go on to become integral to the franchise's lore in the 2000s and has made cameo appearances to this very day, Hornbuckle sadly has not made any appearances after his secret cameo in Shaolin Monks, with other established kombatants taking over as Blaze's sparring partner whenever a stage needed a background fight.

---

And that's it for Shaolin Monks. This game obviously wouldn't be the last time the devs opted to revisit old kostumes due to backtracking through the chronology, but it was probably the instance where the new designs bore the most resemblance to the old. It's the old palette swaps (and Sonya) who tend to differ the most from their 2D counterparts, something that will mostly hold true as we reach other "lookback" games in the franchise. But first, we must return to the end of the original timeline and the gathering of 61 returning warriors at the Pyramid of Argus...how in the world am I going to organize all of those people?

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

It has begun. The final game to be set primarily in the original timeline and the conclusion of the Dragon King trilogy decided to throw in everything and the kitchen sink. Every kharacter is back in one form or another in what may be the 3D equivalent to Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (in regards to asset reuse if not fan reception). With that in mind, I now have to go through all 61 of these returning kombatants to review how they changed or didn't change since their last major mainline appearance (see that group shot above? This is the closest thing many of the returning kharacters have to new full-body art for this game). Let's get started.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvwNQnBLfmU

Liu Kang...

It's surreal to think that Liu Kang ended his tenure in the original continuity as an undead zombie. Really, a lot of kharacters were in weird spots by Armageddon. He is unchanged in-game, but his new versus art more prominently displays his disgusting rotting flesh.

Raiden...

Still rocking the Dark Raiden persona.

Sonya...

Sonya got the rare privilege of being the focus of one of this game's rival-themed renders, where a kharacter would get a full-body shot while their archnemesis would get an adjacent foreground headshot. Sonya's archnemesis was predictably Kano, and I was fortunate enough to find an isolated version of Sonya herself. The new image certainly demonstrates how far Midway had come in rendering their kharacters for promotional art.

Johnny Cage...

I forgot he had a back tattoo in Deadly Alliance. Now you can see it in all of its quasi-indecipherable glory on the versus art.

Scorpion...

Scorpion's new default kostume is actually an old alternate kostume from Deception that's based on an even older kostume featured in UMK3 and MK4. Once again, this design (now with black trim around the loincloth!) just sells the idea of a scary ninja that wears yellow. More so than usual, the undersuit looks outright molded onto Scorpion's physique. Taki from Soulcalibur wishes she could have calves this defined.

Sub-Zero...

Unlike the simple switcheroo Scorpion got, the devs reached back to Deadly Alliance's alternate kostumes to provide Sub-Zero a new default. This old-new design is certainly more traditional than his default looks from the prior two games, and thankfully it's a good design in its own right. I appreciate the kostume having similar shoulder folds to the MKII look, creating a sense of continuity between the designs. The new mask and Dragon Medallion adorned on his tunic are also nice additions. A solid reworking of a klassic look and I'm happy to see it get some love here.

Reptile...

Reptile's Armaggedon image comes from this video.
Now free of Onaga's influence, Reptile has returned to a humanish look, effectively ported directly from Shaolin Monks. His in-game model and versus art do make the scale patterning on the tunic (which I neglected to mention last time) more apparent, though.

Kano...

♫ Prepare yourself, Mortal Kombat's on today ♫

Goro...

♫ Prepare yourself, Mortal Kombat all the way ♫

Shang Tsung...

♫ Prepare yourself, Mortal Kombat's here to stay ♫

Kitana...

After two games of waffling, Midway finally relegated the Deadly Alliance default to the alts closet as the intended default took its place on the select screen. Probably the most out-there of Kitana's defaults up to this point, she's again opted for no mask and wears a purple bodysuit with dark leggings. As someone who praised Deadly Alliance for going against the grain with a few of its default outfits, I'm admittedly not too fond of this look. Don't care for the cutouts on the sides of the torso and honestly, I think it's just a little barebones, as weird as that is to say about a 3D-era kostume. The most interesting thing about this outfit to me is the long braid that the alt also has. Now, you're probably wondering why I'm using this rivals art instead of Kitana's render from Deadly Alliance which more accurately depicts the purple coloration. The simple reason is I wanted full-body art and I couldn't find any from 2002 for this kostume.

Jade...

She's the same as she was in Deception, though this game's opening features her in her alternate kostume. I do wonder if that was another default/alt switcheroo that happened behind the scenes.

Mileena...

Did you see the above art with Kitana? I told you her veil was see-through.

Jax...

New rendering for the versus art does make his arms look a little less busy, though his in-game model is largely unchanged.

Kung Lao...

After his Deadly Alliance alt snuck its way through the GBA version and Deception's endings as Kung Lao's sole kostume, it's now been properly instated as his default. What can I say, it's a great design and -- as it was introduced in 2002 -- a masterful way to retool Kung Lao's MKII look. The sash and the tassels could probably be cited as easy examples of the design excesses of this era, but I think they look neat. Also, the golden sandals are something I didn't even notice until now, they're a nice additional splash of color. As I mentioned before, this kostume would set the tone for many of Kung Lao's outfits for the next decade, so this won't be the last time we see something in its vein.

Baraka...

You know, maybe I should consider Baraka's arm blades as part of the kostume. Sometimes, they look like metal, sometimes they look like pure bone, so it's worth noting at the very least.

Noob Saibot and (Cyber) Smoke...

I was unable to get full-body art for the two of them separately, so I'll talk about them together even if they're no longer sharing a slot in this game. What I presume were meant to be the default kostumes for the two of them in Deception have now been made the defaults in Armageddon. Noob looks like Noob again, and Smoke has evolved into a nanomachine smoke demon due to his time spent in the Netherrealm affecting his cybernetics...that is a sentence I just typed up. Our newly gaseous friend here may be one of the few instances of an in-game model selling a design aesthetic better than promotional art. You kind of need to see him in motion to really appreciate this turn. I'm not entirely hot on smoke Smoke myself, but I acknowledge that the art alone kind of doesn't do the concept justice. As for Smoke's kostume itself, it's interesting. Holes in the pants because modesty is an illusion and being made of literal nanomachines means you have nothing to hide. I actually do like the red added to his tunic and the new mask is suitably demonic. It's a unique turn. Not sure I would've wanted this long-term, but maybe it could've gone somewhere had game events not transpired the way they did.

Kintaro...

It took 13 years, but Kintaro has finally achieved a wholly new design in a mainline game and it's the first wholly new redesign for this game we're talking about. Honestly, it's not too different from what his more famous counterpart would be wearing in MK9, what with the red armored loincloth and black patterning. The new kneepads provide some additional red that goes well with his fur (fur that can grow a black braid in the back of the head. Imagine if the braid hair had tiger patterning as well). All in all, a nice design refresh that gave the series' second Shokan some much-deserved individuality.

Shao Kahn...

He's largely unchanged from Deception, but one promotional render (probably one of the rival renders) does make use of a different design, possibly based on Shaolin Monks judging from how the helmet and loincloth look.

Stryker...

Kurtis Stryker never quite got the fame of many of his fellow newcomers from MK3. He effectively followed in Johnny and Jax's footsteps as the normal supporting Earthrealm hero, and unlike Johnny had no known superpowers to speak of. He's a riot cop who happened to be in the right place at the right time. In the intervening years (and likely spurred by complaints that Stryker looked too run of the mill to be fighting with Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn), Midway seems to have redesigned him to look closer to what a contemporary riot control officer would look like as interpreted by a comic book. He's now sporting a black leather bodysuit with blue lining, as well as two weapons (possibly his gun and nightstick) protruding from his back like they were intersecting katana. Honestly, Stryker looks like he's wearing the civilian uniform of the Power Rangers in Ninja Storm. He's also got protective eyewear, understandable given he's traded his handgun for a machine gun. Outside of the color scheme and a few weapons, the most notable carryover from his MK3 design are the fingerless gloves. I don't think this is a bad design, though it's more secret agent than police officer. Ironically, his alternate kostume probably does the riot cop/S.W.A.T. member motif better. Goofy as it could be, there was something charming about Stryker's original plainclothes picked-up-what-I-could-find garb from MK3.

Nightwolf...

The versus art really does do a nice job of highlighting details the full renders can't always do. Look at that lining on Nightwolf's vest.

Kabal...

After MK9, it's surreal seeing Kabal's arms not looking like charred bacon.

Sindel...

I didn't even notice the folds on Sindel's gloves. Really evoking 1939 Batman there.

Sheeva...

The third Shokan returns to a playable role for the first time. She's basically just rocking two different kinds of swimsuit in the images above, going from the red singlet in MK3 to the gold "bikini" and breechcloth in Armageddon. Lots of ornaments on her in Armageddon, accented with red fabric. Her mohawk has also somehow gotten taller in the interim, and her face looks marginally more human here. I've admittedly never been too hot on any of Sheeva's designs pre-MK11, but Armageddon's rendition at least decks her out with enough baubles to match Kintaro. Makes Goro look a little naked just sticking to his MK1 design all this time when you think about it.

Cyrax...

Take a good long look. This is the last we'll see of the Predator helmet on a contemporary design that isn't just retro-themed DLC.

Sektor...

After spending Tournament Edition and Deception's Konquest Mode as a recolor of Cyrax, Sektor at last gains his own unique design. Much like Cyrax, he's also ditched the loincloth, but the red plating on the legs and torso makes it look less like he's wearing a robot bikini, which is appreciated. It's a nice design, and one that would serve as a dry run for the more Iron Man-inspired looks the Cyber Lin Kuei would gain from 2011 onward.

Motaro...

The jump to 3D graphics hit Motaro hard. Having to accommodate a traditionally four-legged kharacter in this game meant taking away his back legs and handwaving it as a species-wide curse against the centaurs courtesy of the Shokan's dark magic, thus depriving Motaro of one of his most defining characteristics. His kostume in this new minotaur form consists of silver bracelets and a leather loincloth. Serviceable, but it's just unfortunate that this would be the last time you could play as or even fight Motaro in a Mortal Kombat game.

Ermac...

He's the same as before, and he's beautiful.

Rain...

The other new recolor from UMK3 returns to finally stake his claim. He's ditched his old threads in favor of vaguely Middle Eastern attire emphasizing purple, black, and gold. It's appropriately princely for the third son of Argus, and the cape adds to his silhouette. That it looks like a more regal take on a purple MKII ninja outfit is a likely coincidence, but a humorous one nonetheless. This is another one of those designs that would receive successors in future games that were fairly heavily inspired by this one's design elements (most notably the veil).

Chameleon...

The mood-ring ninja of Mortal Kombat Trilogy's disc-based versions returns with his own design and now sports a signature color of sea green (his tunic still changes colors in the game proper). His mask looks reminiscent of Sub-Zero's mask in this game, which is interesting, and his tunic has the quilted patterning of the ninjas of old. The most notable design change for him though is obviously the transparent skin. Just what is he? His female counterpart Khameleon has the same transparent skin and we know she's a Saurian like Reptile, but Chameleon's origins remain unknown. The new kostume is a welcome update and the gold belt buckle and headband are good additions but seriously what is he?

---

And thus ends part one of the Armageddon rundown.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

mattciq As of MK11, Baraka is shown as able to detach his arm blades as necessary, so it's possible his body just allows him to grow them as needed. As for how he retracts them, maybe they're collapsible like Jade's staff.

Alright, let's finish this.

Fujin...

Welcome back, Fujin. Midway's art team had fun with you. They took his general color scheme from Mythologies and MK4 (though with the brighter red swapped out for a more crimson shade) and rearranged its placement somewhat. The blue/teal pants are retained, and he now has what appear to be crimson robes across his chest and hips. Amusingly, he somehow looks less armored than he did in the 90s due to the shrinking of his shinguards and bracelets. In lieu of his cape, he's gotten a notable extension to his hair, now a long braid, a design element that would carry over into later appearances. Another solid redesign. Something I'm noticing is the amount of gold trim a lot of these kostumes have. I'm not saying they make kostumes inherently good or bad...but many of the best ones use it.

Sareena...

Sareena finally makes her playable console game debut with a new design that more closely harkens back to her original one. The red accents return and her top returns to the corset style while her boots from Mythologies are also restored (but with more prominent heels added, par for the course for most of the returning female kharacters). It seems Midway went back to John Tobias' art from the 90s when designing Sareena's new outfit, because the loincloth with hip guards and back straps has returned...and in the 3D space, you've got an unimpeded view of her backside thanks to the skirt effectively having vents. That is one design choice from Tobias' run that I wish had stayed in the past. As it stands, this is just 1997 Sareena with the general shrinking of fabric that everyone else got in this era and not even retaining the cool patterns that her Tournament Edition counterpart had (because that kostume's the alt now).

Quan Chi...

He's exactly the same.

Shinnok...

Shinnok's Armaggedon image comes from this video.
Despite what the big group shot (and the opening, and the versus art, and his one standalone promotional render) will tell you, the kostume with the blue longcoat, while awesome, is not Shinnok's default in-game. The above image on the right is. It is heavily reminiscent of his MK4 look, right down to the red shinguards and gold cuffs around the wrists. The most significant differences are the gold collar of the robes overtaking more of the torso area and the gold trim around the loincloth, which is now longer. A faithful upgrade, which makes for an amusing contrast with...

Kai...

Yep, this is a 2000s-era Mortal Kombat redesign, alright. It is interesting to see how much they deviated away from the original design in comparison to the scrapped Deadly Alliance look while also doing a better job at retaining Kai's old color scheme. Dark red top, black pants, dark red loincloth, and dark red around the lower legs. If you squint, this looks like a pretty straightforward design evolution. It's just when you look again, you realize Kai's decked out in a ton of armor. Truth be told, this design feels more fitting for Deadly Alliance's armor-out-the-wazoo philosophy -- or at least the philosophy as people perceived it -- than the one that ultimately went unused. It admittedly sells the idea of Kai traveling the world to find himself better by virtue of differing so much from the original, but did we have to have the white stripes downplayed so much? Those were his thing. They're still clearly on his arms in-game, and his MK4-inspired alt picks up the slack, but those were his thing.

Tanya...

It is amusing to think that among the four non-Meat MK4 originals, it would be Tanya that wound up having the most faithful redesign upon entering the Dragon King trilogy. Which leads me to...

Jarek...

Yeah, this is a departure. I guess he can't be confused with Kano anymore at least. Jarek, after surviving Jax tossing him off a cliff, lay in hiding for several years, practicing his Fatalities (I kid you not, this is actual canon) in anticipation of the day when he could take his revenge. His continued incognito crime spree gained the attention of the Forces of Darkness, and Jarek was recruited into their ranks to oppose the hero kharacters when the Pyramid of Argus got everyone's attention. Much like Kai and Reiko as well, Jarek's a case of the color scheme being retained while darn near everything else is thrown out. While he's kept the facial hair and general color layout from his MK4 appearance, he's decked himself in full armor. It's Jarek from MK4 in armor, I don't really know what else to say. It's not even my favorite set of armor in the game. I think it's actually a little difficult to make out the sculpting on it due to the dark colors. This may be where "less is more" takes effect. The look was a bit derivative, but I think the basic vest and pants worked better for the Black Dragon member.

Reiko...

Remember Reiko's ending in the PS1/PC/Dreamcast ports of Mortal Kombat 4 where he sat on a throne and suddenly donned Shao Kahn's helmet? Well, now he's got Shao Kahn's outfit except for the helmet. As it turns out, Reiko wasn't just a loyal servant to Shinnok, he's also a Shao Kahn fanboy who likes to wear his helmet when the emperor isn't looking. Gone are the off-brand maskless ninja duds, now we have helmetless Outworld dictator duds. I'm not even sure whether this is an upgrade, a downgrade, or a lateral move. Reiko's Shao Kahn-inspired look at least deviates from the parent template more than his MK4 outfit at least, although I think that's mostly down to Reiko opting to wear pants. And the shoulder pads look legitimately cool with the ridges and whatnot. The facial markings are thankfully retained, though the loss of his white hair due to him shaving the sides is unfortunate. Netherrealm George Clooney will be missed.

Meat...

Spoiler: Warning: Disturbing imagery ahead

From bloodied skeleton to half-formed cadaver, that's how we meet Meat in Armageddon. It seems his flesh has grown to the point where he or someone else decided modesty was imperative and offered him some black undies. Now if only someone could offer the poor bloke an eyepatch to deal with that loose eyestalk. This guy is body horror incarnate, and he even has a technique to restore his health by pulling on his loose eye. Sheesh.

Kenshi...

His Deception default remains his default in Armageddon, but his versus art and appearance in the opening opt for the Deadly Alliance design.

Li Mei...

Nothing much to say here, other than her alternate kostume is the one featured in the opening. It looks way more suitable for a fight, not that it saved her from getting impaled by Hotaru's naginata.

Bo' Rai Cho...

You can see the gold ornament around his chest more easily in the versus art, which is nice. Apparently, he also ties his beard into two separate strands.

Frost...

Look, I don't have anything else to say about Frost. She's been a constant in all three games of the Dragon King trilogy and hasn't changed her design at all, so I'm going to use this blurb to ask you to invest your time in helping the civilians of Palestine: Go here for a direct link to help Palestinian children. Go here for a link to UNICEF's general donations page.

---

With the exception of Blaze and one other, everyone from here on out has been playable less than twice up to this point and has received no design updates for this entry. This means I'm basically just going to be musing about their first (and for many, only) default designs in the series.

Nitara...

Oh, Nitara, my childhood crush. You look like a pirate, but you're just a regular person by the standards of the vampires in Mortal Kombat. I don't really know why she has all the gratuitous straps around her waist. It's indicative of a "minimal clothing, maximum random accessories" philosophy that most of the other female kharacters don't have in this game. She's got the jacket, the studded bikini, the seemingly mesh-colored boots, the aforementioned straps, the hair sticks, the headband that doubles as an eyepatch. And she's got the giant wings (both of which have tattoos on them). Decent color coordination might be the one thing keeping this design from falling apart. I like that the breechcloth effectively stands in for a traditional vampire's cape since her wings already take up so much real estate in the back. I like the fact that she has visible giant wings at all. She's exactly what I'd expect an Outworld vampire to look like, and I would like to see her get another shot. She is oddly the only Deadly Alliance newcomer aside from Mokap to make no physical appearance in the rebooted timeline at all, which is surprising.

Mavado...

Mavado's a weird one to me. He's probably got one of the less busy designs of Deadly Alliance's newcomers simply by virtue of just being decked out in a longcoat and a pair of pants. And what a pair of pants he has. I honestly don't know if they're the best or the worst part of his outfit. If you take them away, you're left with a serviceable if somewhat standard evil ruffian design: Leather, black and red color scheme, you know. Ironically, he winds up complementing Kano despite their affiliations with rival organizations. It's funny that the leader of the Red Dragon arguably has less visible red on his person than the leader of the Black Dragon.

Hsu Hao...

Discussing Hsu Hao is tricky. Everyone from Mortal Kombat fans to Mortal Kombat developers has already said their piece on this guy. The Red Dragon loyalist and part-time Special Forces mole admittedly doesn't have the most elaborate of designs (his hat didn't even carry over to his appearance in Tournament Edition). I do like that his double agent stint in Special Forces is reflected by him having green pants with kneepads like Jax. The artificial heart is also an admittedly unique design element. Really, it's the strange skin complexion that winds up contributing to him looking like a Yellow Peril stereotype and drags the design down. And given Midway and NRS' general disdain for him, it's unlikely he'll ever receive a wholesale design refresh to address this.

Drahmin...

One half of the Oni tormentor duo Quan Chi recruited to help him conquer the realms, Drahmin is a former warlord who's spent ages trapped in the Netherrealm, warping his body and mind; His mask is said to be a kind of power limiter to keep him from going completely insane. Drahmin was one of the many monster kharacters added during the 3D era, and Midway certainly took advantage of the higher processing power to depict a skinless humanoid with endless amounts of flies swarming around him. He's like Meat with a mask. Outside of said mask, Drahmin's most notable characteristic is his Iron Club, which is worn around his entire forearm. It's a welcome addition to improve his silhouette, even if the developers allegedly hated programming for it.

Moloch...

After four games of Shokan and Centaur sub-bosses, Midway apparently decided that a new kind of monster should be introduced to beleaguer the players. Thus, Drahmin's fellow Oni Moloch was introduced. Taking a more traditional Oni appearance, Moloch is garbed in little more than a loincloth, some holsters, and chains attached to his weapon of choice. When ranking the playable kast of Mortal Kombat, Den of Geek stated Moloch was able to do a lot more with less compared to his partner Drahmin, and I'm inclined to agree. Drahmin has the mask with lore and a uniquely wielded (worn?) weapon, but Moloch carries more of a presence. Maybe because he's bigger, maybe because he's the designated sub-boss of Deadly Alliance. He's a hulking monster who (alongside Drahmin) serves to remind the player of just how vast the MK universe really is, and I miss him.

Blaze...

The perennial background player of the MK franchise was elevated to final boss for this game, and in usual series tradition, he was given a new hulking frame to match. Gone is the humble fire elemental, and in his place is a bulky lava golem-like creature who wears his element on his sleeve so to speak. He's got a stronger silhouette, but there was something almost eerier about the old Blaze. Something more ethereal than outright malevolent. Him getting roped into the conflict with Argus and his sons has quite literally transformed him into a monster that everyone wants to slay. Blaze wouldn't have much prominence after Armageddon, but his cameo appearances would draw from his more golem-esque look with varying alterations added over time.

Mokap...

And here we have Midway's tribute to original Raiden actor and motion capture guru Carlos Pesina. He's a seemingly normal Earthrealm human modeled after Pesina's likeness and decked out in motion capture gear. He's probably the last true playable joke kharacter added to the series, and alongside Blaze in Deadly Alliance the last true playable secret kharacters in the old sense (i.e., not even properly displayed on the select screen in spite of them having their own biographies and endings, lacking unique fighting styles or weapon stances). I'm not even going to grumble about him just looking like a normal dude. He's a tribute to an actor who's had involvement with every Mortal Kombat game, and a symbol of an era when fighting games could afford to be a bit more carefree in crafting rosters.

Now we can discuss the kharacters of Deception...none of whom have had any significant design changes whatsoever because they're all model ports from a game that only released two years prior.

Shujinko...

Honestly, I feel like the fandom doesn't appreciate Shujinko enough. While he's the first of several attempted Liu Kang replacements, I kind of dig that Midway didn't exclusively go down the expected path of crafting a hip, starry-eyed successor to lead Deception. He starts that way in Konquest Mode, but by the time of the game's opening, he's already aged into an experienced master with some serious regrets over his life choices. It is interesting that it took Mortal Kombat six games to really get its own old, wisened martial arts master (though Bo' Rai Cho could serve as a physically younger example), and showing his life story through Konquest Mode was a unique decision. As for the design itself, it's serviceable. An old master in brown and gold robes. The newcomers of Deception on average weren't as armored up as one would expect. It's basic clothing that wouldn't look too out of place in MKII. Maybe could've used a brighter color to help it stand out a bit more, though. Sandwiched between Shujinko's art from Deception and Armageddon are his younger forms used only in the former's Konquest Mode. The youngest form is loosely reminiscent of Kung Lao's Deadly Alliance default, while the older one on the right goes for a vest/pants combo with the patented Midway soul patch. I'm surprised neither of these was made into an alt for Shujinko in the main game(s) proper.

Ashrah...

Ashrah has what I would call a simple elegance to her design. Pure white robes with gold trim to signify her self-righteous mission of self-purification. The gold rings around her wrists and lower legs add just the slightest ornateness to keep her outfit from being too basic, and the gold sash complements her robes well. I would be remiss not to mention her giant hat with the veil in the back, giving her a look similar to Raiden even if he went off the deep end in Deception. She's very much evoking the vibe of an angelic nomad, appropriate given her desire to slay "evil" creatures in order to purge herself of her demon heritage. A good design from Deception.

Dairou...

Dairou was a fighter originally considered for Deadly Alliance's roster before being shuffled off to its sequel, leaving me to wonder how his backstory would've gone in a game that didn't introduce any new realms beyond alluding to Nitara's home of Vaeternus. Dairou is a humble ex-guard of Seido, the Orderrealm. He's effectively hoodwinked into the power struggle between the resistance led by Darrius (more on him later) and the Seidan fanatic Hotaru (more on him even later). Dairou's for all intents and purposes just a dude. No real grand motivation beyond avenging the injustice done to him, and no longstanding allegiances to many of the major players of the series due to the chaos and order factions both kind of pissing him off at various points. He's a mercenary with some armor. There's a discussion to be had on how one makes an in-universe (former) rank-and-file soldier look unique without coming off as ostentatious. Baraka pulls it off, but the Tarkatans stand out in a crowd to begin with. I actually think his concept design looks a little more distinct, even if it winds up having a bit more color clash as a result.

Darrius...

It's time to discuss the leader of the Seidan Resistance. Truth be told, I kind of like this kostume. I literally just went and implied Dairou's outfit actually wasn't colorful enough, but this black and gold (orange?) combo works well. It's like some kind of leathery...something and I think it works. I have no idea how fashion in Orderrealm is, but Darrius looks like a Mortal Kombat kharacter. The tinted shades and boots are cool as well. The strap-on sleeves seem a bit gratuitous, though.

Hotaru...

And now we discuss Dairou's former guardsman Hotaru. A warrior completely obsessed with the idea of order, Hotaru has opted for symmetrical ornate black armor with maroon fabric and gold trim. It's only now that I feel the urge to compare him to the Black Luster Soldier from Yu-Gi-Oh!. I've got two Deception renders for him because the one in the middle is lacking the war flags he keeps mounted on his back during gameplay. They're incredibly ostentatious, and I'm alright with his alt removing them. That aside, this is probably one of the best heavily armored designs in the series. The layering of the armor plates gives Hotaru an almost insectoid motif, which feels heightened by his alt kostume providing him a Mandalorian-styled helmet.

Havik...

The Cleric of Chaos allegedly started off as an intended alternate kostume for Noob Saibot before taking a life of his own. This crazy denizen of Chaosrealm looks like he tumbled into a box of unfinished armor pieces and he makes it work. Asymmetry is the name of the game for him, from the one sleeve on one arm to the straps on the other. You could argue he's almost not asymmetrical enough, but he's sufficiently crazy-looking to leave an impression. The gladiator helmet over the half-skull face is striking on its own. Like, very few Mortal Kombat kharacters have iconic faces, but Havik is one of them. Edgier Skeletor gets two thumbs up.

Kobra...

Everyone's favorite Ken Masters lookalike is here. It is really weird it took this long to get a standard karate gi guy in this series. I admittedly didn't expect Midway to just copy off one of the original karate gi guys in video games, but here we are. Kobra's attire is fine, maybe too straight-laced for the violence-obsessed lunatic he is in canon, but it's a fine outfit in its own right. Wouldn't mind Johnny Cage stealing it and adding more blue into the mix. The black/white/yellow color scheme I'm guessing was inspired by the Karate Kid franchise's Cobra Kai dojo uniforms, which would likely explain the name as well. A serviceable kostume, though I'd say his gi-hoodie alternate does a better job at conveying the underground street fighter aspect of Kobra's backstory. And no, he didn't switch to a black gi for his default kostume in Armageddon, that's just how the only versus art I could find looks. I found (read: screenshot) "new" art for him.

Kira...

One of the new recruits of the Black Dragon in Deception, Kira's design does a hit few similar notes to Kano's. Black and red are once again the main color scheme, though Kira embraces more red, including on her holey pants and velvet hair. She's also adorned herself with leather wristguards and silver straps around the boots. It works for conveying a criminal of the Mortal Kombat universe, but I feel like she and Kobra could be...more? These two would be the last newly created Black Dragon members of nominal importance to be added to the games, with the devs just kind of defaulting to Kano and Kabal -- with ex-Lin Kuei Tremor dropping in from time to time -- when they want to depict the organization these days. Like, I get it. It's hard to have multiple relatively grounded criminals whose general personality trait is "I like murder and larceny" and make them all stand out without stealing from other kharacters. I'd like to see them try again, though.

Onaga...

There is only one true ruler of Outworld...and it's no longer him. Onaga, AKA the Dragon King, AKA Damashi, was the final boss of Mortal Kombat: Deception before returning in a playable role in Armageddon. As the former king of Outworld and Shao Kahn's former master, he certainly looks the part of an imposing reptilian overlord. One part lizard, one part human, one part devil (seriously, he's got goat hooves for feet), Onaga was added to be the mainline series' first big final boss since Shao Kahn after Shinnok and the Deadly Alliance offered players more human-proportioned opponents to face off with. Much like Nitara, his silhouette is enhanced by those giant bat-like wings that are almost taller than his entire body when folded up. Given that he's actually using Reptile as a physical vessel for his appearance in Deception, I kind of wish he'd take more physical cues from his host. As it stands, he's still an imposing dragon creature (one taking more cues from a Western dragon. Alas, we will never get a main villain who can accurately match the dragon in the series logo). Onaga wouldn't make many appearances after this, but his design's been largely unchanged for the few times he does appear. I'll never say no to the devs trying new things, but if he ever makes a large comeback I hope they keep his general look intact, including the war helmet.

And when the Wii port was released, one more kharacter was added: Khameleon, last seen in the Nintendo 64 version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy.

Khameleon...

All the female ninjas have unique designs now. Khameleon, much like her male counterpart has also gained transparent flesh and a new sea green outfit. Said outfit is not too different from her MK Trilogy look, just with heeled boots and garters, likely drawing comparisons to Jade's alternate kostume in this game. She's also abandoned her hair bun for also transparent, almost Medusa-like flowing locks held with a headband. It's a welcome update for the Zaterran.

EDIT: More retroactive updates than a Star Wars home media release.

Non-playable kharacters

Kia and Jataaka...

Sareena's fellow members of the Brotherhood of Shadow that Bi-Han defeated in Mythologies: Sub-Zero. They clearly share Sareena's fashion sense. The two returned in Konquest Mode where they (Jataaka on the left beside Quan Chi, Kia on the far right) were opponents of player protagonist Taven. Their designs have largely gone unchanged. Kia's skirt has been either shortened or changed into shorts and Jataaka's corset has had some of its center fabric hollowed out. Minor stuff even compared to the tweaks done to Sareena.

---

And that is every returning kharacter in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. The next big post will be about the series' comic book company-collaborating eighth entry that opted for a new look as Midway made the jump to HD consoles.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

We return to take a look at Midway's final Mortal Kombat title and the first to see release exclusively on seventh-gen systems. Being set outside of the main canon(s) of the other titles, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is a less violent crossover game playing out a what-if scenario where the warriors of Mortal Kombat -- ostensibly sometime during or shortly after the events of Mortal Kombat 3 -- see their universe merged with the universe of DC Comics. This game's plot effectively gave the art team another chance at reimagining the returning kharacters (whose ranks have been vastly downsized due to the time period, development woes, and move to HD models) during their earlier days. For the first time since 2002, every returning kharacter has gotten a new outfit. And thankfully, we only have to talk about a dozen of them this time. Let's set the mood and get to it.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkJNbEJjYjw

Liu Kang...

Liu Kang reverts back to his human form and has received some minor touch-ups to his most recurring kostume. The bindings around his boots seem made of rope this time around, and his spiked bracelets are more like spiked wristguards due to the studding not coiling around the entire arm anymore. Most notable of all however is the new champion's belt with the Mortal Kombat dragon emblazoned in the center, a design choice that would be carried over to the next mainline game. Loss of red around the waist due to the new belt aside, I have no real problems with this redesign.

Raiden...

Much like Liu Kang, Raiden's turn to the dark side has been averted in this game's continuity, so his outfit reflects a more traditional approach. Raiden's opted for a new tunic with his shoulder pads serving as makeshift sleeves. The overtunic again resembles the one from MK4, but with a rope-lined belt and gold buttons at the top to fasten his gold-trimmed cape. Non-Dark Raiden's cowl has also returned to its vacuum-sealed look for the first time since the 90s. It's a majestic look, albeit one far more streamlined than his default from Deadly Alliance. In general, I'd say the kostumes in this game are pretty streamlined compared to the prior three games. Or maybe the hardware was finally able to display the kind of designs the artists wanted without making the models look too cluttered.

Sonya...

Sonya's design has also been mostly altered via omission. No more jacket, so the greenish-black coloration is transferred to her pants (which seem to have a codpiece?). No more visible thong, so we get to see the tan lines on her render and in-game model because the devs really needed to let us know that thongs are her thing. No more fluffy neck-length hair, probably because it's either tied up or kept hidden in that nice new beret. And no more Barbie doll anatomy, because her new shirt is tight enough to let us know that this commando goes commando. The boots and gloves are nice at least.

Scorpion...

I appreciate the likely unintentional hilarity in going from a UMK3-inspired design to an MKII-inspired design between Armageddon and this game. Scorpion's new look is decidedly old-school, retaining the quilted tunic but with additional lining around it (and the giant skull belt). The tabi-styled footwear is retained and his legs have some new armor that features patterns matching the scorpion theming of his mask, an accessory that would be carried over to MK9 with some alterations. It's a nice modernization of the earlier ninja looks, especially with the slightly curved shoulder pads and scorpion-styled armoring on the wristguards, but it restrains itself just enough with that theming.

Sub-Zero...

Juxtaposing the Deadly Alliance alternate/Armageddon default with Kuai Liang's MKvsDCU outfit makes me notice more similarities than I initially realized...or maybe these are just inevitable visual overlaps that result from both designs being kind of straightforward reworkings of the MKII look. I think it's the loincloths and the ice arms doing most of the heavy lifting for me on that front, probably also the traditional cowls given how Kuai Liang used a metal helmet in Deception and forwent a mask entirely in Deadly Alliance. The MKvsDCU design itself is an odd one for me. I don't really think anything's wrong with it, it certainly sticks out with the patterning on the tunic and the mask which would be carried over wholesale to MK9's Kuai Liang. Upon further inspection, I actually do like the shinguards a fair deal as well. And it's neat that his undertunic has a texture that resembles the chainmail of the Lin Kuei warriors Sub-Zero's in command of in Deception, but I just cannot put my finger on why this design doesn't fully click for me. It might actually be the patterning drawing too much of my attention away from the blue, but I don't know. It's a serviceable redesign for a kharacter who I've always thought got serviceable redesigns at worst.

Kano...

The bandolier returns to much rejoicing. Well, I'm rejoicing at least. Kano here's got a pretty simple redesign, one that may have taken some inspiration from his look in Special Forces but with the expected additional detail. Like those oddly high-tech-looking boots, or the tassels around his shoulders. Also, you can actually see the cornea of his cybernetic eye which threw me off the first time I noticed. It's arguably the most stereotypically "down under" Kano's ever looked and I am literally only saying that because of the pockets on the vest. It's just a clean look overall.

Shang Tsung...

Shang Tsung returns to his black and yellow garb, with splashes of dark red mostly on the sides. The outfit's got similar straps to Shang Tsung's garb from MKII and MK3, but with the aforementioned red keeping the sides unexposed. The pants also seem to have a golden dragon pattern on both legs. It's an admirable redesign that honors the kostumes from Shang Tsung's first two playable appearances while making the design its own. Shout-outs to the tiny studs on the loincloth.

Kitana...

Keeping in spirit with this game's retro aesthetic, Kitana's returned to the leotard and boots look, with a twist. It's effectively MKII, UMK3, and Deadly Alliance's Kitana kostumes put into a blender and coming out aesthetically pleasing instead of a mangled mess of fabric. The black patterning works well with the blue-gray parts of the leotard, gloves, boots, and mask. And this has very little to do with outfits, but her long ponytail (held steady by a lovely ribbon) provides a nice substitute for the long braid she had in previous games. It's another straightforward design refresh, and another one that works well by straddling the line between faithful and distinct. This game is currently the last to feature a default design of Kitana's that uses some variation of the leotard and knee-high boots.

Jax...

You know, I watched Stargate for the first time over a day ago and I can finally see some practical use for Jax's goggles. They're great protective eyewear for sandstorms and the use of heavy-duty firearms, the latter of which Jax was associated with in the 2000s. Regardless, he's ditched the goggles and the beret in this game, going for a generally sleeker look overall with a protective bulletproof vest decked out in some sweet yellow lining. His pants match Sonya's and have new kneepads, keeping a design element from Deadly Alliance alive. His bionic arms also resemble the arms from Deadly Alliance but with better modeling, making the silver-on-black combination work for me for the first time. In addition, he's brandishing dog tags openly for the first time around his neck, something Sonya would be doing in the next game. Not a bad way to end the 2000s for Jackson Briggs.

Baraka...

He's abandoned his bone armor in favor of a more humanmade style of armor, though with some ceremonial fabrics attached. Baraka's also gotten himself some shoulder pads, seemingly to make up for less of his torso and back being protected. I appreciate that the artists committed to keeping some red on Baraka's person even as he's decked out in a ton of dark gray metal and fabric. It ensures the design maintains some readability from a distance.

Shao Kahn...

It seems Shao Kahn's new design basically just builds off of the one introduced in Deception. The rope tassels around the loincloth have been removed, and his shoulder pads have a more noticeable curve (making the spikes even more dangerously close to Shao Kahn's face than before). The lighting of the render on the right makes the red on his armor and cape a lot more clearly visible as well.

And finally, we have one non-playable kharacter who was planned to be added to the roster as DLC before the game's support was cut short:

Quan Chi...

The loincloth has gone from large and green to thin and black. His kneepads have gotten spikier and his boots have gotten less spiky, while his gloves have gotten slightly longer and his bandolier is smaller and closer to his face (again with the villains and their wanton disregard for puncture wounds). It's a minor facelift and one that will pretty much be carried over wholesale for Quan Chi's appearance in the next game.

And that's it for Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. Pretty solid set of redesigns for the roughly dozen returning fighters, Sonya aside. When we return, we jump into the newly formed NetherRealm Studios' inaugural entry into the franchise that would canonically turn the clock back to reexperience a very retooled version of the original trilogy.

---

Nov. 17th, 2021 - What's this, an update?
Here we are again to provide some more design evolution commentary, this time for the DC heroes. I had forgotten that some of them had at least one prior fighting game appearance that I could draw comparisons to. In this case, I'll be citing 1995's Justice League Task Force (no relation to the similarly named comic series from DC). Unfortunately, I can't find any isolated art from this game, so we'll have to make do with static sprites.

For reference, here is what the cover looked like, in all its 90s glory. Alongside it is a screenshot to give a better idea of what the game looked like in motion also in static form:

Superman...

The Man of Steel enters the world of Mortal Kombat in what will probably remain his most traditional depiction from its development team. Between 1994 and 2008, Superman's costume remained relatively traditional outside of a few detours, and since MKvsDCU was a snapshot of a pre-New 52 DC Universe, not much was changed in the interim for his video game appearances outside of losing the mullet.

Batman...

Parts of Batman's costume in Task Force (both in-game and to a lesser extent on the cover art) have a dark blue, calling back to his earlier color scheme from the comics. His Mortal Kombat debut gives him the more modernly used black and gray suit and removes the yellow around the enlarged Bat insignia, effectively creating a more realistic take on the post-1996 DC Animated Universe Batman.

Wonder Woman...

Largely unchanged in the fighting game sphere since the 90s, Wonder Woman got but a few more details owing to the enhanced graphical fidelity. There's more prominent eagle plating on the leotard and the lining on her boots has gone from white to gold.

The Flash(es)...

Since Task Force released at a time when the Silver Age and probably most well-known bearer of the Flash mantle Barry Allen was still canonically dead, his nephew and former sidekick Wally West/Kid Flash held the title, lining up with his (at that point) decadelong tenure in the comics. Above on the left is Wally West, above on the right is Barry Allen. Midway seemed to prefer having recognizable, iconic designs for the Mortal Kombat and DCU sides, so Flash looks like Flash in both eras regardless of who wears the suit. Barry's 2008 game suit does have added gold bracers to his gloves, though, making the rest of his suit look a little less monochromatic up top. The lightning belt seems to have been lowered as well, while gold rings were added to the sleeves of the suit.

Darkseid...

And finally, we have the final boss (or one half of them in the incumbent game's case), Darkseid. Our would-be conqueror maybe saw more deviation from his Task Force design than the others, supplanting the blue tone of his armor with a blue-gray and adorning himself with armored shoulder pads, wristguards, and our perennial friend the loincloth. Darkseid already looked like a Mortal Kombat kharacter, and here he's even posing similarly to Shao Kahn. The evolution in graphics has also allowed us to see just how craggy his skin is.

---

And that (hopefully) is it for Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. Midway hewed pretty closely to the generally understood visual shorthand for most of the DC characters for its first spin on them, which was understandable given these were meant to be the "genuine articles" going up against Scorpion and friends. Midway's successor NetherRealm Studios would take a less derivative approach less than five years after the release of this game, but that's for another time.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

So here we are. The reboot of Mortal Kombat, titled Mortal Kombat. This game, the ninth in the series but directly following the seventh, returned to the 2D plane for its gameplay while taking the story back to the events of the first three installments when Dark Raiden sent a message to his younger self after Shao Kahn came out on top during the Battle of Armageddon. The gameplay may have gone back to its pre-2002 style, but the kostume designs more or less feel in line with where the series had been going for nearly a decade up to this point. Design work from the newly formed Mortal Kombat team at NetherRealm Studios was assisted by Atomhawk Design, another successor studio to an ex-Midway developer (Midway Studios – Newcastle, previously Pitbull Syndicate). I suppose it's appropriate that the gameplay and the design shift were largely internal revolutions rather than a full-on passing of the torch.

I should note that this game was a pain to gather images for. It's always been a thing of the post-1996 games to have some kharacters with more promotional renders than others, but this game seems to lack easily available renders for multiple kharacters. Some don't even seem to have general promotional art, and the promotional art that is there isn't always what I'd consider aesthetically pleasing. So I've had to make do with a combination of renders, promotional art, concept art, ripped models, and ending art for the rebooted kombatants. My apologies in advance for more right-column discrepancies than usual. Let us begin with the new beginning's new designs.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdV1WXV4vnA

Liu Kang...

Friends, a great revolution has arrived. After over 17 years, Liu Kang's pants have finally lost their red stripes. Society has entered a new age, and this age sounds like Bruce Lee. Liu Kang's appearance in the "reboot" is mostly traditional, but since Liu Kang's almost always traditional, any alterations are worth noting. Gone are the stripes on the pants, and in return, his leg bindings have become red to compensate. Liu Kang's also sporting a...breechcloth? A kilt? Something that's layered and wrapped around his waist and also red. The champion belt has been retooled into a golden medallion of the Mortal Kombat dragon to add some flair to his martial artist outfit, and it works well in completing the look. The wrist gauntlets look mostly the same as they did in MKvsDCU, they're just missing the straps. It's a fine retooling for our series protagonist.

Raiden...

Goodbye, cape ☹️. Raiden's not looking too different from how he appeared in Shaolin Monks. There's more detail around the waist sash, and the shinguards from the prior mainline game have been retained in some fashion, but this is a very open-and-shut design translation. I do find it interesting that the shoulder pads seem to call back to MK4's Raiden a fair deal, which I can pretend is some gracious nod to that game as MK9 is basically serving as the logical evolution of the 3D graphics, 2D gameplay format the former game was using back in the 90s. His undertunic has also been retooled into what might be a changshan or similar article of clothing, featuring black and gold. Raiden's most notable addition is the new amulet that he's apparently always had, which serves as a plot point in this game. And said amulet is first used by...

Dark Raiden...

Despite the two Dark Raidens you see above, they are supposed to be the same kharacter at roughly the same point in time. Mortal Kombat has always been kind of weird with outfit consistency when retelling the exact same events between games. For this outing, Raiden's more militant persona has embraced dark blue in addition to his black armor, and his hat again features a crest reminiscent of the one seen on Shao Kahn's helmets. I like the look, giving him a more prominent accent color (one that's seen on Raiden's usual outfits) helps the "evil" kostume avoid becoming outright monochromatic. A suitable upgrade.

Sonya...

No. This sucks. Her designs over the past decade have all sucked in various ways, but few have so succinctly demonstrated their lameness and in doing so highlighted a longstanding problem of the designs that came before as this kostume does. What is this? It's like they just gave up trying to make Sonya look cool or like an actual military professional. It doesn't even have the "ornate" fanservicey nature of the Edenian women's kostumes, it's just boring. Designs post-Tobias make Sonya look boring, and the attempts at sexy Halloween military lady somehow exacerbate the boringness. Also, it's a design element -- mostly originating from the 3D era -- I didn't dwell on much before as it was applied to other kharacters, but Sonya's shoes have honking high heels in this game. I find they look out of place on her more so than anyone else in this game, and that's probably down to Sonya ostensibly being more of a no-nonsense "grounded" fighter from Earthrealm. Probably not fair on my part, but I was willing to excuse combat stilettos on the kostumes of the outsiders as an in-universe cultural aspect. Kira's existence tosses a harpoon through that line of thinking, but Sonya's redesigns in Shaolin Monks and MKvsDCU (for whatever other issues I had with them) generally looked practical enough as far as footwear was concerned. Now, all the female kharacters basically dress the same, right down to the shoes. But hey, she kept the green pants and lost the thong and tanlines!

Johnny Cage...

Cage has gotten his most famous look restored with some further tweaks. The stripes on the pants from MK4 are back, now colored blue to make up for the loss of blue around the waist (and the blue in this render looks notably more faded than it did on previous Johnny designs). He's back to wearing sports shoes in the mainline games for the first time since the 90s, and his shades are less colorful and probably closer to the average person's idea of sunglasses than Johnny's wider lenses from the 3D era (and the original trilogy for that matter). His blue arm wrappings have been swapped out for white ones, and Johnny's missing a lot of his ornaments from the past several years in general. This is a cleaner, younger, and somehow more arrogant Johnny Cage. Behold the "CAGE" belt complementing the newly gained "Johnny" tattoo on his chest. Only thing he's missing is a back tattoo that reads "Ladies' Man" with one of those Stussy S's. Probably the most faithful retooling of any fighter's klassic look. I might've gone a bit further just to help set it apart from its predecessors (which might be missing the point), but this design works.

Scorpion...

Scorpion really began embracing the whole scorpion exoskeleton as armor motif here. The themed mask returns from MKvsDCU and his shoulder pads look even more like stingers than before. Even his swords have stinger ornaments attached to them. He's still got pretty edgy -- in the literal and metaphorical sense -- shinguards, now plated in what looks to be a vibrant gold. The general shininess of everyone's fabrics in this game (an element I love) makes Scorpion look like he's wearing more gold overall. The kostume works, though for some reason I don't think I'm too fond of the black encroaching on the yellow parts of the tunic. It keeps the outfit from looking a little too basic, but I do wonder if it should've been removed for color balance purposes.

Sub-Zero (Bi-Han)...

Sub-Zero the Elder returns to the mainline series after a roughly 15-year hiatus, and he's got a design that's moved away from the V-shaped tunic. His attire now seems to loosely resemble a modified changshan, with silver arm- and shinguards and a whole lot of belts. Why are there so many belts? Otherwise, it's a good, simple design that gives Bi-Han the individuality he was largely lacking in the mainline games.

Sub-Zero (Kuai Liang)...

And now on to his brother. His design's also pretty simple, though featuring a lot of flowy strands around his limbs and cowl. His mask from MKvsDCU has been retained, much like Scorpion's. Unlike Scorpion, I'd say the black/non-black balance is better, with the blue cloth being allowed to mostly...exist, I guess. I'm not sure how readable they are from the image provided, but there is a good deal of intricate sculpting going on with the limb armor and belt. A well-done redesign all around.

And now we have Kuai Liang's robotic form, whose existence is one of several deviations from the original timeline thanks to Raiden having advance notice of certain developments. Instead of Smoke becoming an unwilling member of the Cyber Lin Kuei, Kuai Liang is captured in his place and becomes LK-52O, AKA Cyber Sub-Zero. Cyber Sub-Zero's design is in line with Cyrax and Sektor's, retaining the Predator locs on a sleeker, more Iron Man-inspired body. In Cyber Sub-Zero's case, his secondary color is silver instead of black like the other Cyber Lin Kuei, making him stand out a bit more. I like it, it's a cool take on an old concept, and I might actually prefer his design over Cyrax and Sektor's new looks.

EDIT: I've added another piece of concept art of Cyber Sub-Zero on Friday, July 21st, 2023 to provide a cleaner look at his armor design. Also, I like the deeper blue used.

Reptile...

Reptile's Armaggedon image comes from this video.
Even the cosmic rewind couldn't restore Reptile's human skin. He's settled into a happy medium of sorts here, with (mostly) human posture featuring the scaly skin and probably the most lizardlike framing of his face he's ever had without his snout also getting elongated. He's abandoned his traditional "ninja" looks of the 2000s games for a black and green chestplate, black loincloth with green trim, asymmetrical shoulder pad, and green pants with dark brown limb guards. It's unique among Reptile's designs, and kind of looks like something Baraka would've worn in the 2000s. Not my favorite Reptile design, but I appreciate they were able to make the multiple shades of green not look like a mess.

Kano...

Now this is what I call a composite design. It's Kano returning to his excellent MK3 kostume with the Trevor Goddard inspiration he's had in the games since 2000. There's not much more to say other than I love it. I like the diagonal shapes of the bandolier components and belt, I like the armored parts on the legs and wrists, and...actually, that's it. I love it.

Goro...

At last, a new design! Goro's ditched the underwear and sash for a new loincloth and some more detailed (and spiky) bracelets. It's still Goro, just with some new embellishments, like that spiked bandolier/shoulder pad combo. I especially like the arrow patterning on the loincloth.

Shang Tsung...

Beyond downplaying the yellow in favor of more red, this kostume isn't too different from what we saw in MKvsDCU. New boots with gold coiling that resembles ribcages, and a loincloth that looks like a forked snake tongue provide some new embellishments to help the design stand apart from its predecessor. He's also got some green jewelry to complement the black. Between the two, I'd say I prefer MK9's take for being a bit less busy with its color coordination and for having that snazzy gold patterning on the shoulders.

As this is a reboot covering the events of Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II, Shang Tsung also has an older form seen at the start of the game:

For once, it seems the devs decided to standardize the color schemes of old Shang Tsung and young Shang Tsung. It's ornate garb that looks like it provides more mobility than other Shang Tsung kostumes that went for the evil martial arts B-movie wizard aesthetic. Probably my favorite old man Shang Tsung outfit so far.

---

And I think this is where we'll end for now. I want to try and see if breaking game rundowns into multiple posts will benefit all of us. Gives me a chance to get content out without having to write big chunks (especially for games where up to 30 kharacters got new designs) and spares you all from having to read everything at once.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

And we're back.

Kitana...

Yep, Edenian fashion is here in full force. The leotard has been retired in favor of a long loincloth and some kind of halter top bodice. The high heels have returned as a part of her new patterned boots. All of her fabric is pretty patterned actually, probably to make Kitana not look like she was just wearing basic spandex that she bought from a cosplayer webstore. Also, Kitana's swapped out her usual complementary black for silver highlighting her boots, loincloth, bodice, mask, armbands, wrist sleeves, and of course, the fans. It's as fancy as a ninja bikini can be with this game's art direction. I actually do dig the tiara hairband she's got. Kitana's never really embodied the ninja parts of her background as much as she should, but the tiara at least lets her display the royal parts of her background in an aesthetically pleasing way. This is a Mortal Kombat 9 design, alright, though one that feels a bit more thought-out than Sonya's. Though honestly, I'd say Kitana's equally fanservicey alternate kostume looks better. Might be the detached bell sleeves, or the removal of the mask and ensuing dropping of pretenses of the ninja look feeling more honest to me.

Jade...

I elected to not use a render for her MK9 design due to there not being many good ones that keep consistency with the in-game model's skin tone. Jade's new kostume looks like a modified version of her alt from Deception and Armageddon with a thin loincloth and a considerably deeper neckline. The gold trim and gold chains of the Deception default have been magnified here to great effect, and the green jades on the boots have been retained as well. I also like the tri-color mask. This kostume I don't really hate, but I do think it looks kind of...flimsy? While it resembles the corset design of Deception's alt (and UMK3 Jade's kostume before it) in the front, it's largely a backless outfit being held together by programming and a prayer. Even the loincloth looks more like a short sash someone decided to hang around the crotch area when you compare it to the one from Deception (to say nothing of the wedgie MK9 Jade has). I'd hesitate to call this a misfire; in fact, it's probably my favorite of the Edenian trio's default outfits, but I think it could've used one more revision.

Mileena...

I don't really know how to approach this one, it's like comparing chocolate sauce to chocolate syrup. The designs are the same, yet different. Instead of a skimpy swimsuit with flowy sleeves and a breechcloth, Mileena's now rocking a skimpy swimsuit with compressed gloves and no breechcloth. Both are shameless, the former just has a slightly more distinct silhouette. I'll miss the veil, but the new mask with fang patterning is a worthy substitute. The new boots and the mesh at the top of them work as well. There isn't much else I can really say. It's hard to talk about a kostume when there's so little of it. Half of the observations I could make about the MK9 outfit are observations I've already lobbed at the Deception outfit: lots of seemingly random straps that presumably exist because the kostumes would probably be wardrobe malfunctions waiting to happen otherwise, "panties" that ride way too low to provide actual modesty, and some other third thing to make my list seem presentable. I like the return to purple pink purple as a central color, and the gold trim is nice, but there's not really enough kostume to apply the gold trim to outside of the aforementioned boots. It's largely a lateral move for Mileena's design, though I like that she's absolutely shredded in this game.

Jax...

Has anyone else noticed that Jax doesn't seem to be able to just voluntarily upgrade his arms anymore? In his MK3 bio, it's stated that he got the bionic implants when he realized that Earthrealm was going to need a greater defense against the oncoming Outworld invasion. In everything since the 90s, he just gets his regular arms ripped off and has the bionic arms given to him as an emergency measure. In this reboot, he gets them because of Ermac. They certainly have a darker silver finish than they did in most of the prior games. They also feature the glowing yellow lights MKvsDCU's rendition had, though they're not featured on the right piece of art seen here. As for his pants, they look like general military attire. Dark green, almost black under certain lighting, with some kneepads and straps, and what looks to be one of those squeeze buckle straps wrapped around his waist to hold his ammunition. It's a Jax design, just more grounded. Appropriate for the reboot setting and perhaps a welcome return for many after years of more extravagant looks in the mainline titles, but a bit vanilla.

Kung Lao...

Deadly Alliance alternate kostume Kung Lao+Shaolin Monks Kung Lao=MK9 Kung Lao. Diagonal sash gone, red tassels retained. Gold trim from the former design gone, silver trim from the latter design retained. He's rocking new boots and caged bracelets (learning all sorts of new clothing terms for this thread) with some pretty detailed sculpting I must say. His hat also now has red trim around the centerpiece, replacing the gold trim previously seen in the Dragon King trilogy. A suitable redesign. Also, this is apropos of next to nothing, but Kung Lao hardly ever wears this kostume in MK9's story mode. It's largely seen in Raiden's visions and the opening cutscene where we see the fate of everyone in the original timeline (Shinnok's clone is apparently who did him in).

Baraka...

It's interesting to think that Baraka's most iconic look was only featured for two mainline games before being retired/shunted off to the alternate space for about 15 years. He's rocking the red, white, and black ensemble again, with some notable updates. The metal-plated loincloth of old has been replaced with basic cloth (featuring some nice black and red trim around the borders) and he seems to have skull-shaped kneepads to really drive home that 90s reboot energy. It's a pretty straightforward reworking of the MKII design, though I'm not sure how I feel about the skull patterning on his tunic.

Smoke...

At last, every humanoid male recolor gets a unique design in the mainline titles (which means this is likely the last time I'll ever be using any of the 2D sprites for comparison). Smoke has been restored to his human form due to the time reset and unlike his counterpart in the original timeline, he keeps his human body. For his appearance in MK9, our Lin Kuei friend has decked himself out in silver plating in lieu of the usual softer cloth most of his former palette swap brethren wear in this game. The armored look is unique for him next to everyone else's default outfits in this game, and I especially dig the cross-stitched loincloth. He's also ditched the cowl to allow his glorious mane of silver hair to flow freely. Smoke got a great redesign. He looks like an action figure and I mean that in the most complimentary way possible.

Noob Saibot...

Noob's abandoned his slick purple afterglow and in return gained a sweet hood. He's had a martial arts movie Grim Reaper vibe for a while, going back to MK4 giving him a scythe as his weapon of choice, but this game seems to really embrace the whole spectre of darkness aesthetic, what with the aforementioned hood and skull mask that reminds me of Batman's Phantasm a fair deal. Outside of adding sleeves and gloves, MK9 Noob doesn't look too different from his counterpart in Armageddon. I do like that his appearance here does very much look like a twisted reflection of Bi-Han's Sub-Zero attire. Backported kharacter development at its finest.

Kintaro...

Since Goro took the whole red armor thing, Kintaro has opted to go for all black and silver to complement his fur. The spikes on his shoulder pads have also become shorter and more numerous while his kneepads have taken a look closer to their appearance in MKII and Trilogy. The silver chainmail on the loincloth is an interesting choice and makes me realize that chainmail as most people know it is a surprisingly rarely used visual element in most Mortal Kombat designs. A passable redesign, though I feel the red armor popped more.

Shao Kahn...

Shao Kahn has not changed too much, though he's definitely added more armor to his limbs. Such armor apparently includes strapped-on shielding around his thighs. Likely far more practical than what he had previously, but they do kind of give off the appearance of incomplete pants.

It should also be noted that Shao Kahn actually uses a caped design in the opening of this game, which is apparently the MKvsDCU model just recycled wholesale. That's clever given how closely MKvsDCU Shao Kahn resembles the proper Armageddon Shao Kahn who should be finishing off Dark Raiden in the old timeline.

---

That's it for now. Part three will be coming soon.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

Thank you for the kind words, Ramsiege and for saving me from having to double-post.

Happy Pride Month, everyone. This should be the last part for MK9's kharacters. We'll cover this game's playable fighters introduced from MK3 onward and talk about the non-playable kharacters' designs as well.

Stryker...

For the MK3 portion of MK9's story mode, Stryker returns and has been recast as a S.W.A.T. officer defending New York from Shao Kahn's forces. As such, his design is largely a "serious" version of his original kostume, most notably with the hat facing forward to display the S.W.A.T. insignia for all to see. It's Stryker but beefier, can't really say much else.

Nightwolf...

Our then-Lakota/future Matoka friend has also returned to a reworked version of his earliest design, though unlike Stryker, Nightwolf has opted for earthier tones. Very earthy tones. It's the "gritty" live-action movie version of Nightwolf, though I appreciate him having a pair of pants not made of Swiss cheese. The wolf pawprint insignia on his headband is a nice touch as well.

Kabal...

Kabal returns again, sans longcoat. He's got a sleeveless vest (with loincloth!) and bares his visibly burned arms. His breathing apparatus also seems to be attached to a bandolier of sorts, with glowing blue lights that are complemented by similar lights lining his boots. It's not a bad update, though I kind of wish they would've touched up the mask a bit more.

Sindel...

Another general retooling of an older outfit, but with more fabric removed. Sindel's basically got an armored singlet at this point, with some neat silver binding attached to the boots. It seems the designers did try to go for a more "regal" appearance this time around, emphasizing Sindel's collar and adding tailcoats to her armor to keep it from looking too basic. The purple plating on the torso and sides of the boots are pretty to look at, just wish there was more outfit to complement it.

Sheeva...

MK9 Sheeva is MK3 Sheeva with some added patterning to the sling bikini and spikier bracelets and anklets. I do sort of wonder if the designers got bored with overhauling the pre-Ermac MK3 newcomers. They got the least changed appearances from their 90s counterparts on average, with the exceptions of the old palette swa-oh.

Cyrax...

As mentioned in Kuai Liang's section, the Cyber Lin Kuei have gotten a notable visual overhaul. The larger guy-in-a-suit helmet designs of old have been retired in favor of more formfitting head sculpts that retain the wiry locs while also incorporating what I've been repeatedly referring to as an Iron Man-inspired design. Cyrax's body has been altered to match this change accordingly, going for a sleeker look with yellow and black plating prominent. He kind of looks like a walking hazard sign due to all of the patterning. I appreciate that the venting on Cyrax's old helmet was retained for the new helmet, and his prominent green eyes not only address a design element of his prior looks that I wasn't too fond of, they match the glowing green lights on his chest as well. I've lamented the Cyber Lin Kuei moving away from their "ninja" influences for some time now, but MK9 Cyrax is alright. The idea of him evolving from discount BMX gear Predator to discount MCU Iron Man over the years feels like a form of metacommentary on special effects in film and certainly shows where the devs' influences were drawn from over time.

Sektor...

Amusingly, Sektor's new design looks closer to what Cyrax circa Deadly Alliance likely would've evolved into. The notably segmented red between the chest and waist and the more prominent shoulder pads just scream it to me. Sektor's helmet looks almost skull-like compared to Cyrax's. He's boasting a good deal of sculpted stripes on his arms, shoulder pads, and chestpiece. I'd personally say Armageddon did the modernized Sektor take better, but this one isn't bad, just a bit busy at points. I do like that he and Cyrax have metal tabi boots basically molded around their legs, though.

EDIT:

Let's look at their human forms as well:

Cyrax and Sektor appeared in one episode of the animated series Defenders of the Realm, appearing unmasked before their roboticization. They wear the standard UMK3-era Lin Kuei garb, but with white on the bracers. Interestingly enough, their human designs almost look like they were swapped around for their appearances in MK9. Here, they wear far more individualized outfits, Cyrax's taking on more black and featuring some metal shinguards that wouldn't be too out of place on his Deadly Alliance rendition. Sektor for his part goes adorned with a red sash, metal shoulder pads, and a large medallion. It's cool to see that their non-robot counterparts get to maintain their klassic colors without looking like knock-offs of Scorpion and Ermac respectively.

And for fun, let's look at "Cyber Reptile":

In one of this game's Challenge Towers, Reptile is accosted by a gray Cyber Lin Kuei simply referred to as Unit 5. Reptile kills his would-be assassin and dons his armor (as seen on the left of the above image) to lure Cyrax and Sektor into a trap and serves as their non-playable opponent for their specific challenge. Since he's just a bonus enemy, Cyber Reptile is basically Cyber Sub-Zero with the blue parts colored green.

Ermac...

Deception really did wonders for Ermac, didn't it? His MK9 design is basically the 3D-era one with more emphasis on the black around his pants and sleeves. Even his boots are largely similar. The most notable changes come from the glowing green gem on his belt and the head wrappings being slightly different (they cover more of the area around his eyes, but expose more of the nose now). It's a good redesign that sets itself apart from its mainline predecessor better than Shaolin Monks' take, though -- and I must apologize to Scotia in advance -- it's one that I feel lost something special because of those differences. Frankly, it's just the abundance of black that I believe takes away from Ermac's Ermacness. Black is of course a key component of all the ninjas' designs, but the red needs to be more readable from a distance, otherwise, you run the risk of just having a slightly more colorful Noob Saibot. I don't think there's enough red up top. Deception's Ermac lacked the red on his mask, but the solid red sleeves and more prominent lining on the chest made up for that. On the reboot's Ermac, these elements are downplayed -- not enough to ruin the design, mind you -- to the point of making me prefer his earlier incarnation just a little bit more. But I know plenty of people think MK9 Ermac is the best he's ever looked. They are many, I am but one.

Quan Chi...

As Midway originally intended Quan Chi to be playable in the last game as DLC, it seems NRS just decided to port his design over to the next. He's more or less the same.

Kratos...

After trading blows with the DC Universe, Mortal Kombat got its first standalone guest kharacter in God of War's Kratos, featured exclusively in the PlayStation versions of MK9. By 2011, Kratos was no stranger to guest appearances, having previously appeared in Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny, the 2009 PSP port of Soulcalibur IV, and the source of the render on the left seen directly above. From what I know, the visual design of both of his guest appearances largely drew from God of War II and (retroactively) God of War III's prologue, so there isn't much to compare. Mortal Kombat 9's Kratos has more armor on his right arm and more scars on his chest. Otherwise, they're both the same iconic look for the Ghost of Sparta and serve as good snapshots of where God of War was as a series around the turn of the last decade.

Downloadable kharacters

Speaking of DLC, this game is the first in the series to feature it. The pool of downloadable fighters was split 50/50 between two newcomers (Skarlet and guest Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street) and two veterans who were previously playable in Armageddon.

Kenshi...

First of the veterans released was everyone's favorite Deadly Alliance newcomer. Kenshi has reverted to something closer to his original appearance, now featuring red padding(?) on his torso area that reminds me of a turtleneck sweater. In exchange for the added red to the chest, he loses it on one of his sleeves and (thankfully) his crotch area when comparing the MK9 rendition to his Deadly Alliance rendition. It's amusing to see Kenshi already calling back to a codified iconic design with Deadly Alliance being "only" eight-and-a-half years old when MK9's DLC began in earnest. But, I suppose that speaks to the strength of his outfit, especially when so many others from both his era and the era before it were utterly overhauled for the rebooted timeline's inaugural entry and its follow-ups.

Rain...

Not one to be left behind for long, Rain returned to round out the kast of UMK3 ninjas. His new design clearly took inspiration from his appearance in Armageddon, most notably its use of a veil and gold trim. Otherwise, Rain seems to have more openly embraced his "ninja" heritage again, returning to the cowl and ditching the cape. His purple is also a slightly more pale shade in the reboot. It's a happy medium between his klassic and 3D-era kostumes, and it's probably the kostume most indicative of MK9's attempts at reconciling the older 2D and 3D entries' design sensibilities. The shoulder pads do look a bit cumbersome, though.

And I shouldn't neglect to mention that when Mortal Kombat 9 was ported to the PlayStation Vita, additional challenges in the Challenge Tower were added, one of which allowed the player to temporarily control a warrior from Mortal Kombat: Special Forces.

Tremor...

Our old Black Dragon associate has finally made an appearance in the mainline series. He's gone from blocky brown-clad palette swap of MK4-era Sub-Zero to...brown palette swap of UMK3-era Sub-Zero (and the rest of the ninja/Lin Kuei kinfolk). He was allegedly planned to be playable in Mortal Kombat Trilogy, so adopting the mid-90s look of the ninjas feels like everything coming full circle in a way.

Non-playable kharacters

A lot of formerly playable kharacters -- Goro, Kintaro, and Shao Kahn included, who I randomly put in with the playable bunch out of habit -- made appearances in this game, and while many of these guys got tweaked designs, others (such as Sareena, Tanya, Frost, and Armageddon's Daegon) did not, so I have elected to exclude the latter group from this section.

Motaro...

Motaro has returned to being a four-legged centaur, which means he isn't playable. In fact, you don't even fight him in the story mode. Raiden just takes him out of the equation as a preemptive measure to prevent Johnny's death at his hands in the new timeline. In this game, he seems to have shoulder pads made of skulls. Mortal Kombat really is just one of those franchises.

Fujin...

Minimal. Design. Change. His loincloth went from black to red. Why am I even documenting this? Because I like Fujin and think he deserves better? Yes.

Lin Kuei Grandmaster...

The former Grandmaster of the Sub-Zero brothers' clan (who is also Sektor's father) made his debut in Mythologies: Sub-Zero, where he sent Bi-Han on a quest to retrieve the Map of Elements. He's also the one behind the scenes who directed Bi-Han and later Kuai Liang to attend the Mortal Kombat tournaments, setting a whole lot of rigamarole into motion. He cameoed in Deception's Konquest Mode, largely retaining his modified Lin Kuei attire with shoulder pads of doom, and wouldn't receive a notable design overhaul in the games until his cameo appearance in Sektor's MK9 Arcade ending. Here, he looks suspiciously like Shinnok in his Mythologies concept art, headdress and all. His mask has also been removed, revealing facial hair, and he now proudly displays the Dragon Medallion that would later come into the possession of Kuai Liang in both timelines. I like both kostumes, though while the MK9 design is less busy overall the Mythologies design feels more in line with what the rest of the Lin Kuei generally looks like, as opposed to coming off as a generic sorcerer. Maybe I'd like it more if it had gold trim, though...

Shinnok...

Shinnok's in-game Armaggedon image comes from this video.
Shinnok appeared at the end of MK9's story mode via spectral hologram to tee up the events of the sequel, and the devs opted to reuse his appearance from Armageddon. Not his default appearance, but his alternate appearance with the blue longcoat that was featured in most of the earlier game's promotional art. Frankly, I think it's Shinnok's best design in the mainline games for coming the closest to really embodying the self-important fallen Elder God who probably still fancies himself an ornate being deep down. The gold trim (take a shot) around the coat and loincloth (take another shot) really does work. It's actually kind of interesting to have such an openly evil kharacter using pretty bright colors for his kostumes. It stands out next to the black-and-red ensembles that many of his fellow MK villains had around this time.

Meat...

Spoiler: Warning: Disturbing imagery ahead

Meat would become a recurring background kharacter throughout the reboot games, usually getting experimented on. In MK9, he's just a slab of Meat on a slab. Hope he got his eye fixed.

Bo' Rai Cho...

Bo' Rai Cho appears in at least two kharacter endings. In the right image above, he's seen featured with the Great Kung Lao in his descendant's ending. He's wearing more traditional monk attire. Bo' Rai Cho also appears in Shang Tsung's ending, wearing an outfit similar to his Deadly Alliance default.

Havik...

Based on his cameo in Noob's ending, Havik's largely unchanged outside of missing a sleeve and one of his gloves in one still.

Kira...

And now we have Kira. For her appearance in Shao Kahn's Koliseum, Kira is one of several prisoners chained up, and for whatever reason she's in her alternate kostume from Deception and Armageddon. It's a collared jacket and hotpants with belts and straps out the wazoo. I prefer the new haircut, but am kind of ambivalent about the kostume otherwise.

The Great Kung Lao...

Only previously alluded to in the bios and endings of prior games* (with his on-screen depictions limited to expanded universe media), Kung Lao's ancestor and namesake makes his first in-game appearance in Kung Lao's Arcade ending. As a Shaolin Monk and former Champion of Mortal Kombat, GKL looks very much like Liu Kang (or rather, Liu Kang looks very much like him). The far left image seen above is from the 1995 animated feature Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins, depicting GKL at the feet of his rival and eventual murderer Goro. The middle image is a young Great Kung Lao as seen in the TV series Mortal Kombat: Conquest.

*Barring a headshot and a silhouetted body shot in Kung Lao's MKII and MK3 endings respectively.

Jerrod...

The late monarch of Edenia, Jerrod was the father of Kitana and the loving husband to Sindel. He made his first appearance in the Malibu comics before appearing in the final episode of Defenders of the Realm via flashback. In the show, he seems to share his daughter's penchant for blue and even bedecks himself in a pretty sweet cape. For his appearance in MK9, Ermac's otherwise non-canon ending reveals that the long-deceased Jerrod's soul had been made a part of him by Shao Kahn. Jerrod becomes the dominant personality of Ermac and his spirit form is allowed to rule alongside his family once more. He wears vaguely "exotic" robes with limb wrappings -- there's a word for this and I don't know what it is -- that would make Bi-Han and Liu Kang blush.

EDIT: Again I forget about...

Dan Forden...

After more than a decade's visual absence (his voice could still be heard in MK4, Deadly Alliance, Deception, and Shaolin Monks), Dan "Toasty" Forden returns to the forefront of the franchise to provide us with the world's most nasally jump-scare once more. In this reboot, he is now wearing a shirt with a literal image of toast, signifying his gradual evolution into his namesake much like Reptile and Smoke before him. Speaking of Smoke, Forden's switched to a gray shirt as a nod to the alliance the two of them struck back in the 3D era. Their team-up was one of the highlights of Armageddon's plot, so to see the dev team backport elements of it into the new timeline is nice.

---

And there you have it. A game of visual highs and lows...so another Mortal Kombat game. Though MK9 is the first of the current reboot trilogy (and probably more to come), I'd argue there wouldn't be a true design paradigm shift until the next game released four years later.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

Despite the name, this is not the Mortal Kombat game to introduce X-ray moves.

...This is what happens when you have no idea how to start a post.

We return to our kostume rundown with the first Mortal Kombat game to see exclusive release on eighth-generation systems. One part loose retelling of Mortal Kombat 4, one part soft reboot to the cosmic reboot, Mortal Kombat X takes place over 20 years after the events of Mortal Kombat 9, where we now see Raiden and the other surviving defenders of Earthrealm do battle against Quan Chi, Shinnok, and the forces of the Netherrealm. Joining them are a menagerie of new kharacters, half of whom are descendants or students of old veterans. This game is, in a word, gritty. All Mortal Kombat games are edgy, but this may be the first one since perhaps the original to really feel grungy, if that makes any sense. The models are more realistic than before. The color palette is far less saturated (keeping in line with NRS' prior game, Injustice: Gods Among Us). The kostumes, while still sporting an assortment of belts and trinkets, have gone for more "weathered" looks. I'd argue it's the first non-DC mainline game in the series to really feel of a new era since Deadly Alliance. Thankfully, finding full-body renders for most of the playable kharacters was far less of a hassle than it was for this game's predecessor, though the lighting of the renders can make the game look less colorful than it actually is. Conversely, there are kharacters that only have concept art for full-body images and they make the game look more colorful than it actually is.

Fair warning to those reading ahead, some of the images and stills used for this threadmarked post and the ones that follow it are a bit gorier than usual due to me sourcing from arcade endings. With the introduction out of the way, let's get to our returning warriors.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S62IDJBdGWA

Liu Kang...

This may be the most drastic overhaul for our Shaolin friend since he started wearing red. For the first time since MK4, Liu Kang is wearing a shirt, and unlike his spartan tank top from the former game, he's gained a tunic in his signature colors. Said tunic is black on red on black and sports a dragon pattern. It's a suitable look for Earthrealm's former champion...but technically, it's not his real look in the game. As MKX takes place after the mass slaughter (another one) that occurred in the last third of MK9's story, Liu Kang is one of several kombatants turned into Revenants, undead servants of Quan Chi with just enough free will to reject the heroic ideals of their past lives. As MKX starts its plot with a few of the Revenants restored to their living selves, NRS opted to give everyone "what if" kostumes depicting how they would look if they had survived past their prime -- possibly as a means of subverting spoilers on who died to begin with and who would be resurrected. For the purposes of the kharacter select screen, Liu Kang gets to be a middle-aged Shaolin monk who didn't fall prey to his inner demons. It's a fine update for Raiden's chosen champion. I like the little bits of continuity from his other kostumes as well, such as the leg bindings, the brown wristguards, and of course the red headband.

Raiden...

Raiden's largely traded the metal and leather shoulder pads of past designs for raw ornate patterning of fabric. His overtunic has gained a lightning and cloud motif to really hammer in the God of Thunder moniker. The rope belts of the MKvsDCU design have also returned, giving Raiden...ropes, err earthly bindings, let's call them that. His shinguards and wristguards have also gained extensive gold embossing. His hat also appears to have gained a deeper shape, and the render seen above gives viewers a glimpse at the interior of the hat, including a head brace to provide an explanation for just how such a thing stays on Raiden's cowled head at all times. I like this design a fair deal for achieving the often-difficult balancing act of making a kostume look gritty and fantastical at the same time. Really, Raiden's probably got more going on in the MKX design than he's had in any of his previous designs outside of Deadly Alliance. It's not even a particularly huge departure from the previous game's design, they've got the same general color layout and everything. This kostume is just taking advantage of the 8th generation systems' power to really add more detail where it wasn't as present before, but also had the foresight to tie the added detail back into an actual longstanding kharacter element of Raiden. Simple conveying of personality through kharacter design at work.

Dark Raiden...

Finally, a game with a color palette as dark as Dark Raiden. He's swapped out the navy blue for extensive red and gold trim everywhere, his decked-out hat very much included. I'm so used to seeing him in MKX with its less saturated colors that I hardly even noticed the red on his armor. Good thing we've got concept art to help us out. His black armor is decked out with additional red plating (plating that's closer to a very dark oxblood shade in-game) that honestly wouldn't look out of place on Shao Kahn; it wouldn't surprise me if the art team took some inspiration from Dark Raiden for the latter's design in MK11. I like it, it's angry, militarized, take-no-prisoners Raiden once more. I do miss the tattered cape, though I suppose since the rebooted timeline's Raiden never wears one to begin with it makes sense to forgo it.

Sonya...

I don't even know what to say.

It's Sonya dressed in actual military attire, and it's great. Just a hardened warrior dressed to kick you in the face with those combat boots. This might be the biggest U-turn in designs between MK9 and MKX, and I think it paid off. General Sonya Blade has risen up the ranks of the Outer World Investigation Agency to train the next generation of kombatants, including her and Johnny's daughter Cassie and Jax's daughter Jacqui. She's come a long way and I'm proud of her. If there's any problem with this design, it's that it's maybe too grounded, and I'm only saying that because it's mostly all black. Suitable for the hyper-serious professional Sonya is (especially in this game), but a splash of green might've added just the right amount of flair. Shout-outs to her new hat and that incredibly long braid she's sporting.

Johnny Cage...

Much like Liu Kang, Johnny's also taken some steps away from the template MKII set for him. His exercise pants have been retired for military gear, reflecting his shift from fish-out-of-water martial arts movie star to committed member of the Special Forces. Thankfully, his new attire made sure to keep his signature color prominent. Seeing Johnny with a shirt on in his default outfit is one of those rare occurrences, like a cleanshaven leprechaun. It's an action movie Johnny for the action movie that MKX's story mode basically is. The vest keeps things from looking too simple and the arm wrappings have been retained to keep continuity with the older designs (and they've been paired up with some fingerless gloves for good measure). This is as good as "normal" Johnny Cage with his usual color scheme is probably ever going to look without literally just being a dude in black jeans.

Scorpion... Hanzo Hasashi...

While many of the "normal" veterans got more restrained looks, the ninjas largely look like themselves. Even this game can't override the power of yellow. Scorpion's default here has traded that spandexy fabric everyone in MK9 had for straps out the wazoo. Even his shoulder pads have straps. It almost makes the pants look a little naked by comparison. I'd say my favorite parts of this design are around the head. In some bout of possibly nostalgic inspiration, the designers opted to make Scorpion's cowl into more of a reaper's hood (evoking his looser cowl from MK1, if possibly accidentally) and outfitted him with a golden mask featuring ornate detailing. It's interesting to see how shiny the mask looks compared to how weathered the rest of his kostume is. It's probably the most "take a general template and apply next-gen grit to it" redesign in the game, and I'd say it works. Scorpion looks like Scorpion, and no amount of art style shifts will ever change that. It should be noted that he never actually wears this kostume in the game's story mode. Thanks to the intervention of Raiden and Sonya, Scorpion is no more, and Hanzo Hasashi reigns. We get an actual human form of the Shirai Ryu grandmaster seen in the mainline games (beyond ending stills) for the first time:

Hanzo's look is a less armored (and unmasked!) version of the default Scorpion. In some respects, I prefer it. It toes the line between evoking the familiar (the overtunic is pretty klassic now that I take a look at it) and doing something completely different -- seriously, we got unmasked Scorpion without his head being a skull for once. It's Scorpion with the roughly 20 years of skeleton motifs peeled away to restore the man within.

Sub-Zero...

Kuai Liang has been restored to his human self after a bout with cyberization. His general kostume layout from MK9 has been retained, though the softer cloth has been supplanted by what I will affectionately refer to as ridged bubble leather. The outfit is adorned with what might be the Dragon Medallion (the power-enhancing artifact Kuai Liang gained upon becoming Grandmaster in the original timeline), which is a nice touch. Also of note are the menagerie of knives on Sub-Zero's wristguards and the return of our old friend, metal-plated boots. Sub-Zero's cowl has even retained the tassels to evoke the design of a headband, maintaining some distinctiveness for his silhouette once again. This might actually be my favorite default design for Kuai Liang, but again I must stress that this kostume is not featured prominently in the game beyond the select screen and promotional material. Once he stops being a Revenant, Kuai Liang usually looks like this in the story mode:

The suspenders have been perfected. It's glorious. I almost wish they'd gone with this for the default, 'cause now fewer people will know the glory of Billy Mays Sub-Zero. Really, it's a nice take on the MK3 look. Lots of silver to complement the blue -- including some pretty snowflake designs on the pads* -- and his black pants have some simple but effective blue trim on the front, a design element that reminds me of the older games in just how simple but pretty it is. A good retooling all around.

*Upon taking a closer look today (Sept. 6th, 2021), I can say that those are in fact not snowflakes but actual text. My bad.

Reptile...

One of my favorite things about this series is just waiting for a new entry to drop so I can see what crazy stuff they do with Reptile. All things considered, Reptile didn't get too wild in this entry. It seems someone on the design team got nostalgic for his Deadly Alliance alt, 'cause the bones are back en vogue. They're amusingly layered in a similar way to his old ninja tunics, which inadvertently gives the outfit more of a "modernized" look than the aforementioned alt. Reptile seems to have gained some gold trim around his belt and wristguards, which helps his outfit look a little more readable from a distance given how dark it is now. Of all the kharacters in this game, Reptile seems to have gotten hit the hardest by this game's desaturation initiative and his default outfit actually sports no green for the first time since MK4. In a game with colors this muted, I do wonder how green on green would've even looked. The black works, Reptile just feels a little naked without his signature color on his clothing.

While Reptile's facial features seem to have gotten marginally more humanlike (and that's largely down to the eyes being more front-facing again), he's otherwise retained the scaly skin and birdlike mask that he had in MK9. I actually really do like how his mask opens up on its own to allow him to use his tongue and acid spit with minimal fuss. Not a bad take on our lizard friend, though I'd personally add just a few streaks of green on the outfit proper to help it pop more.

...Oh, and since people brought it up earlier, I guess I'll do a brief comparison of Reptile's retro skins in this game and MK4:

Gosh, I did not intend to do so many alternate showcases today. Anyways, both games opted to give Reptile klassic alts based on his appearance in UMK3, but retained his reptilian features underneath the outfit. Both of these kostumes are technically off-model. MK4's rendition retains the general silhouette better, but replaced the black undersuit with one in dark green, adding a third shade of green to Reptile. I do like the shade of green used, but it might have been one shade too many for the late 90s graphics featured in MK4. Would love to see NRS try it again in a modern game, though. MKX's take keeps the old color scheme for the suit, but makes various minor tweaks: thinner lines on the wristguards and tunic pads, and a higher raised mask (also segmented to accommodate Reptile's moveset and pre-match dialogue). Most of these alterations are present on the UMK3 kostumes for Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Ermac as well, though I'd say Reptile's new mask is an improvement over the oversized cloth masks the others got. I like to pretend that this kostume is basically an MK4 skin for Reptile given it actually retained all of his nonhuman features unlike the similar kostume in MK9 that made Reptile look (mostly) like an average human to match the original trilogy.

Kano...

The art team opted to give Kano a spartan redesign. At least that's what I would say were it not for the big honking heart reactor on his chest. They totally stole that from Hsu Hao and don't think anyone at NRS cares that they did. Our mercenary "friend" here has forgone his MK3-inspired get-up for simple dark camo pants and combat boots, with some metal plating to give his top half something to occupy itself with. The Tower render itself doesn't really show it due to how Kano's posed, but his cybernetic eye implant has gotten extremely busy in this game. A sizable portion of his face's right side has been overtaken by this hunking piece of steel. It honestly looks kind of painful. I don't really have anything extensive to say about Kano, the design is fine but oh my gosh that's a lot of metal.

Kitana...

Hey look, it's Osu 16 Bit's old avatar. I've always gotten an Egyptian vibe from this outfit and frankly, I think it's just the gold ornamentation around Kitana's neck and forehead making me think that. This is a pretty snazzy redesign, one that feels the most regal and "ninja" of any of her default kostumes. She's got pants now. Standard sexy female ninja pants with the sides cut out, but pants! Honestly, the whole outfit looks like parts got cut out given she's basically wearing a bra with some tassels of fabric attached at the front and some gratuitous shoulder armor thrown in for good measure...but I don't hate it? The colors complement each other well, and there's enough fabric that the designers can actually apply additional visual details, like the wood around the waist. I love the mask and the hair sticks and the intricately detailed gloves and the leggings. I'm surprised at how restrained they were with her shoes; just slightly raised sandals compared to the stilettos she's donned in most of her other appearances post-1999. Of all the fantasy comic book ninja princess kostumes with a gray-blue hue, this one may be my favorite.

Mileena...

Mileena's also discovered pants, and they're quite nice. I like the carved stripes on them, which match the similar stripes on her loincloth. Mileena's design in general looks rougher, appropriate given she's an ex-ruler of Outworld with a dwindling amount of allies in the wake of Shao Kahn's death. This story development is possibly reflected in the loss of gold trim. She's largely down to more patrician attire with the most ornate part of her kostume being her Shao Kahn helmet-styled gold belt. Even Mileena's mask looks more stitched together, flouting the post-match plot magic other kharacters have to repair damaged clothing. A great retooling for the one-time Kahnum of Outworld.

Jax...

Jax hasn't changed too much. He's gotten more layered cybernetic arms (with an American flag wrapped around one of them) and a military vest, the latter of which makes me think of his depiction in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. Don't let this short write-up fool you, this is one of my favorite Jax designs. It definitely gives Jax some additional panache that demonstrates his military background.

Kung Lao...

I've seen so little of MKX's full-body renders over the years that I frankly just assumed Kung Lao's pants were black or red. Little did I know how similar the aged Kung Lao's color palette was to many of his prior designs. Primary difference from his MKII template this time around is that Kung Lao's got actual sleeves. It's a nice retooling of his look. I dig the red padding(?) on his shoulders and the silver dragon design and buttons on the front of his jacket. No real complaints on this one, it's just a solid reworking all around.

...I should note that his hair is far grayer in the actual game than it is in this render, though.

Ermac...

I do find it interesting that Ermac's default design in this game looks like an evolution of Ermac's alternate from MK9, hood and all. Ermac looks like an evil sorcerer (despite his alignment being closer to neutral at worst in this game) and I'd say that's about all he needs. Seriously, the longcoat is great. The loss of the mummy mask is disappointing, though Ermac now looks like a decaying mummy without it I guess. I believe there's lore on this, but Ermac should be weakening due to his creator Shao Kahn being out of the picture. I'm happy to say that I find the red/black balance handled better here than it was in MK9. I also like that his tunic has similar patterning as his robes in Deception and Armageddon, just with gold trim instead of red trim. Loss of ninja wrapping aside, I think this is a solid redesign.

Quan Chi...

The symmetrical shoulder blades are back with a vengeance. Quan Chi is back serving under Shinnok once more and it seems he reunited with his old chestpiece, now adorned with the skull of some unknown creature. He's still shirtless mind you, just with a lot of belts around his torso in place of his old robes. His spiked kneepads have been swapped out will skull kneepads, because Quan Chi has to look like the edgiest necromancer on your local music store's metal album. Lucky for him this is a Mortal Kombat game so he fits right in. The lighting on the render maybe doesn't do justice to how detailed his kilt is. It's pleated layers of metal with gold-trimmed black flames across the pleats with the centerpiece looking like some kind of dragon's tongue. It's rather impressive now that I'm taking a closer look at it. Quan Chi had mostly been treading water visually for the last decade, so this new design is a welcome change of pace.

Shinnok...

Returning for his first main villain role in a fighting game since MK4 is the fallen Elder God and ruler of the Netherrealm. He's gone for a far more overtly dark design, with a crown that calls to mind the horns of Maleficent. His color scheme has also gotten darker, (sadly) ditching the blue and bright red for the more traditionally evil black and blood red with tons of gold trim. The design on his boots looks like a dozen Venn diagrams overlaid atop one another. I like the look, though there is something understated in the less obviously evil appearance of his wizard design in Armageddon and MK9. Thankfully, Shinnok's Wrathful kostume approximates the look well enough (though keeps the default design's penchant for exposed sides and black instead of blue).

As Shinnok has settled into the role of final boss again, NRS saw fit to give players the ability to fight him in a form that would give him the size increase Ed Boon apparently saw as necessary for endgame opponents:

From demonic goat mantis to goat lava golem thing. Shinnok's ascended form, referred to as Corrupted Shinnok in MKX, was first seen in Mythologies: Sub-Zero where Bi-Han basically had no choice but to flee from the nigh-implacable being. Now, you face off against a Shao Kahn-sized version of this form as the true final boss of MKX's story and arcade modes. It's weird that Shinnok's loincloth goes from black and gold to red with a transformation, but the red stands out against the dark flesh more so I'll allow it. The horned crown becomes actual horns to fit Shinnok's devilish aspirations and his Amulet is located within his torso. It's simply there for the purposes of whichever selected player kharacter painfully yanking it out of Shinnok upon his defeat. Corrupted Shinnok does remind me of Dark Kahn from MKvsDCU a fair deal, though I'd argue Shinnok here has a more distinct look due to not being exclusively gray and orange.

Kenshi...

And now we have the sole returning veteran from Deadly Alliance (in the base roster). Kenshi has taken grooming tips from Kuai Liang and also grown a beard to be feared. Equally impressive is his new decked-out attire. Kenshi's embraced a longcoat over a new bodysuit and I must say it worked quite nicely. Once again, the designers didn't hesitate to keep the red prominent even when the black could've easily overtaken the design. If anything, he's probably got more red on him than in any other default design. Much like Ermac, I do wonder if Kenshi's new default kostume took some inspiration from an alt in MK9; in Kenshi's case, an alt only available in the Vita version of the game that also sported a longcoat (sort of) and prominent shoulder pads. The design here is a lot more armored, so armored that it wouldn't have been too out of place in the 3D games where Kenshi made his name. Funny how things pan out.

---

That's it for the launch roster's returning kharacters. I'll be back with the downloadable and mobile game-exclusive playable fighters. Thank you all for your patience.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

Round 2, begin!


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S62IDJBdGWA

Downloadable kharacters

Goro...

After nearly a decade without an official playable appearance, the Shokan prince returns as day one DLC. Joy.

Goro has returned to wearing his yin-yang belt (or something that looks very similar from a distance) while retaining his then-recent penchant for red loincloths. Said loincloth is a lot more weathered and asymmetrical compared to the clean look it had in MK9. Goro's spiked armaments have also been replaced with comparatively more practical ridged metallic ones. It's a "restrained" redesign for Goro, who's looking scalier and sweatier than ever.

Tanya...

The metallic yellow and black are dancing with each other and it's a sight to behold. Tanya, after an extended vacation and a prominent appearance in MKX's story mode (where she had lighter skin and no whited-out eyes for some reason), returned as the first non-guest fighter of Kombat Pack 1. Her attire has taken on a sort of leathery...something. Really just a layered fantasy crop top and dark pants with a modified sarong for good measure, with nothing but yellow and black and a dash of gold to fight for supremacy. It's impressive how interesting you can make an outfit look with just two major colors. Even the heels serve a purpose due to their use in one of the series' gnarliest Fatalities. Welcome back, Tanya.

Tremor...

Our brown ninja Lin Kuei has finally made it to the big leagues. Six mainline games and two rounds of DLC after his 2000 debut, Tremor has arrived to take a fully playable role and gains a completely unique design of his own. It's a mix of MK ninja gear with some Black Dragon grit. Look at those combat boots. Actually, no. Look at those striped pants. Tremor is very brown in this game. His kostume has about four different shades alone, worn over his brown earth Elemental skin. He's like an action figure sculpted out of mud. The sides of his kilt notably have a quilted pattern akin to the MKII ninjas' overtunics. It's a fine redesign for the last of the Tobias-era ninjas, and thanks to the Variation system, Tremor's skin can gain a golden or crystalline texture that helps him stand out more.

Bo' Rai Cho...

Bo' Rai Cho was made playable again with the arrival of Kombat Pack 2 as the sole returning kharacter of that bunch (err, sort of). His design has gone for something a little more ostentatious than his garb in MK9, but not to the same extent as his default from his later 3D-era days. The kostume itself seems to be a mix of Deadly Alliance and Deception's color schemes, a mostly humble shirt and vest with brown pants and some gold trim. If anything, the angling of the Tower render belies the level of detail present on the kostume; there's some fairly intricate patterning on the shirt's front and sleeves. It's a clean look overall and one befitting of Bo' Rai Cho. Bo' Rai Cho himself has generally been depicted as a sagely and competent mentor figure in canon in spite of his drunken master archetype and the longstanding toilet humor prevalent in his moveset, so the design works.

Triborg...

And so we meet the Chameleon/Khameleon equivalent of the Cyber Lin Kuei. Triborg is basically an updated version of the Cyber Lin Kuei's designs from MK9, but with much more monochromatic armor. He's a chimera of a robot, containing the data of Cyrax, Sektor, and Cyber Smoke. Not only does he have access to their moves, but his Variations allow him to effectively take their forms, which means I have to compare all of them with their prior designs.

Cyrax

Cyrax himself passed away in between games as detailed in the MKX comic series, and it seems his data was retrieved by the remnants of the Lin Kuei in the interim. Triborg's LK-4D4 Variation retains many of the design elements that Cyrax gained in the reboot, most notably the perpetually glowing green eyes. There's far less yellow armoring around the lower torso area while also adding more yellow around the crotch, inadvertently creating another bikini situation for our metallic friend here. The armor itself looks to have a more gold finish this time around, which is a neat change of pace if nothing else.

Sektor

Sektor's shoulder pads have been largely downplayed and his/Triborg's body has taken more cues from Cyrax's. One element consistent between the Variations is glowing lights on the chest and sides of the legs that match the cyborgs' respective eye colors. Also, the cyborgs' plating looks a lot more weathered in this game despite the shinier exterior, with missing paint visible.

Cyber Smoke

Despite Cyber Smoke not existing in the post-Armageddon timeline, the Lin Kuei have seemingly gained his data for Triborg's programming. Eh, it's better not to think about it too hard. "Cyber Smoke" has basically gotten the reboot glow-up that his brethren got previously. It's odd to see how Cyber Smoke's palette gets darker with each redesign, going from that bluish purple in MK3 to the navy blue in Deception to an onyx-hued gray in MKX. I'd argue this Variation looks a little too similar to base Triborg. Odd as it could be, the old MK3 colors might've fared better to differentiate three/four largely similar recolored forms.

Cyber Sub-Zero

I love secret fighters. Having Triborg's opponent be Sub-Zero on the kharacter select screen will reveal a fourth Variation -- the only fourth Variation in the game -- for Triborg to utilize, that being Kuai Liang's former robot form. Our Cyber Sub-Zero surrogate here has forgone the blue and silver color scheme for a combination of black and a lighter shade of blue. Not bad, but Cyber Sub-Zero had such a (relatively) unique look in MK9, so it's a bit sad to see it as homogenized as the others.

And that's it for the playable fighters of the console and PC versions of Mortal Kombat X. Launched shortly before the console/PC version was the mobile game aptly titled Mortal Kombat Mobile (originally just titled Mortal Kombat X like the home versions before dropping the "X" as the mobile game would get support into MK11's lifecycle). It largely retained the roster of the HD versions but also added in a few exclusive playable kharacters, some of whom were already featured in the main game in other ways, and some who were not.

Mobile-exclusive playable kharacters

Jade...

An apparition of Jade does appear in Kitana's Tower ending in the home versions, but she's just decked out in her MK9 attire. For her appearance in the mobile game, the designers have given Jade a whole new look. She's dressed in what I will colloquially refer to as a halter top corset with gold trim galore, and in a series first, she's got pants. Lovely pants that have a nice spandexy look to them. I like that they seem to have retained her MK9 mask, and the gold plating around her arms is a nice touch. It might just be the general glossiness of the 2D art at play, but Jade's kostume here looks like it would've fit right in with everyone else's threads in MK9 due to all of the shiny fabric. In this case, that's not a bad thing. That's not a bad thing at all.

Baraka...

The Deception influence is palpable. The armored chestplate, red pants, and loincloth (take a shot) return, souped-up with added plating and tons of rope. Probably one of the first notable reworkings of a 3D-era kostume in the reboot trilogy that wasn't just a direct port like Quan Chi's MK9 default. All in all, it's a nice retool of one of my favorite Baraka designs.

Kintaro...

He's gone back to just rocking the black undies and that seems to be the primary difference between the MKX and MK9 designs. What I think is more notable is the fact that Kintaro seems to have graying fur on some areas of his body, including the sides of his head. Kintaro's got old man sideburns and you can't change my mind.

Shao Kahn...

Shao Kahn is largely unchanged in promotional renders outside of the black stripe on his loincloth becoming more prominent. In the mobile game proper, his model's helmet may have a slightly different crest shape, but that's about it as far as I can tell.

Freddy Krueger...

And now we can talk about the series' second proper guest fighter. As part of MK9's DLC rollout, horror movie icon Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street appeared to terrorize his fellow violence addicts. Generally in fighting game franchises guests are one-time deals, but Freddy was able to sneak back into Mortal Kombat via the mobile game. His appearance in the mobile game was initially largely unchanged from his MK9 design, which was itself heavily based on Jackie Earl Haley's likeness as Freddy from the 2010 Elm Street remake. At some point during the mobile game's life, Freddy's design was updated to more closely match the features of his original portrayer Robert Englund, seen above on the far right. I'm no Elm Street aficionado and I really don't want to rank the likenesses of actual people, so I'm not going to say which "kostume" is better.

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Thank you for your patience. Next time we'll cover the non-playable kharacters featured in the home and mobile versions of the game. Happy Juneteenth, everyone.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

NeoChaos Did the images ever show up on your end?

And we now return to discuss the final batch of kharacters for this game. Content warning for some gory images below.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S62IDJBdGWA

Non-playable kharacters

Shang Tsung...

Shang Tsung appears in multiple kharacter endings. In Ermac's ending, he's butt-naked. In Erron Black's ending, he basically looks exactly like his young self did in MK9. But in Raiden's ending, he appears again with a slightly modified outfit. The gold patterning and red trim are gone from the top of the kostume is what I mean to say. Moving on.

Smoke...

Smoke was one of several MK kharacters to fall victim to Sindel's lunacy in the last part of MK9's story mode and not come back as playable fighters in MKX. Since Smoke died in his more armored alt kostume, his Revenant form keeps it. Smoke's alt was always pretty interesting, opting for a darker gray and a more traditional cowl and mask to evoke the standard Lin Kuei appearance. I generally prefer his default for having a more unique look with the flowing hair, but the alt is fine as well. All Revenants in MKX have glowing yellow eyes and veins, and I'd say "Enenra" here got a neat color contrast because of them. The middle picture above is a non-Revenant Smoke making a brief appearance through Mortal Kombat X's Faction Kill gameplay feature. He's still rocking the MK9 alt.

Stryker...

Stryker is largely unchanged outside of being, you know, undead and all.

Nightwolf...

His wristguards have somehow gotten darker than they were before. His tomahawks also take on a sinister red glow when used in cutscenes.

Kabal...

Largely unchanged, and the nature of the Revenants brings up a few issues. Was Jax "reborn" with his prosthetics, or did two of his fellow servants of darkness just rip his arms off again upon resurrection? And Kabal is still rocking his respirator and visibly burned skin (now with glowing lesions, 'cause that's not horrifying), which makes Cyber Sub-Zero getting a new organic body -- due to the artificial one being incompatible with Quan Chi's magic over a long period of time -- feel like very auspicious fortuity on Kuai Liang's part.

Sindel...

The only non-playable Revenant to actually get a notably modified design, Sindel's new threads are basically a composite between her default from MK9 (as seen above on the left) and her mesh-heavy alternate kostume from the same game. Mesh has been added to her torso and arms to provide modesty, and it looks like a layer of mesh has been outfitted against the purple armor itself, giving it an interesting texture when viewed up close. Her neck also has some black fabric around it. Not a bad take on her MK9 default.

Rain...

The Armageddon influence came back with a vengeance. Rain's sporting a hard mask that's stretched out enough to kind of look like a veil, which is a design element just out-there enough for me to appreciate. His cloak-cape from Armageddon also returns, though applied to a bare back this time around. I'm really digging the gold ornamentation he's got around, especially the lightning bolt insignia at the end of his loincloth (likely referencing his longtime Shocking Bolt/Lightning/Purple Pain attack). Another princely fashion success for Edenia's biggest douchebag.

Fujin...

I had to post the in-game model because holy smokes his pants are not as blue in the game as they are in the concept art. Does anyone else notice how when any work of fiction opts to go for "realistic" shades, blue is always the first color to get darkened to the point where it barely looks blue anymore? Anyway, Fujin's gotten his first wholly new design of the post-Armageddon era, and it's largely following a similar color template as all the other designs. Though this time, the red is slightly downplayed due to the large black straps overlaid atop (the straps seem to be larger in the final game than they are in the concept art). He's also got metal wristguards and shinguards as per the Mortal Kombat standard, plus a thin headband. Not a bad redesign, but one whose color scheme maybe suffered due to this game's palette not favoring vibrant blues.

Sareena...

Sareena appears during the story mode as an ally of Special Forces attempting to relocate Outworld refugees before she helps Sonya and co. fight off the Revenants. Her whole deal with Quan Chi and the Brotherhood of Shadow is decades old by this point in this timeline, which does make her continued wearing of the uniform a bit confusing, but I digress. It's a pleasant redesign that adds more red by virtue of the added accessories like the sleeves. Her corset is longer and less form-fitting and her boots have also been made shorter, with the rest of the leg fabric length handled by tall stockings that I mistook for pants for years. By all accounts, this is just the Armageddon design with some added fabric thrown on. This is also my favorite Sareena design because it's just the Armageddon design with some added fabric thrown on. No more ass window!

Li Mei...

Our Outworld everywoman has returned as a representative of her displaced people during the Netherrealm War. Li Mei's design in MKX seems to be taking more inspiration from Deadly Alliance than Deception, and as such we see the return of segmented patterning on the pants (plus the presence of pants in general) and a sash. Her design is far less visually busy than it was in Deadly Alliance -- excessive amounts of body straps aside, which makes me wonder if whoever specifically happened to be in charge of designing her and Bi-Han liked straps. Less derivatively, Li Mei's dressed in what I can only surmise to be a changshan crop top with a purple and black color scheme. It's a rather low-key design for her, though she's not playable here and in the context of this timeline is seemingly just another Outworld citizen. It is interesting if nothing else to see her heels and notice the dichotomy at play between the Earthrealm women -- who are largely Special Forces and never wear them in their defaults in this game or MK11, former stiletto lover Sonya included -- and the non-Earthrealm women. Even the non-kombatants seem to have them by default, whether the players ever really see their feet in-game or not.

Frost...

After over a decade of rocking the same outfit, Frost finally gets a new uniform. It's basically got the same general look as her old one, just with Sub-Zero's bubble fabric applied to it and the black spandex extending around her sides to reduce the sideboob. A good reworking of one of Deadly Alliance's better newcomer default kostumes, and fortuitous too as MKX would be the last game to date to feature a traditional Frost upfront.

Blaze...

Yeah, remember when I said Blaze's more golem-like appearance in Armageddon would serve as the template for his subsequent looks? I apparently had a lapse in memory, 'cause the Blaze we have here (seen in the background of the Pit X stage) just looks like a charred man on fire.

Shujinko...

Spoiler: Content Warning: Blood Ahead

Shujinko appears in Cassie's ending, where Dark Raiden sics her on him to stop him from inadvertently releasing Onaga. Outside of some lighter trim on his robes, his design seems unchanged.

Taven...

Taven, one of the sons of Edenia's Protector God Argus, was the lead kharacter of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon's Konquest Mode. Awakened to defeat Blaze and bring balance to the realms before the other kombatants' squabbling destroys them, Taven's got a pretty low-key design. Black robes with some snazzy gold trim and a necklace, and that design was kept for his appearance in Kenshi's MKX ending. Not a bad design, just very basic. His golden dragon armor alt from Armageddon definitely stood out more.

Daegon...

Spoiler: Content Warning: Gore Ahead

And now we have Taven's brother and founder of the Red Dragon Clan, Daegon. His design is certainly a lot more elaborate. I always dug his coat cape, and the studded shoulder pads and wristguards are cool as well. After appearing as a background cameo in MK9's Pit stage, Daegon appeared alongside his brother in Kenshi's ending -- the man being decapitated in the rightmost image seen above is Argus -- where known Red Dragon-hater Kenshi slays him. His appearance in MKX darkens his pants considerably and provides him a new armored kilt, and while the ending image is a bit fuzzy, his shoulder pad studs are far more jagged than they were in Armageddon as well. I'd also point out the lack of gold insignia on his belt, but another still shows him with it.

Suchin...

Spoiler: Content Warning: Gore Ahead

Suchin was Kenshi's late wife and the mother of newcomer Takeda. She made her first on-screen appearance in the MKX comic, protecting a young Takeda from Red Dragon members before dying of a gunshot wound. In MKX the game, she appears in Kenshi's Tower ending, getting impaled by Daegon. In the comic, she was dressed in a light T-shirt and long black skirt, while in the game she appears wearing a purple kimono.

And finally, we have four former fighters and an NPK -- the latter previously exclusive to non-game media -- who only made card appearances in the mobile game:

Noob Saibot...

Noob's basically wearing a black version of his brother's MKX uniform with a reaper hood. Clever way to reinforce a connection between the two and give Bi-Han a "new" design with minimal fuss.

Sheeva...

Featured in a Kombat Kard depicting her with her fellow Shokan, Sheeva's "cameo" just decked her out in her alt kostume of straps, hip guards, and a loincloth from MK9. It's a lateral move at best.

Khameleon...

Reptile's fellow Zaterran and possible "brood mate" has returned with an easy composite of her Trilogy and Armageddon designs: Mask and hair bun from the former, green outfit and translucent skin from the latter. Not bad, though I do miss the wild Medusa hair.

Meat...

Spoiler: Warning: Disturbing imagery ahead

I guess he never got that eye fixed. The rest of his head (image taken from a Kombat Kard, likely from Mortal Kombat Mobile) notably looks more developed for lack of a better term. Fuller lips, more visible cartilage. Kind of reminds me of Sebastian midway through Hollow Man.

King Gorbak...

Goro's occasionally seen father made his video game debut as a Kombat Kard after spending the preceding twenty years hanging out in the series' comic book adaptations. In between showing up for MKII and MKX's adaptations (where he generally wore a gold crown and either a magenta or red cape), Gorbak made his first appearance in moving visual media via the 1995 direct-to-video feature Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins. As The Journey Begins used CGI for all of its flashback sequences, Gorbak got to be rendered in 3D alongside his sons. For his brief appearance, he looked no different from the other Shokan, likely down to a cost-saving measure given his minimal screentime. The Kombat Kard headshot on the other hand would be more faithful to the 90s and 2010s comic designs for the kharacter, though a large red gem would be added to the center of the crown.

---

So that's that. We've gone over a lot of retools of kharacters, mostly the female kharacters, and some attempts at "grounding" these fantasy warriors. And it worked? Like, I can still recognize everyone. Liu Kang looks like Liu Kang, Scorpion and Sub-Zero still look like action figures, Mileena still looks like Mileena. Consistency of color scheme and personality traits as expressed through kostume design can do wonders for a lot of fictional characters, and even "gritty" games can indulge themselves in the fantastical. So that's it for Mortal Kombat X. Only one game remains.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

KAUTION CAUTION! OPEN SPOILERS FOR MORTAL KOMBAT 11 AND ITS DLC AHEAD! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Nine sequels, three spin-offs, and a whole lot of synonyms for "clothing" have all led up to this. Mortal Kombat 11, the most recent game in the series as of this writing, is our subject of discussion today. Taking place two years after the events of Mortal Kombat X, this entry continued the work of carrying over its "grounded" design sensibilities while also serving as a sort of culmination of the series as a whole up to this point. The narrative of this game revolves around a "time crash," forcing the older and wiser (and Revenant-ified) veterans of the series and their new-gen colleagues to face the old kombatants and their enemies in their prime. And due to the third act twist of MK9's story mode being an open spoiler through this game and the last, NRS dropped all pretenses and started treating the Revenant forms of kharacters as their defaults on the select screen. As such, we are going to approach this design breakdown a little differently.

Due to the numerous alternate counterparts for fighters' designs, we're going to mix in the "What if they lived to be old?" versions of MKX's kharacters with the non-Revenant MK9 and MK11 designs for those who don't have past and present versions in MK11. For those who do, I'll juxtapose the "past" version with the MK9 design and the "present" version with the MKX design. If this is confusing, I hope seeing it laid out in visuals will do the logic more justice than my words alone could.

Massive thanks to CommandThrower for providing me the full-body shots of the MK11 kast. By their own admission, they were missing Gear pieces and had to approximate some kharacters' looks, though, but the amount of work put in is greatly appreciated. Give them a hand, folks.

Without further ado, it's Kombat Time.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X68Wy4U017U

Liu Kang...

The Champion of Mortal Kombat is back once again to fight...himself. Who you're seeing above is a time-displaced Liu Kang brought into the present to face off against his Revenant counterpart, who recently appointed himself Emperor of the Netherrealm. The past versions of veterans are not drawn from the original timeline, but the rebooted timeline, circa the MKII portion of MK9's plot. And in standard Mortal Kombat fashion, veterans' attire during revisited moments is retconned. Liu Kang now dons a white shirt and black vest in addition to his traditional red and black pants, which have themselves gone back to a slightly more classic look. As far as "Liu Kang with a shirt" designs go, it's a happy medium between the more spartan look from MK4 and the more intricate elder Liu Kang seen in MKX. Simple, effective, and possibly my new favorite.

Liu Kang (Revenant)...

MK11's default Liu Kang is actually his Revenant form, though Revenant Liu Kang was first seen in MKX. Unlike the Revenants of MK9, MKX's renditions gave everyone who was playable new "evil" kostumes to wear, and Liu Kang opted for sleeveless body armor with some red fabric complementing it. Dark overlord of the Hell-equivalent sounds like an action figure, and that's kind of what Revenant Liu Kang is. Notably, the MK11 design posted above is supposed to be Liu Kang after he's taken over the Netherrealm, though it hews closer to the normal Revenant design from MKX than the designated Dark Emperor outfit. I prefer the silver lining of the MK11 kostume, though a part of me wishes they had integrated the red sash of the MKX version to keep more design consistency between Liu Kang's human and undead forms.

Liu Kang (Zombie)...

Speaking of undead forms, Liu Kang's zombie version (or a close enough facsimile of him) appears in one of Raiden's temporal visions of him and the monk coming to blows in each and every timeline. What appears to be the Pyramid of Argus shows up in the background of the area this version of Liu Kang is toasting Dark Raiden. No chains for this Liu Kang, but he has a really ornate belt and golden cuffs on what's basically a modernized take on his MK9 default design.

But, we're not done yet. At the end of MK11's story mode, we got yet another form of Liu Kang:

Fire God Liu Kang...

In Liu Kang's MK9 ending, the what-if possibility of him becoming the Protector God of Earthrealm was floated. In said ending, he takes on a red version of Raiden's attire from that game. Come MK11, the idea of Liu Kang as a deity was a hypothetical no longer. Fire God Liu Kang is the end result of Raiden passing on his godly powers to Past Liu Kang to kombat the threat of Kronika as a single entity (sort of). Fire God Liu Kang's attire is far more Liu Kang than Raiden, though in an amusing inversion, he's gained the former Thunder God's color scheme with the blue lining on the pants and the whitish tattoos. He also gains a bead necklace and carries what seems to be a straw hat of his own like a backpack. It's certainly a majestic take on the standard Liu Kang design. Even his headband has ornaments.

Raiden...

It's always interesting to see the designers reinterpret a kharacter's look while adhering to their general color scheme and layout, for lack of a better term. Raiden wears two colors, blue on white. That's how it's been since 1993 and I'm honestly impressed that they haven't run out of ideas on how to make it look fresh. This time, Raiden's got a leathery overtunic reminiscent of his vest in Mythologies: Sub-Zero, though with the separate blue parts trailing beside and behind him instead of merely in front of him. Gold trim is lining his vest and boots once again to elaborate effect. The way his boots kind of fold out at the top reminds me of Lucina from Fire Emblem as well now that I take a closer look at them. Also of note is Shinnok's amulet conspicuously adorned on his chest; said amulet was a war trophy taken by Dark Raiden after incapacitating Shinnok and all versions of Raiden in this game wear it as an accessory.

Dark Raiden...

Let me take a moment to give thanks to this game for having a more saturated color palette, because it's a lot easier to actually read the various colors that make up the kostumes. The red on Dark Raiden in MKX? Could barely make it out due to the mud filter everything in that game had. Now, it's a lot easier to notice. Dark Raiden in MK11 is basically just running with the militarized deity torch the prior design handed forth. I do like that there's a slight green tint to his armor in this game. Or maybe I'm colorblind. Regardless, the slightly brighter red and prominent gold plating make an amusingly colorful Dark Raiden, though that kind of works in his favor. He's not so much shamelessly evil as he is a very unreasonable extremist. He's the hero of his own story.

Sonya...

Sonya's probably gotten the least design changes to her kostume in this iteration. The black/midnight blue of her military suit in MKX has given way to a much brighter blue with segmented shades to make the uniform stand out. It's a marked improvement, though I'll miss her longer braid.

Sonya (Past)...

Sonya's MK9-era counterpart looks nothing like MK9 Sonya, and still manages to convey the OG trilogy look better. What we've got here feels like a composite of her MK3, Deadly Alliance, and Shaolin Monks designs, bringing headband Sonya and jacket Sonya together for the first time since 2005. It's a young military Sonya if she did underground fights on the side (which she actually does in this game). If I have any grievances with this take on Sonya (standard MK11 design in the middle image above), it's that it's a bit drab in its choice of colors. I know, I know, military fighter, but this is still meant to be "Klassic" Sonya. Some lime green on the pants and headband might've helped her stand out a little more.

Johnny Cage...

Much like Sonya, the elder Johnny's default design looks more like a recolor than a full-on refresh. The most notable change is that you can't get a glimpse of his "Johnny" tattoo anymore, though we've gained a new "Cage" belt buckle in exchange. His pants also have been adorned with kneepads, and his military boots are more visible due to his pants being tucked into them now. Despite mostly just being a color swap from his prior outfit and the presence of other "battle-ready" indicators like the visible dog tag and the aforementioned boots and kneepads, I feel like MK11 Johnny is the kind of guy who's more likely to be seen grilling than hanging around a military base. Like, it might just be the thinner vest and lack of arm wrappings speaking, but MK11 Johnny just looks like he wants to go for a drive to celebrate overcoming his midlife crisis.

Johnny Cage (Past)...

Meanwhile, this Johnny wants to party. Hot dang, I love this design for Johnny Cage. They brought back the white stripes on the pants that MK4's version had and his shinguards have returned to their brighter shade of blue. They even found a way to restore some blue around his waist without having it distract from the buckle. And let's not take anything away from that jacket. It's so shiny, and the three-tone patterning is lovely to look at. It's exactly what a douchebag in the 90s would wear. I'm a douchebag living in 2021, and I want that jacket. Past Johnny is the perfect flashy counterpart to his more reserved older self.

Scorpion...

Scorpion's traded his belt fixation for metal plating galore. While MK11 largely began to move away from featuring "non-canon" default designs for kharacters, series mascot Scorpion still got a "modern" spectre look to showcase in the reveal trailer that stuck as his appearance on the select screen. I must say, it's been interesting seeing Scorpion embrace red on his uniform, and it works surprisingly well. I like that they continued keeping his cowl looking like a ghostly hood, and his mask resembling the bottom portion of a skull even more than usual is cool.

Scorpion (Past)...

Sleek, simple, and to the point. I imagine NRS and Atomhawk Design had a lot of fun getting to delineate how certain kharacters would look during different parts of their lives. Past Scorpion is not a 1:1 recreation of the original trilogy looks, though it definitely hews closer to them than MK9's rendition did. Retaining the simple overtunic look of the first two games -- and due to how this game's fabric looks, it feels like an accidental homage to the 1995 film as well -- and the skull belt of MK4 (okay, it's closer to Armageddon's belt if anything), this Scorpion is a love letter to the Mortal Kombat of old. It might've risked overlapping with the default version a bit, but I would've personally given this kostume the UMK3 mask to truly make it a composite of the Tobias-era Scorpions. But as is, this is a nice, clean look with enough creative color coordination to not be as basic as the earlier arcade titles' designs.

Hanzo Hasashi...

Here is the proper present-day Scorpion seen in MK11's story mode. It's not too different from the default Scorpion sans mask, though there's less red on the loincloth and the metal plating on the shoulders is more prominent. Kind of wish they retained MKX Hanzo's headband to give him an extra splash of yellow.

Sub-Zero...

The cowl is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. The way it doubles as a hat is very unique compared to what Sub-Zero usually gets. I'm also digging the patterning on his shoulder pads, feels like there's a storm cloud motif going on with them there. I like that his knives have the same color scheme as the rest of his uniform. I also like that he's got some white to complement the blue and black this time around as well. Sub-Zero definitely got one of his more unique looks in this game.

Kuai Liang...

Unmasked Sub-Zero has a similar kostume to his masked version, though the similarities aren't as strong as they were between Scorpion and Hanzo. This kostume is "cleaner," for lack of a better term, and the white's even more prominent here with less ornate shoulder pads. And unlike Hanzo, he gets a headband. Not a bad alternate kostume, would like to see someone pair it with the default cowl and mask.

Kano...

Kano already had one of the less elaborate designs in MKX, and his incarnation in MK11 streamlines him further. No more camo pants, less clunky laser eye implant, smaller chest reactor. It works, though I do think MKX had the better chest reactor. And truth be told, Present Kano looks younger than he did in MKX.

Kano (Past)...

Probably the first MK11 nostalgia overhaul that more or less matches the MK9 nostalgia overhaul (which means MK3 Kano makes out like a bandit again). MK11's take probably hews closer to the original due to having more fabric in the chest area and maintaining the shoulder pads of doom, to say nothing of the fact that we've got bald Kano in a canon setting for the first time since 1996. Probably the most faithful of the Past warrior redesigns.

---

And that's all for now. I'll return with the other veterans later, but I have to take a break from the internet. Thank you all for your patience.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

We're back with the base game kharacters hailing from Mortal Kombat's sequels.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgT1Ffl-KP4

Kitana...

It seems Kitana and Kasumi from Dead or Alive have been shopping at the same store, given their recent penchant for black and blue bodysuits. Seeing Kitana with actual pants is surreal to say the least. The kostume itself is fine, though notably less ornate than MKX's rendition despite having more surface area to work with. I appreciate the various nods to prior Kitana designs with MK11's Past Kitana: the headband from MKII, the top bun and hair sticks from UMK3 (or in the case of the hair sticks, MK9's take on the UMK3 female ninja uniform), the extensive black segmenting from MKvsDCU, and the mask's silver trim from MK9. Even the bodysuit's shade of blue is closer to the arcade games and Shaolin Monks after several years of gray-blue and baby blue default outfits. Speaking of silver trim, I find that they complement the new boots and wristguards quite nicely. If I have any real gripe with this design, it's the return of the stiletto heels after MKX introduced the tabi sandals. Would've liked to have seen the sandals return to keep Kitana a bit more ninja-esque, though in fairness the boots are closer to what she had in MK9. Another sleek redesign that somehow straddles the line between throwback and evolution.

Kitana (Revenant)...

Our second Revenant, and the first from MKII. I've generally ignored the undead kombatants' appearances from MK9 because they're just grayer, eviler versions of their usual selves compared to the more unique kostumes they'd receive in later sequels. With that said, I've got three images above for Kitana and two other kharacters solely because the kostumes they died in/were reanimated in during MK9 were alternate kostumes. Above on the far left is Revenant Kitana sporting the alt I mentioned way back in early June, bell sleeves and all. Interestingly enough, her regular appearance as a Revenant in MKX took more cues from the preceding game's default kostume for Kitana, effectively looking like a Revoltized and slightly more conservative take on the bodice and loincloth. MK11's take would in turn draw cues from its predecessor's Dark Empress Kitana skin, giving her actual armor to be more in line with Liu Kang and Kung Lao. Unlike Dark Empress Kitana, this Kitana embraces the deeper shade of blue more openly, embellishing it with liberal streaks of silver. It succeeds in looking like a twisted version of Past Kitana's default attire, right down to the shoulder pads and fingerless gloves.

Jade...

After largely being a nonentity in MKX's console/PC version, Kitana's longtime friend returns to a playable role. She too had her younger self brought forward in time before her death at the hands of Sindel. This time around, she's abandoned the spandex in favor of a softer, flowier cloth that gives off the appearance of an enigmatic thief. For the first time ever, black has been retired as the main secondary color, and in its place is a purplish-brown shade all over her dress, gloves, boots, and assassin's hood. She's also sporting a pair of shorts underneath the loincloth and breechcloth for the first time ever. An admirable retooling of Jade, though I prefer one of her alternate colors that swaps out the brown for another shade of green to get around the MK9 Ermac problem.

Jade (Revenant)...

From Slave Leia zombie to apparition to armored undead warrior. I'm sure there's something symbolic here but I can't be bothered to come up with a throughline. As you all know, Jade died in MK9's third act at the hands of Sindel and became a Revenant in the service of Quan Chi shortly after. She is notably missing from the home version of MKX outside of Kitana's Tower ending, appearing as a spirit separated from her body. Her Revenant form proper returns prominently in MK11, serving under Netherrealm rulers Kitana and Liu Kang. Revenant Jade's wardrobe hews far closer to what's been the standard Jade wardrobe since 2004, at least in terms of color palette. Green, black, and gold dance together to form some kind of ragged underworld palace warrior look, complete with tattered cape. Honestly, I kind of prefer it to default Jade's attire due to the green and gold being more prominent. Thankfully, this game allows you to place the Revenant kostume onto human Jade, no mods needed.

Jax...

Present-day Jax is not too different from his appearance in the last game, though he's sporting thicker facial hair and seems to have returned to his darker complexion. As he's retired from military service, he's ditched his military fatigues and gotten a new leather vest. His prosthetic arms are even shinier than before, probably coming the closest to matching MK3 and MK4's sleeker look without being a part of a deliberate retro kostume. Much like Sonya and Johnny before him, the elder Jax just looks like he got some slight tweaks here and there, mostly having colors swapped around (and a shirt added). It should be noted that while CommandThrower's picture is accurate to various promotional renders, Present Jax never actually has the more monochromatic metal arms in this game's story mode. For his brief few moments of screentime before getting recruited by Kronika, he instead has gray and white arms with star patterns on the side. They're certainly unique, and did a decent job at keeping the stars and stripes motif Jax has embodied at various times in the series.

Jax (Past)...

At last, the purple has returned. Young Jax is basically an MK3-inspired Jax, now with a vest, again calling to mind Annihilation's depiction of the kharacter. There isn't much to say other than I like this take on him. The purple military pants, the aforementioned vest, and the restoration of the sleek 90s metal arms. It's also kind of refreshing to have a cleanshaven Jax for the first time since Armageddon.

Kung Lao...

After an absence from several mainline games, Kung Lao's hat straps have been restored. I dig his get-up here, it's like some weird mix of MKII and MK3 Kung Lao, just with a take on the "apron" that I find looks less cheap. With so many games opting for the changshan design, it's actually kind of nice to come back to something closer to MKII's outfit. For a while, I've been thinking his pants here were meant to be a loose callback to MK3, but upon closer inspection they're closer to the hatless default Kung Lao from Deadly Alliance. Probably just a happy coincidence, but funny given how much the alternate kostume of that game influenced Kung Lao's appearance in the years leading up to MK11. Another solid redesign, and one that definitely shines with this game's more saturated palette. The Dragon medallion (but not the Dragon Medallion -- maybe it's a Krypt Koin) attached to his belts is a nice touch as well.

Kung Lao (Revenant)...

Okay, so in MK9's story mode, Kung Lao never wore his actual default, ergo he died wearing something else that isn't too different from his usual attire. Upon returning in MKX and MK11, he adopted a more armored look, and even his hat became evil. Revenant Kung Lao adheres to black, red, and silver much like Liu Kang, losing his signature blue in the process. Even in (un)death, he cannot escape his fellow monk's shadow. His hat in MKX notably takes a more serrated appearance around the rim, which MK11 cut back on for a more solid appearance. Also, Johnny of the Super Gaming Bros. pointed out that Revenant Kung Lao's hat in MKX kind of looks like a hubcap (more than usual anyway) and I can't unsee it now. MK11 Kung Lao isn't too much of a departure from the prior game's version of him, just with more pronounced silver and a restored loincloth. Outside of the gray skin and sheer edginess of the armor, this isn't too different from what Kung Lao normally wears.

Also, since I couldn't get a full-body image of MKX Revenant Kung Lao, I found some concept art of his design, notably featuring a mask that never made it to the final game:

Baraka...

After being killed off by newcomer D'Vorah in MKX's story mode, a time-displaced Baraka has been brought forward in time to do battle. Baraka's mostly adhered to the same general template he had in MK9, but with more leathery cloth and a prominent waist belt. Really, there's not much to say. I certainly like the design, and think out of all the versions of his "klassic" look this is the best one just for lacking the titty skulls on the vest, but it's a fairly faithful translation otherwise.

Noob Saibot...

After being kicked into a Soulnado by Nightwolf in MK9, Noob was another veteran who was mostly unheard of in MKX. He returns after...regenerating over time? I don't know, and I don't think Kronika had any hand in restoring him. It seems to have just been a matter of the dark magic that empowered him preventing him from truly dying. Anyways, Noob (other guy with him above is officially Saibot, his frequently seen shadow clone) is here and oilier than ever. He's taken the dark reaper motif of his prior designs and become a full-on medieval executioner in MK11. It's certainly a take that makes sense, though there is a part of me that misses the cleaner-looking jet black Lin Kuei. Making him look like an actual vengeful wraith who's been lurking about for decades like a crazed madman is to be commended, though.

And for meticulosity's sake, here's a comparison between MK9 and MK11's incarnations of Bi-Han as Sub-Zero:

The masked Lin Kuei seen in the rightmost image above is Bi-Han (as seen in Kuai Liang's Tower ending) wearing his younger brother's default kostume, bringing things full circle.

Kabal...

For the first time in series history, players are allowed to actually control a maskless Kabal before he sustained his injuries from the invading Outworld forces. Lack of mask aside, he's effectively MK3 Kabal, longcoat thankfully restored. The fur lining on the coat is a welcome addition to an already good design.

Kabal (Revenant)...

I love it for the mask alone. Kabal already looked like a scary demon beforehand, but the horror was subverted when you realized he was one of the good guys (until Deception anyways). Here, he's got the mask -- which I don't think a Revenant really needs anymore -- specifically to look intimidating. It's probably my favorite Kabal mask due to doing away with the circular lenses. The new mask feels ever so slightly reminiscent of DC's Black Manta. Perhaps a side-effect of NRS also working on Injustice in between Mortal Kombat games. It's interesting that this is probably the least overt of the Revenant designs because of the mask covering his face. You wouldn't even be able to tell that he's a Revenant if it weren't for the gray arms. Probably my favorite Kabal design ever.

Frost...

I think Frost here holds the record for largest real-world gap between playable appearances in a mainline MK title at 12 years and six-and-a-half months -- let's just count human Smoke and Cyber Smoke as one single entity for the purposes of this scenario, okay? After cameoing in the prior games of this reboot trilogy, she's returned and become the latest Cyber Lin Kuei, now under the service of Kronika. Multiple kharacters serving under Kronika opt to follow her design ethos of white on gold, befitting servants of a being who considers herself the savior of the multiverse. Cyber Frost is decked out in a mechanical body that has loose enough joints to let her rotate her whole torso for attacks. It's rather reminiscent of Aigis from Persona. It's by far the most unique-looking Frost has ever been in the series, though going from Sub-Zero derivative to Cyber Sub-Zero derivative feels like a cruel joke being played on her. The loss of her Super Saiyan hair is also unfortunate.

Luckily for fans of a more traditional Frost, NRS released a skin with the advent of Aftermath:

Eternal Klash Frost is what happens when you take Deadly Alliance Frost and apply the male ninja tunic's patterning to her attire. Mind you, she's still a gynoid that doubles as a walking Ginzu knife, but it's a welcome sight to have a more standard Lin Kuei uniform for her, though I don't care for the random heels or cutouts in the pants. Kitana, Jade, Mileena, and Skarlet's retro kostumes also have random heels added. At first I thought it was to keep parity with their default kostumes, but regular Frost does not have any heels of her own in this game.

Skarlet...

The Ermac of the female palette swaps made her debut as a DLC fighter in MK9, bringing yet another schoolyard rumor to life. And since she was in MK9, she was just running around in a bikini and a loincloth. MK11 -- and before that, her appearance in MKX's comic tie-in -- opts for more conservative attire, and features a present and past version of the kharacter. The present version (seen in the middle image above) went for an unusual look, almost evoking a dark nomad wandering about in the Outworld wastelands. Though given this is Skarlet we're talking about, she may very well have been wandering about looking for victims to drain for her Blood Magik. I do like the intricate design of the goggles now that I've gotten a closer look at them. Much like Past Jade, Skarlet's opted for looser cloth, which does make me think of a mage of some sort. Maybe they really were trying to make her the new Ermac. Past Skarlet, the only Skarlet featured in the game's story mode, is seen in the rightmost image above. Her design here hews a bit closer to Kitana's in material if not silhouette. Much more formfitting, though you can still make out some mage influence.

It should be noted that the color scheme of Skarlet's story mode kostume is more like an inversion of the rightmost image seen above. Here is some art from MK Mobile to provide an accurate look at the outfit:

The red is much more prominent and the mask is different, featuring a criss-cross design also shared by this game's incarnation of Ermac.

Cassie Cage...

At last, we arrive at the latest batch of newcomers that got to appear in a sequel. We start with Cassandra Carlton "Cassie" Cage, daughter of Sonya and Johnny, sergeant and later commander of Special Forces, and leader of a group consisting of the descendants of Earthrealm's greatest warriors. She's a rough-and-tumble young lady with a strong sardonic streak and the fighting capabilities to match. She's also who I consider to be one of the greatest beneficiaries of MK11's "Let's add some color, you miserable schmucks" initiative. Her old bodysuit was relatively practical and a welcome contrast to where Mortal Kombat's female kostumes had been for years, but it was ultimately just standard military/spy wear. She's still wearing what's apparently regular Special Forces attire in the next game, but at this point, the designers started giving her brown and light gray and surprisingly bright blue to work with. She's even picked up her mother's old habit of wearing green. The designers lightly applied some armor to her (including a shoulder pad that looks like it has Lego studs on it) and removed the weird boobsocks on her suit, though the chestplate obscures that revelation. Not that she was particularly edgy to begin with, but Cassie in MK11 looks more like a traditional hero and less like a punk rock secret agent. Really, Cassie seems to have a "softer" look in general. She's got visible nail polish on her fingers now and her hair's grown out to replace the sidecut she sported previously. Even her promotional render -- which I posted because firstly I love it, and secondly it shows off her new drone -- has her in a more relaxed state of mind. I fully admit that some of this may be down to the improved facial tech so kharacters aren't frowning or scowling as often as they used to, though it could also be said that years of serving under Sonya in the wake of Shinnok's defeat maybe mellowed her out.

Jacqui Briggs...

No, I don't know why the announcer addresses her by full name but not her father also. Sergeant Jacqueline Sonya "Jacqui" Briggs is Cassie's best friend and together they make the half of the Kombat Kids that actually gets to be playable in MK11. She followed a similar trajectory in design evolution as Cassie, going from black/blue military fatigues to brighter green duds that wouldn't be entirely out of place in Mass Effect. Jacqui's taken the embellishments on her new outfit a step further with...I won't call it gold trim, but gold plating. She's got gold plating. And minimal shoes, befitting for a kharacter who started having more kickboxing implemented into her moveset to further differentiate her from her father. I like both of these designs, but MK11's version pops a fair deal more.

Kotal Kahn...

The not-Aztec-or-Mayan but Mayan-inspiring ruler of Outworld after Shao Kahn's death in Mortal Kombat 9, Kotal Kahn (birthname Ko'atal) is a different breed from Shao Kahn's heavy metal barbarian warlord. Instead, he draws from Mesoamerican influences, which has led to no shortage of comparisons with Tekken's Ogre. Though unlike Ogre (as far as we know, anyway) Kotal's skin tone is a human skin tone, with the blue just being ceremonial paint or powder, a fact that's more obvious in MK11. Kotal hasn't changed too much since MKX, getting a more elaborate loincloth and belt and having his tattoos (prominent in one of his Variations in MKX) upfront by default. New feathers in the headdress have also been added.

D'Vorah...

The Kytinn queen with stingers like Teen Titans' Gizmo, D'Vorah was an ally of Kotal Kahn until revealing that she was actually in league with Shinnok and later Shao Kahn. She's a hooded, bald bug lady who NRS nonetheless made exoskeleton heels for. Despite her more "naked" locced appearance from MK11 (rightmost image above) being the one first featured in promotional art for the game, D'Vorah's primary appearance in the game is more of a straight retooling of her MKX default. Her "skin" is made much rougher with the higher graphical fidelity, and the segmenting of her exoskeleton, while still prevalent, is far less bikini-like due to the color smudging around the legs. Her face appears gaunter as well, heightening the human-but-not-that-human nature of the assassin. At the time of her introduction, it'd been a while since Mortal Kombat had gotten a new playable monster kharacter, so I welcome D'Vorah for showing just how disparate (and dangerous) Outworld can be. Shout-outs to the creepy hive-like shoulder pads she's got as well.

Erron Black...

Ex-Earthrealm cowboy and another warrior in Kotal Kahn's employ, Erron Black is a gunslinging bounty hunter with a dry wit and a cool mask. Like many of MKX's newcomers, he sported a rather earthy color palette, mostly consisting of brown and red. Come MK11, the designers threw on some blue just to keep things interesting. Alas, the cape and bullet rim around his hat were lost. Erron's also sporting some asymmetrical shoulder armor, probably a Gear piece that could be swapped out given that MK11 handled kostuming in a manner similar to Injustice 2. Another lateral improvement -- if such a thing can exist -- in MK11.

Erron, being a former Earthrealm denizen with an extended lifespan, also had a Past version pop up in MK11's story mode:

This version opts for a sleeved jacket and blue jeans. It's a humble alternate design for an already humbly designed gun-for-hire and complements his older self's outfit well.

---

Thank you all for your patience. Next part will cover the downloadable kharacters.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

We cover the playable fighters featured as DLC and in Mortal Kombat 11's "updates," so to speak. Violence warning for those not wanting to see gore.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_IOEBMxzIQ

Downloadable kharacters

Shao Kahn...

The prerequisite pre-order bonus kharacter, Shao Kahn's returned in his first playable (non-mobile) appearance since MKvsDCU. He's gone full-shogun, incorporating tons of intricate armor (including back armor despite remaining bare-chested) and a much more elaborate crest on his helmet. It's interesting to see such a change given he's largely adhered to the same general silhouette since 1993. I definitely prefer the less spiky shoulder pads, and the increased gold detailing is a more than worthy replacement. Also of note is Shao Kahn's long-mentioned draconic side properly coming into view with his scaly limbs. Look at his arms. Look at his toes.

Shang Tsung...

The first "regular" DLC fighter of the game and one of the stars of MK11's story expansion, Shang Tsung has returned to sporting black and yellow much like his 90s counterpart. It's a nice marriage of his MKII and MK3 designs with his MKvsDCU and MK9 designs. I appreciate that the yellow pants have been brought back with no shame whatsoever. Outside of the yellow trim around the shoulders and loincloth, this is a relatively safe reworking, and that's fine. I imagine the goal was meant to represent Shang Tsung in his prime with Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa coming in to lend his voice and likeness in a game for the first time.

Shang Tsung (Elderly)...

Whew. One of the benefits of Shang Tsung's age-shifting is that you get to have two wildly different interpretations of the sorcerer. The elderly forms tend to lean more towards kung fu wizard, and MK11's version is no exception. New robes flowing in red, yellow, and black complement his prior appearance in MK9 well, though I'd argue the former game's design did a better job of avoiding color clash. I kind of don't mind, though, something about the layers upon layers of fabric reminds me of Deadly Alliance's take, so there's personal value in that. This is a design that might've completely fallen on its face in an earlier game due to lacking the tech needed to convincingly render all of this fabric, but in MK11's engine with MK11's art direction, it does its job with gusto.

Shang Tsung never quite regained his ability to do on-the-fly shapeshifting like he did in the 2D games, but this game opted for a compromise of sorts and granted him the ability to change between the non-cyborg male palette swaps of the original trilogy who weren't playable on their own in this game.

Reptile

Every "ninja" in this game who appears under Shang Tsung's umbrella shows up in a look reminiscent of the MKII designs (quilted overtunic and all) which means Reptile returns to a convincing human appearance this time around. Notably, his and the others' masks are two-toned cloth rather than the hockey mask designs.

Reptile also makes appearances in the Krypt, sometimes in his MKX default, and sometimes in his bestial lizard form from the 1995 film:

Smoke

He's Reptile, but in gray. Smoke also makes a cameo in the Krypt wearing a gray version of a generic ninja outfit Scorpion and Sub-Zero have as an alt.

Ermac

Kind of surreal to see years of wizard influence be undone as Ermac has shifted back to being just Red Scorpion, but asset leverage is asset leverage. What's more interesting is seeing Ermac's appearance in the Krypt. Unlike Reptile and Smoke, he did not reuse an older or recolored design, instead getting a highly elaborate hooded look more in line with his appearance in MKX. Our friend gold trim has returned in full force, lining his armored robes and what appear to be gauntlets adorned with green gems. It's a rather lovely look, though I'm not entirely fond of the treasure map X on the mask. Just a shame you only really see this design on an Ermac who just randomly falls to his death while your player kharacter is running around Shang Tsung's Island.

And finally (for kharacters who aren't fully playable on their own), we are graced with a surprise cameo during one of Shang Tsung's Fatalities:

Kintaro

Spoiler: Content Warning: Gore Ahead

Calling back to one of Shang's finishers from MKII, the wizard transforms into the Tigrar Shokan for some interior decorating so to speak. He's returned to his MK9 design with the chainmail loincloth.

Nightwolf...

Nightwolf might've gotten one of the stranger deals among the returning kharacters. Normally, the fighters with Revenant counterparts still running around would receive a young non-evil version and no older non-evil version, but NRS seemingly opted to break protocol with our formerly Lakota tribesman -- now officially a member of the fictional Matoka Tribe as of this game, though still apparently a subculture of the real-world Sioux people. They gave him an older version and for Aftermath a younger, more traditional version. Old Nightwolf has gone for heavier amounts of war paint, covering more of his neck and chest. He seems to have abandoned the softer cloths that defined most of his appearances in favor of the leathery battle gear of his fellow kombatants, including multicolored shoulder pads and gauntlets, to say nothing of the helmet he now dons.

I appreciate the design for boasting the most color on the kharacter since Armageddon (I especially like all of the blue highlighting the black), and for subverting several but not all of the usual stereotypes done when designing Nightwolf, but I maybe would have toned down the armor just a tad. I guess that's why we have Past Nightwolf (i.e., the Nightwolf that was trapped by Kronika alongside Shang Tsung at an earlier point in time). His design is a revised take on MK3 Nightwolf, just with no holes in the pants. There isn't much else to say really, I think it's the best direct modernization of the original design that one can get, even as I acknowledge that I have no Sioux heritage and have no idea what any Sioux person would think of someone like Nightwolf. If they haven't already, I'd like to see the employees of NRS consult members of the Sioux subcultures for respectful design advice whenever Nightwolf returns. If Killer Instinct's Thunder could be retooled to more accurately represent his group, then Nightwolf, even if he's a representative of a fictional subgroup of a real people, can be retooled as well.

Nightwolf (Revenant)...

For his Revenant counterpart in MK11, Nightwolf almost looks like a palette swap of his older self, give or take a few accessories. Revenant Nightwolf might be the Revenant who most overtly screams "I'm the evil twin" with his black and red design and ash-white facial paint, and I kind of dig it. Also, he might actually be the only Revenant in this game who's less armored than their non-undead version.

Sindel...

Sindel was largely absent from Mortal Kombat 11 at launch, but became prominent in the story expansion. Her Revenant counterpart is properly resurrected with the help of Nightwolf, Shang Tsung, Sheeva, and Fujin, thus restoring her to her non-brainwashed Edenian self. Sindel without the demon eyes is certainly surreal (almost as surreal as in-game Shang Tsung without any facial hair), to say nothing of her "new" personality, but that's irrelevant to the discussion of outfits. She's finally moved away from the leotard design she'd been rocking for the better part of 25 years in favor of an armored dress decked out in tons of silver trim. The silver calls to mind Li Mei's alternate kostume from Deception, which is a favorite of mine. A solid reworking, and one that looks marginally more regal than her prior outfits.

Sindel (Revenant)...

This might actually be another Revenant kostume that I prefer over the "default." Maybe due to having more armor and silver trim. Maybe because it looks more "battle-ready" and wouldn't be too out of place on a non-dead, non-evil Sindel. Purple, black, and silver just work well together.

The Joker...

The only DC creation to show up in Mortal Kombat twice, Joker's not changed too much in the wardrobe department in the decade-long interim. He's lost the tie and vest of his (formerly) three-piece suit, leaving just a dark green shirt with suspenders. His corsage has also gone from red to white. The jacket and pants themselves have taken a darker shade of purple, which contributes to making me realize that MK11's Joker is ironically less vibrant than MKvsDCU's despite MK11's color palette trending brighter. If anything, the most notable visual changes have come from Joker's facial features. Plenty of people have commented that the current Joker here doesn't really look like Joker (especially pre-release), but I can still tell that it's him. It's just that MKvsDCU has such a straightforward, larger-than-life, Jokerrific Joker that one rendered with MK11's more refined facial tech will always look a bit more grounded by comparison, even when his attacks are more violent and over-the-top than ever.

Spawn...

Al Simmons, AKA Spawn, is no stranger to guest appearances in fighting games. He first made his fighting debut in the Xbox port of Soulcalibur II, where he converted his iconic cape into a battle axe (named Agony) to accommodate the weapons system of that game and get around the technical limitations of rendering that flowy monstrosity in real-time. Come 2020, that latter part seems to not really be a problem anymore. Mortal Kombat's Spawn can keep his cape on his person at all times and his silhouette is all the better for it. Otherwise, both Spawns look pretty similar. Spawn's "suit" in Mortal Kombat is far more fleshy-looking and less painted-on than it was in Soulcalibur by virtue of the passage of time and advancement of technology, and his belt seems to be made of two chains instead of one big chain dangling about his waist. Both games notably feature alternate outfit(s) referencing moments from Spawn's long history.

Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath
Launched in May of 2020, Aftermath was one part GOTY edition, one part expansion pack, offering a second story mode that continued off of the game's ending and utilized the non-guest fighters of Kombat Pack 1 and two more kharacters featured below.

Sheeva...

Sheeva got it good in this game. Being the only Shokan of the original trio that wasn't killed off or summarily humiliated in between MK9 and MKX, Sheeva ascended to the role of Shokan queen and largely retired from direct kombat as she tried to have a relatively peaceful reign. But when Kitana enlisted her help to deal with Kronika's forces, she proved to everyone why she was to be feared. Following up on what MKX's comic tie-in had already started, Sheeva's moved away from the strings and adopted ceremonial armor, including a skull-themed breastplate. The armor is befitting of a warrior queen and they even paid homage to her prior kostumes by having red cloth draped over the armor. Sheeva's kostumes up to this point had been so barebones that I'm not even sure what one could do to really remix them without adding more fabric (though Raiden getting the blue-on-white robes remixed successfully for 25+ years makes me give some leniency to the designers, to say nothing of one of Sheeva's MK3-inspired alts which I like a lot), so I'm happy to see the art team go for something different and reflective of Sheeva's current kharacter.

Fujin...

Yeah, remember when I talked about Frost holding the record for largest time gap between playable appearances in the series? Well, I forgot about this guy, who waited 13 years and seven-and-a-half months between Armageddon and Aftermath to join an MK roster again. Fujin's gone for his most intricate look(s) to date in MK11, opting for one-sleeved white and black robes that show off his glowing tattooed arms. He also seems to have taken a page from his brother Raiden's book and integrated storm cloud patterns onto his robes' fabric. It's a serviceable redesign that complements Raiden well and I commend them for trying something different, though I must admit it is a bit jarring seeing Fujin abandon his usual red/black/blue color scheme for much more muted attire. Lucky for me, Fujin's kostume in Aftermath proper hews closer to his older looks. Here, he has a lovely assortment of colors ornamenting his...I don't think it's a changshan, but I do think it's Chinese-inspired. He has a lovely assortment of colors ornamenting his outfit, the black actually being retired in favor of an indigo tunic lined with dark red and bedecked with gold on the shoulders that also loosely resembles storm clouds. It feels like a composite of his two kostumes from Armageddon, covered in even more gold. Possibly my favorite design for the Wind God, and it somehow kept up the blue-green pants' perfect attendance streak for all of Fujin's game appearances. Let's give those pants a hand.

Mortal Kombat 11: Ultimate

Mileena...

After her death at the hands of D'Vorah in the last game, Kronika's sorcery winds up bringing another time-displaced villain into the present. Mileena earlier made a cameo appearance in Kitana's Friendship -- a feature restored with the release of Aftermath -- wearing her MKII outfit as she played pattycake with her sister in one of the funniest Friendships in the series. It would be about half a year later with the advent of MK11's final major update that she would return as a playable fighter with a new design. This is a younger Mileena that's somewhere in between the mad womanchild of MK9 and the besieged wannabe ruler of MKX, so I suppose it's fitting that her design borrow elements from both. She's effectively wearing a cloth leotard with a sort of half-skirt. It's interesting if nothing else given her sister went for form-fitting leather. I do like that the quartet of female "ninjas" opted for different fabrics in this game, it helps a good deal in further differentiating them. Mileena's mask is relatively basic in its design compared to the fang patterning it featured in MK9 or the weathered stitching it featured in MKX. She's also sporting no gold whatsoever in her default design, something that hasn't been the case since UMK3. Instead, she has some silver decals here and there, most notably lining her boots.

Rain...

And finally, we have Rain. Previously another Krypt cameo and a form change of Shang Tsung, Rain had the honor of getting his own standalone appearance in MK11: Ultimate, marking the first time he got to be playable without Reptile, Ermac, and Smoke also doing the same. His new design leans more towards the aureate ninja trappings of MK9 than the veil and cape appearances of MKX and Armageddon before it. I think I generally preferred his more princely appearances as a rule, but this rendition makes a strong case for adhering closer to the ninja template. The gold trim around the cowl which itself seems to double as a tiara of sorts is just the right amount of pomp and circumstance for a self-important blowhard like Rain.

---

And that just about covers the post-launch kharacters. The next and hopefully final part will handle the NPKs.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

This is the final discussion section of the (current) final game. I never thought I'd make it this far, and I thank all of you here for the support and feedback.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz7xXnHEJ2U

Mortal Kombat 11 Launch Trailer Version Theme Song (complete version)

Here's where I usually am when not making music-related stuff: https://www.twitch.tv/agent17805Twitter: https://twitter.com/ray_agent17805Discord: https://di...

www.youtube.com

Non-playable kharacters

Kidd Thunder...

Introduced as a joke kharacter featured in Raiden's original Friendship, Kidd Thunder (referred to as "Raiden's favorite nephew" on a trading card) is a diminutive version of Raiden wearing a deep blue overtunic. He made his series return in Aftermath, joining Raiden for an impromptu dance number with both decked out in neon versions of their usual attire. Raiden amusingly gives Kidd Thunder the deeper blue back after having made it his own for several games.

Dan Forden...

Dan Forden's MK11 image comes from this video.
The town crier of toast returns for his fourth on-screen appearance. In the Tournament stage, any fighter who uses an uppercut will trigger the sudden arrival of Dan Forden's visage on a background screen. In this case, his likeness from Mortal Kombat 3 is summoned, probably because the Tournament stage is heavily arcade-themed in general, so using his last "retro" appearance makes sense.

Stryker...

His Revenant counterpart was presumably still running around during the events of MK11's story, but for his appearance in guest fighter RoboCop's Tower ending, Stryker (seen second from the left of RoboCop in the rightmost image above) reverted back to his human self due to the time travel nature of most Tower endings.

Cyrax...

One of the few veteran kharacters to show up as a non-playable opponent during the story mode, Cyrax is yet another time-displaced warrior in league with Kronika (if only by virtue of his reboot incarnation never getting the chance to properly reform). His design is not too different from what it was in MK9, though he looks less like a bumblebee due to the black stripes being toned down. His wire locs seem to have been raised up ever so slightly as well and his yellow armor has taken on a brighter hue compared to the outright gold tone Triborg's Cyrax Variation had in MKX.

Sektor...

Sektor has undergone far more design deviations than his more scrupulous contemporary. His helmet has pretty much shed the standard Cyber Lin Kuei mold and gone for an almost Mandalorian faceplate with the wire strands split into two bundles and now streaming from lower behind the head, making him look like a cyborg version of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade's Walter Donovan mid-transformation. The blue lights that graced his artificial eyes now seem to be coursing through all of his body, making this game's Sektor the flashiest to date. His shoulder pads have also been folded down to look less wing-like. Sektor appears multiple times in MK11's campaign, later getting outfitted with white armor to demonstrate his allegiance to Kronika.

Motaro...

Motaro makes an appearance in Sheeva's Tower ending, looking like his usual self and missing the skull shoulder pads he had in MK9.

Chameleon and Tremor...

Spoiler: Content Warning: gore ahead

Chameleon and Tremor's MK11 images come from the MKIceAndFire and Dynasty YouTube channels, respectively.
The two also-ran recolors of Tobias' tenure make some very painful cameo appearances in MK11's Krypt. Much like Ermac, they fall to their death via impalement, with the player kharacter unable to do anything other than rob their corpses. They wear the aforementioned generic alt that belongs to Scorpion and Sub-Zero, using their modern colors but not their modern complexions. It should also be noted that a silver-clad ninja will sometimes appear. Many assume this is the fan kharacter Khrome, but I don't believe NRS has given confirmation one way or the other.

Sareena...

Sareena appears in (of all places) Kabal's Tower ending, where the Black Dragon member seems to have settled down with her and started a family. Her kostume isn't too different from what it normally is, once again raising the question of why she still wears her Brotherhood of Shadow regalia. Her "sleeves" have been simplified to be a solid black (as far as I can tell) and her loincloth has been extended, making it come closer to the length of the Mythologies loincloth than anything else in between. She also has a more pronounced collar around the vest and seems to be wearing either a miniskirt or shorts.

Shinnok...

Shinnok is unchanged other than getting the "wardrobe" of a soon-to-be bodiless head. The image seen above is Shinnok conversing with Dark Raiden before the non-lethal decapitation is done.

Tanya...

Tanya appears in Mileena's Tower ending where Mileena gains control of Kronika's Hourglass, both of them decked out in white and gold versions of their outfits. It's a nice look for Tanya. Less nice is the unlucky schmuck Mileena flayed to provide sustenance for their child. I've cropped the original image accordingly, though the MK Wiki's Galleries apparently had a relatively SFW image ready-made that I never saw until last week.

Meat...

Spoiler: Warning: Disturbing imagery ahead

Meat appears in the Krypt, seemingly in the midst of being born (reborn?) in what I presume is a Flesh Pit.

Hsu Hao, Hotaru, and Havik...

Spoiler: CONTENT WARNING: BLOOD AHEAD

Havik's the only one here who actually gets any design change between games (his one sleeve being restored after mysteriously disappearing), but I thought it would be fair to just throw in the other two here as well. Hsu Hao getting a cameo appearance where he isn't immediately murdered is also noteworthy in and of itself.

Blaze...

Blaze maintains his traditional role as a background fighter, now looking less overtly Human Torch and more smoldering tree.

Argus...

The father of Rain, Taven, and Daegon and indirect overseer of Armageddon's events has made a handful of appearances since the timeline was rebooted. Here, he shows up in Rain's Tower ending where his out-of-wedlock siring of the purple-clad Edenian comes back to bite him hard. Outside of shortening the gold chestplate, Argus has remained relatively unchanged. His wife Delia as well as their sons Taven and Daegon also appear in Rain's ending largely unaltered since 2006.

The Great Kung Lao...

The Shaolin Mortal Kombat Champion makes his second full game appearance (and first in 3D) at the end of Aftermath, where Fire God Liu Kang (if the player chooses him for the final battle) appears far back in time to begin training him to defend Earthrealm. This version of GKL shares facial features with the modern Kung Lao, though he dresses far more humbly given this is early in his career, calling to mind his incarnation from Mortal Kombat: Conquest.

Jade's mother...

First appearing rather ominously in Jade's MK9 ending, her mother was depicted as a hooded figure with gold "armor" and weirdly tinted skin, likely due to her showing up in a near-death vision Jade had after defeating Shao Kahn. She appears again in Jade's Tower ending in MK11 when she alters time to restore her childhood, dressing more casually in a light green dress and flat shoes. I do wonder if Jade's sudden penchant for wearing hoods comes from her.

Kung Jin...

Relative to Liu Kang and Kung Lao and a former member of Cassie's squad, Kung Jin is a snarky brown-clad archer with some deep-seated insecurity issues. Based off of pre-match dialogue whose canon is fluid at best, Kung Jin peacefully parted ways with Special Forces to rejoin the White Lotus Society, though he returns in a Tower ending. He's relatively unchanged other than his helmet looking slightly larger than normal. The ending shot's brighter lighting also makes his red sash a lot more apparent than it was in MKX.

Takeda...

Son of Kenshi and Suchin, student of Hanzo, and fiancé of Jacqui, Takeda Takahashi is a member of the Shirai Ryu after the death of his mother. As such, he takes after his master's color scheme and attire with a militarized twist. While his suit was and still is overwhelmingly black, when he returns for a cameo appearance in MK11, he gains yellow paneling on his chest shoulder pads. A minor update, but a welcome one.

Onaga, Kenshi, and Goro also make appearances in this game, but they're all basically corpses for the five seconds of screentime each gets.

---

And we're done. Overall, I enjoyed the redesigns for the returning kharacters. The time travel nature of the plot meant the designers could marry the old kostumes with the design sensibilities they picked up during the production of MKX, creating a happy medium of sorts that embraced the outlandish while still boasting some of the best-looking "realistic" clothing in the industry. And even the abundance of accessories felt oddly nostalgic for someone who came into the series during its 3D period, though I will admit some outfits feature a few more doodads on them than they probably need. But that's an observation I could make of pretty much all of the Mortal Kombat sequels after 1999, with this one's penchant for layers of leather and hard plastic possibly being invoked by NRS to carry over Injustice 2's piece-based customization system. Nevertheless, I cannot stress enough how much this game benefits from its more saturated color palette and from the designers opting for more colorful designs in general, which was the norm for veterans and newcomers alike up through MK9. Anyways, I suppose now is as good a time as any to address a few things.

• Will you handle non-game Mortal Kombat media? - Yes, the moving visual media anyways. So, TV shows, movies, and web series are fair game, though I'll need time to actually get myself immersed in that expanded universe material. Until then, consider the thread concluded.
• Will you do this for other fighting game franchises? - Maybe. Most IPs don't swap out fighter outfits en masse every one or two games like Mortal Kombat does, so it'd be kind of difficult to have any interesting commentary for stuff like Street Fighter IV or the Alpha games where most returning characters dress like they did in 1991. Juxtaposing the sprites and models would be interesting for the art evolution, but I don't know about writing blurbs that basically boil down to "X gained or lost more muscle with the art style shift." And the obvious shortcomings of tackling other IPs where I'm not as familiar with the lore as I am with Mortal Kombat's lore will demonstrate themselves quickly, though I'll try if I have the time and there's interest.
• How many times have you said "loincloth" in this thread? - As of this post (and pending any retroactive edits), 67 times.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

We're back to cover some select non-game Mortal Kombat media. We start our expanded universe trek with the 1995 direct-to-video movie Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins. Created as a sort of unofficial prequel to the theatrical movie set to release later in that year, the film provided a look at the first meeting between kombatants Liu Kang, Sonya Blade, and Johnny Cage as they are invited to participate in the Mortal Kombat tournament. Raiden also appears to provide background detail on Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Goro, Shang Tsung, and the tournament itself. One part traditional art, one part CG art, this movie's animation quality is to put it politely uneven. The actual kharacter designs themselves are decent enough, and they're interesting composites of the whopping two games that were known quantities when this little experiment was likely given the green light.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gVOiS4189M%5B

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUlIQ0iKGBc

Liu Kang...

This animated adventure may be a loose retelling of MK1's events, but that's not gonna stop the red-striped pants from asserting their dominance. It's cut off by the trading card-styled bio many of the kharacters got at the end of this movie, but Liu Kang wears black shoes instead of white ones here.

Raiden...

His appearance is largely a direct translation of his MK1 garb, though with the black parts changed to a dark blue. And no, that's not a lighting trick making it look blue, it's blue and scenes where Raiden's next to Liu Kang and Sonya make it clear.

Sonya...

She's lost her armbands (shoulder bands?) and waist sash, and also gained black shoes like Liu Kang. Otherwise, this is basically OG Sonya translated faithfully.

Johnny Cage...

Johnny gets probably the biggest overhaul in design, taking more cues from his MKII kostume in silhouette if not the exact color scheme. Blue yoga pants and blue armbands to match. Notably, he wears his shades all the time in this movie, even at night.

Scorpion...

Nearly 1:1 with his game counterpart, though he's missing the black gloves. His and Bi-Han's cowls also seem to have widow's peaks not quite seen in the original game.

Sub-Zero...

Sub-Zero Bi-Han appears so the movie can stay consistent with the first game's events. He's about the same as always, though sporting a deeper shade of blue.

Goro...

Now we're seeing a bit more creative license. Goro's kept his general appearance but gained gold bracelets and anklets and a snazzy cape (one that was first seen in early Mortal Kombat comics and would also be carried over to the theatrical film). His underwear has also turned blue for some reason. Notably, during one of the CG flashback sequences showing how Goro became Champion, his underwear is black again.

Shang Tsung...

I actually really like Shang Tsung's design in this. It's reminiscent of the original game's wizard robes, though with a brighter shade of blue and featuring one of the first appearances of our good friend gold trim. The robes themselves look far more manageable to move around in due to not being wrapped around his entire body. Honestly, Shinnok's alternate kostume from Armageddon looks a lot like this kostume.

Shang Tsung's younger self also makes an appearance during a segment talking about his early acts of villainy:

Effectively the same as we saw him in MKII, skullcap and all.

Tarkatans...

The only kharacters/species not introduced in the original game to show up here, the Tarkatans (referred to as "Nomads" in The Journey Begins proper) appear as mooks for Liu Kang, Sonya, and Johnny to fight against. They basically look like Baraka but with grey vests and green pants. There is one Tarkatan seen among a panning shot of tournament fighters, but it's not confirmed whether they're Baraka or not.

The Great Kung Lao...

Making his first appearance in motion, Kung Lao and Liu Kang's ancestor shows up during another flashback segment fighting and losing to Goro. He's notably just dressed in MKII Kung Lao's garb (compared to the Liu Kang-esque attire he sported in the Midway comics), though with a darker shade of blue for the undersuit. This is the first time GKL is seen wearing something similar to modern Kung Lao's sawblade hat, and it won't be the last.

King Gorbak...

Alright, I can circle back to this guy and actually show off what he looked like in the old comics. King Gorbak is the ruler of the Shokan's realm of Kuatan, making his first appearance in the MKII tie-in comic published by Midway Games itself. There, he sent Kintaro to face off against the Earthrealm warriors to avenge the humiliating defeat of Goro at the hands of Liu Kang. For his appearance in said comics, Gorbak donned magenta robes with gray and gold trim, as well as a magenta cape. I'm really digging the studded bracelets he's got. It's a Shokan who dresses like a king, easy-peasy. As mentioned in the MKX section, Gorbak appears in one of the flashback sections alongside Goro and Goro's never-seen-before-or-again brother Duroc. He just looks like Goro with a darker skin tone and a cool scepter. That scepter should be in the games.

---

And that's that. Much like the film itself, this didn't take very long to get through. Next time, we'll talk about The Journey Begins' more well-known live-action counterpart, which would take a lot more liberties with kharacter designs.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

"Nothing in this world has prepared you for this."

It's kind of easy to take the 1995 Mortal Kombat film for granted. The franchise owes a lot of its later lore to this film and its popularity. Released in August of 1995 by New Line Cinemas and Threshold Entertainment, Mortal Kombat provided a feature-length retelling of the Mortal Kombat tournament as seen in the original game, while also integrating kharacters and plot elements from Mortal Kombat II. Its general Enter the Dragon meets Masters of the Universe vibe is more or less carried over from the games and given a high-budget Hollywood supercharge, which does make it all the more amusing that this game came out between the release of the original MK3 and its first update, the former of which lacked many of the kharacters featured in this movie and the both of which erred more on the urban techno-fantasy side of things. But I digress. This film featured a handful of the most popular fighters seen in the first two games and attempted to translate their designs into the world of an actual undigitized martial arts flick. For the Earthrealm heroes, they were given regular clothes as opposed to the aerobics garb they sported previously and had to rely on the actors' performances to convey their personalities. The villains on the other hand got to stay weird.

I've decided to break protocol in kharacter ordering to match the iconic theme song's "lyrics." Use the GIF below to follow along up to Sonya.

And speaking of the theme song...


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAwWPadFsOA

Techno Syndrome (Mortal Kombat) Song by The Immortals

“Techno Syndrome” is a song composed by Oliver Adams and performed by the Belgian techno duo The Immortals, commonly associated with the Mortal Kombat series...

www.youtube.com

Kano...

The late Trevor Goddard was the actor chosen to portray Kano in this film and his performance was well-received enough that starting with Special Forces Kano's in-game appearance and background would be retconned to more closely match Goddard's portrayal. For this movie, Kano's abandoned the white martial arts gi in favor of black pants and an open vest (making his MK4 replacement Jarek's design all the more auspicious). It's simple criminal attire outside of the jewelry Kano sports. He may be a scumbag, but he's still got some class. His metal faceplate was basically carried over wholesale with minimal changes and I respect that. A decent retooling of one of the series' earliest villains and a dry run for his appearance in Deadly Alliance.

Liu Kang...

I imagine the first Mortal Kombat game's more grindhouse, "We have no money" aesthetic lent itself well to a more "grounded" adaptation. Liu Kang has none of the added detail that he gained in the game sequels, though it's excused by the fact that in this movie he's on the outs with the Shaolin and is basically wandering the earth on his own. Throughout most of the film, Liu Kang is usually seen wearing a tattered tank top, only going shirtless for his final confrontation with Shang Tsung.

Raiden...

Raiden takes a less active role in this film due to the franchise rules of the tournament basically being codified here. As such, he acts as more of a snarky mentor to the Earthrealm warriors, a more laidback God of Thunder than the one usually seen in the games. He's mostly content with white and beige robes, only wearing his straw hat in his introduction when he's trying to recruit Liu Kang. For the first time ever, he's also abandoned his cowl and let his long, silver hair flow freely for the audience to see. It's a lovely look and befitting of this more jocular depiction of the kharacter.

Johnny Cage...

Not pictured: His $500 sunglasses. Moving away from his Jean-Claude Van Damme appearance, Johnny here is kind of just dressed like a dude. This makes sense for what he is in this movie, i.e., the audience surrogate understandably wondering what the heck is going on with all of the demons and sorcerers and whatnot. I'm honestly surprised they didn't at least give him a blue shirt, instead opting for a(n admittedly lovely) shade of green. This is basically what I imagine Johnny wearing when he's offset and arguing with his agent over whether or not he gets killed off in a script. A more traditional-looking Johnny does appear in a magazine in the film, though in-universe Johnny's not depicted in the most flattering light for that. This is a supreme instance of the actor (Linden Ashby) embodying the kharacter through performance more than appearance. A lesson to be kept in mind for the future.

Scorpion...

Now we're getting to the good stuff. Scorpion is pictured above fighting Johnny in his hellish lair. The ninjas of this film maintain the silhouette of their MK1/MKII selves with a few tweaks here and there. Most notably, actual sleeves for the first time. The cross-stitch patterning of the overtunics has also been removed outright (leaving a more simple leather look with popping colors) and the color-coded cloth masks have been retired in favor of hard gray masks. They're also wearing Nikes. These are probably my favorite 90s Mortal Kombat ninja designs, and I appreciate the kostume designers for giving Scorpion, Bi-Han, and Reptile different masks to set them apart.

Sub-Zero...

Bi-Han appears here working alongside Scorpion with a handwave from Shang Tsung about them being under his control or something. This movie opts to just leave the palette swaps' backstories steeped in some mystery to maintain focus on Liu Kang and his personal circle, and for the purposes of pacing and keeping Liu Kang the star, I'm fine with that. Sub-Zero has the same general kostume outline as Scorpion, though his overtunic is a notably deeper blue than it was in the games at the time. More impressively, his mask seems to almost have a layer of permafrost on it, a literally and figuratively cool addition. On an unrelated note, Sub-Zero might be the only kharacter other than Scorpion and Shang Tsung who recreates or attempts to recreate one of his in-game Fatalities in the movie proper, though it doesn't end well for the Lin Kuei at all.

Sonya...

For the first -- and for a good many years, final -- time, Sonya actually looks like a member of a military unit. She's ditched the workout gear in favor of an all-black ensemble, which she wears for the first half of the film before switching to a black tank top and shorts to deal with Kano. It's a good look.

And now for the rest!

Reptile...

Reptile appears in this film, fully dropping his human disguise for the first time. The middle picture directly above shows his small, colorful lizard self aided by the power of 1995 CGI. It's a little iffy-looking relative to the rest of the effects in the film, but I'll give credit to the production crew for utilizing Reptile's smaller stature for all it was worth, having him be a stealthy sentry with more extensive use of the camouflage powers he demonstrated in the games.

But that's not the end of this section. As many of you know, Reptile would take a humanoid form to fight Liu Kang in one of the film's most memorable scenes. He's got the same get-up -- now with a deep forest green -- as Scorpion and Sub-Zero, though his mask's differences are far more pronounced, evoking the screaming mouth of a lizard. It kind of looks like a gimp mask and I'm not proud of myself for making that association. Even putting that aside, the mask looks a bit too big for the actor. With all that said, he's a wonder in motion. Go watch the fight scene to see what Reptile was born to do.

Goro...

Prince Goro here is a marvel of moviemaking. One part man in a suit serving as an internal puppeteer, one part animatronics (clunky animatronics if the crew's testimony is to be believed), one part CG for his facial movements in certain scenes, he's a behemoth of a fighter. He's largely unchanged, just sporting more detail, including some nice studded wrist bracelets. His black speedo and red sash have been removed in favor of a leathery red loincloth, which makes me wonder if his design in MKX took some cues from this film. Goro is notably taller than his game counterpart, likely to accommodate the animatronics. It makes me think of him as a 'roided out walking stick.

Shang Tsung...

For the movie, it seems the production and casting crew decided to go for a sort of happy medium between old and young Shang Tsung. He's definitely far less ancient than his 1992 counterpart despite this movie hewing closer to the original game, though he's kept his propensity for long robes. Or rather, a long leather coat with red trim. It's a more modern take on an evil martial arts movie crime boss as opposed to the stock kung fu wizard he normally is in the games. This design has the honor of being the first kostume from the movie to be carried over to the games directly as Shang Tsung sports it as an alternate skin in Mortal Kombat 11.

Kitana...

Kitana is retroactively added to this retelling of MK1's events, though she doesn't really fight. She mostly just observes and offers some hints and exposition to Liu Kang and Johnny. For her initial scene, she opts to do more with the princess side of the ninja princess archetype, attiring herself in a sparkly black dress with what appears to be a black leather bodice. For the majority of the film, she wears something marginally closer to her MKII outfit, but we'll discuss that at length when we talk about this film's sequel.

Jax...

Jax only appears briefly in this film for a few scenes, played by the late Gregory McKinney. He's in similar garb to Sonya and as this is an adaptation of the early parts of Mortal Kombat canon, he's lacking the metal arms. Of note is Sonya to Jax's left in the picture above. She's sporting a black cap that would likely partially inspire her appearance in Mortal Kombat 4.

Shao Kahn...

Finally, we have the emperor of Outworld. Shao Kahn appears at the very end of the film (via apparition) to challenge Earthrealm's warriors after they've triumphed over Shang Tsung. For such a short glorified cameo, he's pretty imposing-looking. I'm not really sure if this was an actor with effects and prosthetics overlaid or just a wholly CG creation, but Shao Kahn looks like Shao Kahn, right down to the skull straps on his chest.

---

And there you have it. Thirteen kharacters brought to life on the big screen, and I'd say they all turned out well enough. It's interesting if nothing else to point out that this movie largely just rolls with the games' absurdities. Scorpion and Sub-Zero are introduced early and wear their iconic suits throughout the whole movie. Compared to the long stretches of time it took for the Mario Brothers or Street Fighter's World Warriors to get into reasonable facsimiles of their recognizable garb in their respective movies, I can appreciate this film's shameless confidence in its source material's aesthetics. Taking the -- and I say this with unironic reverence -- super cosplay of the games and marrying it to a slightly more practical look paid off. Next time, we will not cover this movie's sequel but look into an earlier work from 1996. Stay tuned.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

Alright, guys, I didn't know what to do with this one.

Mortal Kombat: Live Tour was a laser lights-focused martial arts stage show that ran in the United States from 1995 until 1996 (meaning my earlier comment at the end of the previous threadmarked post was off). Produced by Threshold Entertainment's Lawrence Kasanoff in what he deemed "The Year of Mortal Kombat," the stage show involved Earthrealm's warriors doing battle with Shao Kahn's forces to retrieve an amulet (and replica amulets were sold as merch!). Now I wanted to have fun with this, but the show has seemingly never been uploaded in its entirety on the internet, making it somewhat lost media. Thankfully, there are TV commercials, cast interviews, and publicity photos of the (mostly) fully-kostumed kast that have survived, which means I'm really just dumping pictures for you to look at.

Since this stage show came out at the height of Mortal Kombat 3 mania, we're going to predominantly use that game's assets as the initial point of comparison (even if this stage show made its debut about a month before UMK3 released, making my use of that version's assets iffy, but shh...).


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAwWPadFsOA

Techno Syndrome (Mortal Kombat) Song by The Immortals

“Techno Syndrome” is a song composed by Oliver Adams and performed by the Belgian techno duo The Immortals, commonly associated with the Mortal Kombat series...

www.youtube.com

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M8nXTl6ObI

Really, just check the Mortal Kombat Wiki's page on the show and its videos, with this handy link I'm providing you.

Kharacters...

Liu Kang	Raiden	Sonya	Johnny Cage	Scorpion	Sub-Zero	Kano	Shang Tsung	Kitana
Mileena	Jax	Baraka	Shao Kahn	Kabal	Sindel	Cyrax	Sektor	​

All things considered, these are pretty faithful translations of the MK3 designs, for better or worse. Cyrax and Sektor are looking like felt versions of Daft Punk, though I acknowledge that doing stunts for a game with multiple shoots and the aid of digital editing is different from having to pull off live fights and acrobatics while dressed as cyber assassins. Also, I'm not sure who in these pictures are supposed to be Johnny and Baraka. Notably, Sonya and Sindel seem to have had kostume discrepancies between shows. Sindel in the last picture is looking like a prototype design for one of Quan Chi's minions in Mythologies. Of note is some of the talent this stage show had on and off the camera. One of the actors selected to play Sonya was Kerri Hoskins, her performance model from Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat 4. Hakim Alston, who played an unnamed warrior in the 1995 film, was one of Jax's actors. Future Rain actors Tyrone C. Wiggins and Percy Brown played Jax and new(?) kharacter King Baraka respectively. And Mortal Kombat: Conquest's Reptile, Jon Valera, was one of Liu Kang's actors for this show. The 1995 film's Shang Tsung, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, was the fight choreographer for this show as well.

---

And that's kind of all I've got. Next time, we'll talk about a piece of Mortal Kombat media that actually debuted in the year 1996. In the meantime, regale yourself with the efforts of the fine people (and me) of the gaming hardware slave labor thread and read up on how to make our hobby a little more decent.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

Back again, with no post on DOTR. I'm getting to it, I promise.

But I have been spending the past few days working on something else related to this thread. I had noticed that a lot of images were fuzzy and not able to properly expand to the sizes I wanted, so I apologize for the readability issues that likely caused. I've replaced/reuploaded nearly everything so all of you can actually view the designs without straining your eyes. This also has the side-effect of me getting far clearer renders for Deadly Alliance, which means you really get to see how bony Quan Chi's elbows are. And how utterly hairy Kano is.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

My apologies for the long wait. I had to watch every episode of this show over a period of several months to comb through scenes to see which kharacters would be present. Thirteen episodes of hilariously toned-down Saturday morning violence, and I kind of loved it? Like, everyone's a snarky douchebag in this show. I almost feel bad for Raiden because he's basically a kindergarten teacher in this iteration of the franchise. But there are some legitimate moments of pathos here and there and some of the plots are quite entertaining. But enough of my mini-review. Defenders of the Realm was a one-season animated series loosely following up the events of the 1995 film while using many of the designs from Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. As such, I probably won't have as many novel things to say about the kharacter outfits here. Also, finding good images for a lot of these guys was less than ideal. As such, image quality is more inconsistent than usual, and I apologize in advance.

Anyways, have a look at this cel sheet of the main group:

They're a pretty colorful kast, wouldn't you say so?


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3i4VKa1f8Q

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6oVYCicOW4

Raiden...

"Rayden" in this show hews far closer to his visual depiction in the games, blue overtunic and all. The cel sheet is notably missing the game-accurate yellow circles on the sleeves, which are in the show proper. His cowl has a somewhat shiny color with blue highlights in some scenes. A decent recreation, even if the overtunic looks oversized on occasion due to what I'm guessing were animation errors.

Anyways, this is Raiden, and these are his Defenders of the Realm.

Liu Kang...

It's MK3 Liu Kang, mullet and all. Notably, he's missing the leg wrappings and has no studs on his bracelets whatsoever. Said bracelets also have red highlights due to the art style of this series.

Kitana...

Her design here looks like a composite of her MKII outfit, her UMK3 outfit, and her battle kostume from the movie. Shiny black spandex/leather with blue highlights and a headband. It's not bad, though rather simple compared to her fellow kombatants who usually go for three-toned clothing.

Sub-Zero (Kuai Liang)...

The younger Sub-Zero makes his first animated appearance as one of the principal kharacters of this show, mostly reenacting his story from MK3. That means suspenders are back in fashion. It's a pretty straightforward lift from the game. His belt's design is changed slightly, the blue rings around his pants are higher up in the show's rendition, his boots/tights are all-black at the bottom, and he has larger and more detailed cuffs now. Aside from those minor differences, Kuai Liang is Kuai Liang.

Stryker, Sonya, and Jax...

Our three normies look more-or-less like their MK3 selves in DOTR. It's especially notable for the latter two given how the movie went out of its way to deck them in black for pretty much every scene, so seeing them wearing their bright aerobics outfits again is amusing to say the least. Jax's pants appear notably less busy-looking than they did in MK3, which I appreciate. Stryker's also wearing dark blue pants instead of his black pair and has gloves that cover the entirety of his hands. Sonya for her part has monochromatic pants (instead of the loud ones she sported in the game), fully-covering gloves, and black boots.

Nightwolf...

Nightwolf serves as mission control for most of this series, usually opting to contribute from behind a computer instead of facing off against Shao Kahn's forces in the field. He notably lacks the war paint his game version is always seen with, except when he merges with his wolf companion Kiva for the times when he does get to fight. Beyond that, it's Nightwolf, just with better pants and smaller feathers on the headband.

Scorpion...

Scorpion appears solely in the series' second episode, going from his MK1-inspired look to a near-perfect recreation of his UMK3 look, skull mask and all. His rope kunai is replaced with a sentient chain snake, splitting the difference between the game's (relatively) more grounded weapon and the movie's more overtly organic depiction.

Sub-Zero (Bi-Han)...

Bi-Han makes an appearance via flashback in the first episode, depicting a comparatively less violent version of his demise at the hands of Liu Kang as seen in the 1995 film. Pictured above is him (in UMK3-styled attire) getting frozen by his own ice instead of being impaled and then frozen.

Kano...

While this show did try to follow up on the movie's events in a family-friendly fashion -- even keeping Reptile dead and having the visually similar Komodai as the token lizardman -- Kano somehow makes it here unscathed despite Sonya snapping his neck previously. Not resurrected or anything, his death just got retconned. Anyways, he's basically taking after MK3 Kano in appearance (some minor details like replaced cuffs aside), though Trevor Goddard's portrayal already started making its way into other media by this point given Kano's speaking with a clear Australian accent, to say nothing of retaining movie Kano's beard.

Shang Tsung...

Shang Tsung appears in the aptly-titled ninth episode, "Resurrection." He actually comes back naked, so he spends his first few minutes revived wearing a simple robe provided to him by some Shadow Priests. When it comes time for him to go back to the battlefield, he's just wearing a modified version of his MK3 kostume, but with new wrist bracelets. Also for some reason, his tattoos are red instead of black.

Smoke...

Smoke is featured heavily in the fifth episode, which goes into detail about his and Kuai Liang's friendship before the Lin Kuei's Cyber Initiative ruined their lives. As such, we get to see both warriors wearing unmasked variants of the UMK3 Lin Kuei uniforms.

Shao Kahn...

Our series villain is here, sporting a streamlined and less spiky variant of his usual garb, cape included. He's notably got proper boots in this show instead of the shinguards he had in the games. His cape is also a solid red and missing the silver trim at the bottom featured in John Tobias' art.

Kabal...

Kabal was yet another one-shot kharacter in this series, showing up in the episode "Amends" which reveals he and Sonya may harbor feelings for one another. His appearance in DOTR is largely faithful to MK3's depiction in silhouette if nothing else. He actually wears a shirt now and his mask looks more like a ventilator than a demon's mask. What really gets me are the bright yellow pants. I'm frankly surprised the game version of Kabal didn't have a brighter color on him.

Sheeva...

Serving as the show's most recurring secondary antagonist, Sheeva appears relatively unchanged. Her silver cuffs are replaced with darker ones and her belt is now monochromatic.

Cyrax and Sektor...

Appearing in the same episode as Smoke, Cyrax and Sektor look about the same as they usually do, outside of having more white on their armor. Said armor also looks like armor and not repainted BMX gear. This show also featured the first appearances of the two's human forms, which I will backport to the MK9 post featuring them.

Cyber Smoke...

Cyber Smoke looks like Cyrax and Sektor, but in gray. While it's more color-accurate to the human version, I do wish they had kept the blue, especially given how the generic Cyber Lin Kuei used as fodder in this series sport a similar color scheme. The primary difference is that Smoke (and the other cyborgs who are confirmed to have once been human) have non-segmented waists compared to the gaunter frames of the (hopefully) mass-produced mooks that Liu Kang and the others have no compunctions in outright thrashing.

Motaro...

As per canon, Motaro serves as one of Shao Kahn's enforcers, to the annoyance of Sheeva and the Shokan. His appearance is largely unchanged.

Ermac...

Ermac makes a few appearances in the series as the leader of a group of red ninjas, basically looking like his usual self. The primary difference is that we get to see him unmasked a few times, and apparently he wears earrings.

Rain...

Rain appears once during an episode that plays up his Edenian connection with Kitana. He goes unmasked for all of his screentime.

Jerrod...

Kitana's father, after making his first visual appearance in the Malibu comic series, shows up in a flashback in the series' final episode. Both versions go for a long-haired blue-clad monarch look, though the comics' version opts for a more warrior king appearance compared to the version we saw in the show who was killed while simply enjoying his time off. And speaking of warrior kings...

The Warrior King...

Okay, Defenders of the Realm aired on USA Network in 1996 alongside three other cartoons: Street Fighter: The Animated Series, Savage Dragon, and Wing Commander Academy. For one day, all four shows had a loose crossover of sorts via the appearance of the Warrior King, a world-traveling warrior in search of a mysterious orb. He first appeared in Street Fighter and Savage Dragon as an ally of those shows' respective heroes before traveling to the world of DOTR to get his orb in the aforementioned "Resurrection." After defeating Shang Tsung, Raiden tosses the orb through a portal to the deep reaches of space to set up the Wing Commander episode and the King only appears via silhouette to chase after it. His appearance is generally the same in all four shows, though obviously shifting to match the respective art styles, so I'm only mentioning him here because this is quite possibly the only time I will ever be able to talk about Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter in the same post. It's canon.

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Alright, that should be it. Defenders of the Realm was an alright series with some alright redesigns that would've been better served with a higher budget. Next time, we go back to the live-action space to discuss Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997) - Final Showdown GIF | Gfycat

Watch and share Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997) - Final Showdown GIFs on Gfycat

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Don't mind me, just linking a legitimately baller shot from this movie. Released in November of 1997, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation was the sequel to the 1995 film, picking up where its predecessor left off (and recasting all but two kharacters in the interim). After Shang Tsung's failure to defeat Earthrealm's warriors in Mortal Kombat, Shao Kahn arrives to handle them himself with the help of his minions and a resurrected Sindel. As you could guess, this movie is mostly taking cues from Mortal Kombat 3 and features darn near the entire kast of that game. Darn near everyone who wasn't already killed in the first movie anyway. This movie strays away from its predecessor's slightly more grounded kostume design to more accurately represent the WWF wuxia madness of the games, with varying results. Let's get to it, shall we?

I once again apologize for the woefully inconsistent image quality. Real life doesn't get perfectly formed full-body art unless you commission the cleanest of photoshoots, and this movie generally lacked cool trading card-styled promotional body shots compared to the prior film. Once again, we are going in theme song order.


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dePaRih9Kzs

Mortal Kombat Annihilation Theme

Theme frm the funny movie Mortal Kombat Annihilation

www.youtube.com

Liu Kang...

Liu Kang, now the newly crowned Champion of Mortal Kombat, isn't too different from when we last saw him. He's ditched the tank top he usually had in the first film for a not-all-that-different layered white vest that he wears for the entirety of the movie. It gets him through deserts, snow-covered landscapes, and a trip through magic underground hamster ball tunnel systems.

Sonya...

Sonya, now played by Sandra Hess, probably went through the biggest design overhaul. She spent a good portion of the last film in black shorts and a tank top, before ending the film in a leather dress courtesy of a creeptastic Shang Tsung. Despite this movie starting immediately after the first, Sonya is seen wearing a white tank top and green shorts. It's blatant outfit retconning that would make Midway proud. Now, I'm generally in favor of the switch on the petty basis that Sonya gets to wear her signature arcade-era color on the big screen for once. I say "generally," because someone on set didn't give Ms. Hess a bra. That tank top doesn't hide anything. Well, at least they don't have Sonya mud-wrestling in this movie.

Jax...

As you know, Jax stayed behind when Sonya went to Outworld. Upon her return home, Sonya finds Jax (now played by Lynn "Red" Williams) at a military base undergoing an operation to test out his metal prosthetics. Unlike subsequent adaptations, these are just voluntary augments that he can take off at will. His fingers are even visible, making them more like metallic goth sleeves. The metal arms themselves have a pretty bionic look, the metal finish emulating musculature but still high-tech enough to feature blinking lights. Jax also goes shirtless for the majority of the movie, keeping nothing but an open vest and a dog tag on his person while traveling with Sonya.

Kitana...

Kitana wears the exact same battle outfit she had in the prior film, which I can now talk about at length. It's a black leather corset with detached sleeves and pants. Simple, to the point, and infinitely less of a hassle for the actress to wear, though not particularly "Kitana." The woman needs blue. Some of the lighting choices in Annihilation almost make the corset look blue in certain scenes, but it's still black. Kitana does get one blue thing -- okay, two -- in this movie: her war fans. They're pretty cool props and contrast her suit and the scenery well in the one fight that they're used.

Jade...

See what I'm talking about? Jade gets to wear bright colors, and it looks fine. She's even rocking the opera gloves before her Shaolin Monks rendition made that a thing in the games. Unlike Kitana's leather corset, Jade's looks to be made of a softer cloth with more visible stitching, and one that's attached to a choker. Also of note are her thigh-high boots, a detail I didn't even notice until recently A relatively faithful kostume for a not-very-faithful Jade.

Sub-Zero...

Kuai Liang appears before Liu Kang and Kitana to kill Smoke (wait, what) and fight Scorpion. Our Cyromancer friend here is modeling the latest in recolor attire, taking loose inspiration from the UMK3 "ninjas." This film basically took the conceit of the first movie's goal of individualizing the ninjas' suits and ran with it, giving them unique overtunic patterns as well. For Sub-Zero, I think the ribbon patterning works. And all things considered, I think he got the best mask of the bunch. Not that he wears it all that much.

Scorpion...

Scorpion (here played by future Sub-Zero actor J.J. Perry) appears for a whopping one scene to fight Kuai Liang and take Kitana away. His suit is pretty much a sleeved UMK3 Scorpion, with rhomboids on the overtunic instead of squares. The biggest differentiation is the boxy mask. I'm not sure what to think of it; I appreciate the designers for giving everyone more color, but the gray masks looked less cheap. If someone could take the first movie's mask and place it on this movie's outfit, we might have an all-time winner.

Cyrax...

I don't envy what the production crew had to undertake with certain elements of the franchise. "Yellow cyber ninja with wire locs who looks like a legally distinct Predator" was always going to be a bit weird, even with the non-robot ninja Power Rangers running around. Cyrax looks alright, though I do wonder why his head colors are basically inverted. They gave his head more yellow. Maybe because his one fight scene takes place in a dark laboratory and they wanted to make sure the audience (and Lynn Williams) could make out the guy in the suit. Speaking of said suit, it's pretty accurate, for better or worse. The Cyber Lin Kuei always looked the most "off-the-shelf" of the original trilogy's fighters, but the players weren't going to see all of that up close too often by virtue of the games keeping them at a distance. Cyrax here is up close and personal, so his armor looks almost as plastic-y as the BMX gear Sal Divita wore for digitization in 1995.

Mind you, I don't think this is a bad design, I just think it could be improved with a few minor tweaks. Loath as I am to suggest live-action adaptations just add more black to designs, I would do so for the shoulder pads to keep them from blending into the chestpiece too much. Maybe making the helmet's "muzzle" yellow while making the rest black could also possibly work. Armchair analysis nearly 25 years after the fact is good, no? On an unrelated note, Cyrax also has an exposed panel for him to shoot out his weapons. It's there, I guess.

(Cyber) Smoke...

It seems Defenders of the Realm wasn't the only project that thought Smoke should be gray in all forms. Though to be honest, Cyber Smoke in the movie's got more of a silver finish. I think that's what Cyrax is missing. The game version has some silver decals on the suit to complement the yellow and black. Cyrax doesn't really have it outside of some exposed circuitry. Smoke's just as monochromatic but silver and black don't contrast with each other as much. Even as he appears to be more of a knock-off RoboCop than usual, Smoke's got a pretty cool look. I really do think it's the metallic finish. It keeps the prop armor from looking like paintball gear in a way that Cyrax's bright but slightly weathered yellow armor kinda can't do.

Sheeva...

Sheeva's not too different beyond having a more conservative (and very shiny) singlet to accommodate an actual actress instead of a claymation creation. Oddly enough, she's lost all of her silver. No silver belt...okay, no belt at all, and no silver around the bracelets and anklets. Maybe Smoke's paint job took up all the budget.

Motaro...

Motaro in this film is a half-CG creation to mimic the claymation look in a big-budget format. Some issues with his front "feet" aside, the effects were generally decent from what I recall. Motaro doesn't deviate all that much from his game counterpart below the waist outside of the metal "belt" area being a darker shade of gray. And if you want to consider it an accessory, his tail is far less smooth than it is in the games.

And now for the rest!

Raiden...

Switching actors to James Remar, Raiden starts the film wearing roughly the same white robes we usually see him in. After he gives up his godhood to more directly assist Liu Kang and co., though, he undergoes a change. It seems that the loss of deity status somehow makes him younger and he dresses in attire that wouldn't be too out of place on this continuity's version of Liu Kang. A simple black vest, brown pants, and some caged bracelets. Give him a red headband and this would be a Liu Kang kostume. "It's a new look," indeed, Raiden.

Johnny Cage...

For his woefully short screentime, Johnny (now played by Chris Conrad) wears more-or-less the exact same thing he had on in the last film. He also apparently picked up a new pair of shades along the way, judging by how he takes them off dramatically in the opening.

Mileena...

Mileena's appearance in this film has her donning a bright pink version of Kitana's attire with equally bright pink gloves and a headband. And for obvious reasons, she's also wearing a mask. Also, shout-outs to her fingernail polish. Makes some of Mileena's idle animations in MK11 all the more amusing.

Baraka...

The blades are my favorite part of this design. Shame the Tarkatan arms are obvious rubber sleeves overlaid on the human actor's arms. Probably should've given this version of Baraka gloves to hide the untouched hands. And also a mask that doesn't show the actor's teeth. The actual clothing parts of the kostume are fine and accurate, but Baraka's most defining features are kind of let down by a few design snags. I actually dig the earring, though.

Noob Saibot...

Noob gets summoned by Ermac of all people during the finale's four-on-four rumble. Noob's backstory was minimal at the time and no one knew he was Bi-Han yet, so I guess we're just supposed to assume he was some other condemned soul that made up Ermac's composition. Anyways, he's Noob, but not a full-on shadow spectre, just a ninja in black. His suit notably looks more leathery, which does make the fabric shine during the night scene he appears in. Said suit also hews closer to the more MK1 take of the prior movie's ninja uniforms, which does unintentionally give credence to the idea that this is Bi-Han recently resurrected to serve the Forces of Darkness.

Shao Kahn...

In Annihilation's rendition of the first film's ending scene, Shao Kahn appears in the flesh to declare his intentions for konquest. His suit is a pretty faithful rendition of the game design. You know, just with pants. He's also got new straps across his chest. This movie's version of Shao Kahn has his shoulder pads attached to his cape, which does make him look a little naked for fight scenes when said cape is tossed aside. Shao Kahn is also sometimes seen wearing more casual attire when he's resting in his quarters, actually wearing a shirt in some scenes. The emperor in this film is depicted with a few more dimensions in general, so I guess they wanted to humanize him a bit more. I commend the movie for bringing this pretty outlandish design to life, though the helmet looks floppy and cheap. This may be why they toss it off in several scenes, but it looks more ceremonial as opposed to "This is my killing helmet." I mean, it still is, it just doesn't offer much in the way of protection.

Nightwolf...

Nightwolf shows up briefly to teach Liu Kang the secrets to unlocking an Animality. His appearance is largely game-accurate, war paint and all. Primary difference is his get-up being all-black and having non-holey pants. To be expected.

Sindel...

Everyone's favorite scream queen makes her film debut with the greatest line ever uttered in cinema. She's traded the vest and silver cuffs for a cape and opera gloves and gotten some black tights, but this is a bonafide Sindel. This is one of the few kostumes from the movie that I would outright say fits perfectly in MK Trilogy, no alterations needed.

Ermac...

Ermac gets hexagons on his overtunic, and his shinguards are shaped like hexagons too. I neglected to mention this earlier, but the overtunics of this film seem to be sturdier as opposed to the more fluid leather ones seen in the 1995 film. This design is fine, points to him and Rain for having cowls that lack the widow's peaks seen on Scorpion and Sub-Zero's cowls, but something about Ermac's mask looks a bit overlayered.

Rain...

Rain also has hexagons on his overtunic, though I think his mask may be a recolor of Sub-Zero's.

Water God and Fire God...

Two of Raiden and Fujin's fellow Earthrealm Gods and some of the bosses seen in Mythologies: Sub-Zero, who've been upgraded to Elder Gods in Annihilation. The Water God is now visibly human and wearing blue robes while the Fire God has gone from a burning Raiden sprite to an older human in elaborate red robes. Simple and to the point.

Shinnok...

Yes, despite this being an adaptation of MK3's events, Shinnok is at the forefront pulling the puppet strings of everything. This includes Shao Kahn, who's his son. And Raiden's brother. This movie is weird. Alas, the film's color, color everywhere initiative did not extend to the Elder God, who opts for simple black and silver robes. I mentioned how Shinnok in Mythologies looked like a Sith Lord, but this guy is just a bearded Palpatine before he gets hit with lightning. It's fine, just nothing that really screams "Shinnok." The elaborate headgear in the games really does help the silhouette. Movie Shinnok might have his Amulet somewhere. He might be holding it in the picture seen above. Or it might be on his belt.

And from a deleted scene, we were able to (not) see Shinnok with:

Quan Chi...

Seen only in publicity photos alongside Shinnok -- presumably to meet with him once the Elder Gods banished him to the Netherrealm and set up an MK4-inspired third movie -- Quan Chi looks pretty one-to-one with his game counterpart from the few images we've been able to find on the internet. Main difference is the lack of red on the belt and the patterning on the robes themselves. This is a pretty sick kostume and I'm surprised it wasn't carried over wholesale when Quan Chi appeared properly in Mortal Kombat: Conquest.

---

And there you have it. I don't think these kostumes hit quite the same beats as the first film's, but there are a few winners. And I'll give them credit for generally not watering down the designs of genuinely freaky-looking foes like Baraka and Motaro. By comparison, the first movie only really needed to have Reptile and Goro to satisfy its weirdness quota, and even Reptile circa 1995 was only lizardlike once the mask came off. Really, I think it's just the abundance of fighters that probably ran the kostumers ragged. A smaller group of fighters may have allowed them to put all their time and effort into making them slick and detailed. As it stands, most are detailed, though some (Quan Chi, Sindel) look like they got more attention than others (Sheeva). It is what it is.

While Annihilation would be the last film in the original continuity (and goodness knows they tried for years to follow it up), it would not be the end of this continuity period. Less than a year after its release, Mortal Kombat faithful would receive additional adventures that would attempt to contextualize the events of the two films. But that's a post for another time. Until then, have a good night, and enjoy a poll.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

Do you all remember the serialized fantasy action-adventure TV boom of the 90s? It was an interesting time, quite possibly the only time we could get a project like this on network television with an actual budget. Mortal Kombat: Conquest was a 22-episode series that took place hundreds of years before the events of the two films, chronicling the life of the Great Kung Lao after he became a Champion of Mortal Kombat. Produced by Threshold Entertainment, the series would feature many actors from the prior two films, often portraying kharacters different from the ones they portrayed before.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NIKmSnAf8Q

The Great Kung Lao...

While his descendant was a nonentity for most of the non-comic expanded universe material produced in this era, the Great Kung Lao makes his first voiced appearance in this show. Since the series covers his early years, he's not fully grown into the warrior of legend yet (though he does wear the iconic sawblade hat at one point). As such, he's largely dressed in the simple garb of a traveling monk: a white changshan and yellowish pants.

Shang Tsung...

A younger Shang Tsung (now portrayed by Bruce Locke) appears in this series, sporting facial hair at last. He's dressed in a black vest and a pair of pants, clothes not too dissimilar from what movie Shang wore in the final battle against Liu Kang. It works and is probably the least out-there young Shang Tsung we'll see in any form of media.

Shang also appears as an old man, wearing all-black robes in contrast to the navy and gold robes he was known for.

Raiden...

Jeff Meek took over as Raiden in this series, giving the Thunder God a more affable persona as he mentored Kung Lao and his allies. He dons the straw hat from time to time but usually sticks to just his white robes. Though this version of Raiden actually has blue on his kostume, loosely mimicking his appearance from Mythologies: Sub-Zero.

Scorpion...

Scorpion appears in four episodes, serving as an evil spirit with the powers of body possession (including the body of a man named Takeda, no relation to the canon Scorpion's apprentice). Scorpion has reverted in both actor and attire, with Chris Casamassa donning the leather overtunic once more. The ninja masks have also gone back to the dark gray designs, though they notably look more ill-fitting in this series.

Sub-Zero(s)...

This Sub-Zero (played by Annihilation Scorpion J.J. Perry) is presumably an ancestor of the brothers, and he effectively co-initiates the blood feud between him and Scorpion partway through the series. He wears an outfit similar to Bi-Han's. His mask lacks the permafrost and is a duller tone of gray.

Reptile...

Reptile is largely unchanged, save for his overtunic possibly taking on a different shade of green.

Kitana...

A younger Kitana shows up in a handful of episodes, portrayed by two different actresses wearing two different variations of the movie kostume. Dara Tomanovich (seen in the middle picture above) wears a pretty similar get-up as Talisa Soto's Kitana, though with a portion of the bodice hollowed out with mesh. She also has a necklace with a golden pendant. Audie England's Kitana opts for a look closer to the princess' UMK3 design, with the plunging neckline and cross-stitching. Kitana's also retained her fans from Annihilation. Not bad reworks, though I again yearn for blue.

Mileena...

Audie England also does double duty as Mileena, being the first actress outside of the games to portray both Edenian princesses. Mileena here is more accurate to her game counterpart, courting Shao Kahn's favor, openly scheming to get Kitana killed, and even impersonating her "sister." She basically wears a pink version of Kitana's second Conquest outfit. Again, it works. Though I'm bemused that the two fighters known for not wearing bras or pants in the games are dressed far more conservatively than the vast majority of women on this show.

Smoke...

Smoke has been retooled into a literal CG smoke demon in this show who tries to kill Sub-Zero (wait, what) in his one appearance. I believe you can still make out a normal ninja cowl with gray overtunic. He's also got red eyes, which I'm going to pretend is foreshadowing for Cyber Smoke's appearance in Deception and you can't stop me.

Noob Saibot...

Conquest premiered when the franchise had only been in existence for six years, which meant by necessity it had to play fast and loose with the lore at points. Noob Saibot is not a newly resurrected Bi-Han but an ancient entity spawned to wreak havoc. He also looks like a kabuki actor dropped in tar. They got the whole shadow man aesthetic down pat, though I weep for actor Sultan Uddin's eyes during the makeup application. Speaking of eyes, Noob's aren't actually white in the show. The desktop wallpaper that I got the above image from just added them as an edit, but it was one of the few full-body shots I could get of him, so here it stays.

Shao Kahn...

Jeff Meek also played Shao Kahn in Conquest, the tyrant wearing far more than he usually does. In the pilot, he even wears a modified version of his skull helmet before it's discarded. The back of the helmet really is that boxy, making him look like he has a high-raised collar. For most of the series proper, Shao Kahn goes for a skull helmet that's notably lacking a crest. It's weird, but the prop looks less unwieldy if nothing else. The rest of the outfit itself notably retains the game counterpart's penchant for spiked accessories, and it seems this version of Shao Kahn even has some jewelry on one of his hands. Not a bad retooling, though his robes make him look like a heavy metal version of Quan Chi.

Rain...

Since every ninja in this series wears a less elaborate uniform, Rain basically looks like he walked out of the '95 film and that's okay.

Lin Kuei Grandmaster(s)...

A Grandmaster appears in this series, looking not too different from the one seen in Mythologies: Sub-Zero. Though we've got a bit of an inversion going on here. Instead of visible eyes and a mask around the mouth, Conquest has a visible mouth and a mask around the eyes for its Grandmaster. His overtunic is also made of a shinier fabric, weirdly evoking the UMK3 Lin Kuei with the black bordering and segmenting.

Sareena, Kia, and Jataaka... Siann, Mika, and Sora...

Alright, I am only counting these three because the kostume influences are too notable for me to ignore. In Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Armageddon, Sareena, Kia, and Jataaka are three Netherrealm demons serving under Quan Chi. In Conquest, their roughly respective counterparts Siann, Mika, and Sora are resurrected corpses given the forms of human women to serve under Quan Chi. They're effectively filling the same niche as someone like Komodai in Defenders of the Realm, i.e., being the legally distinct replacement for a canon kharacter. Though Komodai only existed because DOTR is a quasi-sequel to the '95 film where Reptile was dead. Quan Chi's triple threat could've feasibly been around in the old days before Liu Kang, so I do wonder why the names just weren't used. Perhaps these substitutes would die permanently and Quan Chi would have to recruit their actual game counterparts to replenish his forces, but Conquest got canceled on the cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers so we'll never know. As it stands, they're cosplaying as themselves, though with Siann wearing the hip guards featured in Sareena's concept art. And yes, that is DOA: Dead or Alive's Jaime Pressly as Mika.

Quan Chi...

Quan Chi has a near-perfect recreation of his game look here, right down to the red on the armor and the brown belt. I'm kind of surprised they didn't just refit the Annihilation kostume onto Adoni Maropis, but this works as well. Main differences here are the hole studs on the kilt(?) and the darker fabric on the robes. They're still blue, mind you, just not the striking turquoise they were before.

Reiko...

And finally, an MK4 kharacter (that wasn't shared with Mythologies) makes their first leap beyond the games and comics. Reiko is just wearing a maskless variant of the series' ninja kostume, matching his game counterpart to a tee. His spiked gloves have sadly been replaced with maroon arm wrappings, but his tattoos have thankfully been retained.

---

And that's it. Conquest's mission statement was to basically take the wuxia action of the films and marry it to the high-flying TV fantasy of something like Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. As far as the kostumes of the games' fighters are concerned, I think it worked. Everyone looks like themselves and the show erred closer to the first film's faux-Eastern fantasy design (which means erring closer to the first two games' faux-Eastern fantasy design), so most of the outfits don't look too overly busy. Mind you, this post doesn't cover the vast amount of original kharacters whose designs had to be made wholesale and ranged from great to trashy in that 90s genre TV way. While Conquest would be canceled after one season, several of its actors would be carried over to another project as producer Lawrence Kasanoff continued his journey to make Mortal Kombat the ultimate multimedia franchise.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

In the year 2000, around the time Mortal Kombat: Special Forces would see release, Threshold Entertainment debuted Mortal Kombat: Federation of Martial Arts. This was a web series and interactive stock-trading "game" where people on the official MK website could bet with fake digital money on a series of fights between returning and newly created kharacters featured in the franchise. Several actors from prior MK media would reprise their roles for this project.

For fun, here's a list of some of the reprisals:

From the games

• Kerri Hoskins Branson as Sonya

From Mortal Kombat (1995)

• Chris Casamassa as Scorpion

From Mortal Kombat: Annihilation

• Lynn "Red" Williams as Jax
• John Medlen as Ermac

From Mortal Kombat: Conquest

• J.J. Perry as Sub-Zero
• Percy "Spitfire" Brown as Rain
• Dana Hee as Siann

The effort to retain prior actors was wise, given this series was advertised as operating in the same continuity as the films and the then-recently canceled Conquest. Episodes were very short, only a handful going over 59 seconds, and were usually multi-parters covering one-on-one fights that spectators could bet on. The series has gained a reputation for being notoriously underbudgeted, with many episodes taking place on an obvious green screen. The show has not seen any official rerelease as far as I'm aware, but Mortal Kombat Online's YouTube channel has a playlist that's preserved most of the episodes, though the image quality can leave a lot to be desired, as you'll soon find out.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRxbWs63F4k

Liu Kang...

He's gone for a barefoot warrior look this time around, and also gotten red armbands to finally make some strides toward his MKII design palette.

Sonya...

Kerri Hoskins dons the headband in official MK media for the last time here, and her get-up looks like a retooled version of Sandra Hess' Sonya from Annihilation. She also seems to be wearing camo paint on her face.

Scorpion...

The ninjas in this web series hew closer to the sleeveless ninjas of the games, though retaining the color-coded and layered Annihilation masks. Scorpion's mask is actually not 1:1 with the mask seen in the second movie, with the gray "venting" being oriented in a different pattern.

Sub-Zero...

Sub-Zero -- presumably Kuai Liang given this series' status as a followup to Annihilation -- gets a sleeveless version of the ribbon overtunic look. Strangely enough, he seems to be wearing a mask from the first movie. Not Bi-Han's mask, but Reptile's mask.

Shang Tsung...

Shang Tsung appears, possibly played by the same actor portraying Liu Kang here. He wears a similar vest/pants combo that Shang had in the first movie, and one episode even features him wearing the overcoat with the animal design seen in the film as well.

Kitana...

After five years, Kitana finally gets to have a mask. It looks a little flimsy, and more like a veil which retroactively makes me think it would fit Mileena better, but it's here. And purple, like her Batman gloves. The rest of the kostume itself is closer to the one seen in the movies, though with some cross-stitching to expose some of the sides of the torso.

Jax...

Jax returns sans dog tag and metal arms, the latter of which is actually in line with his kharacter arc in Annihilation. I imagine the people in charge of budgeting for outfits probably breathed a sigh of relief on that front.

Nightwolf...

Nightwolf wears a slightly more colorful kostume, with brown boots instead of black boots. The bands around his upper arms are also gone.

Ermac...

Ermac's looking like he walked out of MK1, fitting given his origin as a playground rumor. His Annihilation mask is retained.

Rain...

Rain just looks like a retooled version of his Conquest self, with new armguards and his Annihilation mask thrown on.

Siann...

Siann appears for a few fights and has the dubious honor of being the only nominally important fighter to actually get killed. It looks like her wardrobe was lifted straight from Conquest, with the fingerless gloves removed for whatever reason.

---

It should also be noted that Raiden, Shao Kahn, Quan Chi, and non-game kharacter Omegis would make appearances in this series via archive footage from Conquest, further establishing connections between this web series and the wider live-action continuity laid out from 1995-99.

And with that, we have concluded our coverage of a rather tumultuous chapter in the franchise's history. While Threshold Entertainment would try to continue the
movie side of the series (even signing several actors to return), outside factors would put the kibosh on that, thus leaving Federation of Martial Arts as the last Mortal Kombat project released under the company. Outside of a scant few comic adaptations, the IP's non-game media would largely stall for the remainder of the 2000s until a fan-film-turned-pitch-film came from the mind of Kevin Tancharoen.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

In the late Spring of 2010, two days before MK9 would be officially revealed to the world, Kevin Tancharoen dropped Mortal Kombat: Rebirth onto an unsuspecting populace. Initially assumed by many to be a WB-sanctioned cross-marketing stunt, Rebirth was a short fan-film and proof of concept for a feature-length Mortal Kombat movie that Tancharoen was trying to pitch. The short film would reinterpret several of the franchise's fighters as denizens of a more grounded world, with many of their fantastical elements peeled away. As such, everyone dresses like people. Take a trip down memory lane with the video linked below and enjoy me talking about regular clothes.

WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS VIOLENT SCENES AND IMAGERY

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNLND7Hs818

Sonya...

Sonya has been recast as a police officer helping Jax get cooperation from Hanzo. Here, she simply wears a beige pantsuit and a black shirt.

Johnny Cage...

Johnny is still a washed-up actor in this continuity, albeit one who takes a job as an undercover cop to see who's the man behind the serial killers of Deacon City. He dresses in a simple white shirt and jeans for the majority of his screentime, not even wearing his trademark shades in the short's flashback scenes.

Scorpion...

Hanzo Hasashi is still a Japanese assassin, albeit one we never get to see in full regalia for the duration of this short. He spends most of his screentime in voluntary police custody, listening to Jax explain the backstories of his future tournament rivals. As such, he's just wearing a yellowish prison jumpsuit.

Sub-Zero...

No version of Sub-Zero is actually seen in Rebirth, Kuai Liang's file photos never being shown on screen to focus on Hanzo's reaction at realizing his dead enemy had a brother bearing his title. A simple (possibly CG) headshot of a masked Sub-Zero flashes on-screen in the short, either to visualize the file photos, or to visualize Hanzo's memories of the elder brother. Nonetheless, it's an interesting interpretation. The mask looks far more mechanized, as if it needs to double as some sort of respirator to modulate the ice powers without killing the Cryomancer.

Reptile...

Spoiler: Content Warning: Gore and Depictions of Serious Health Conditions Ahead

Reptile is the first perpetrator Jax goes into detail about. He is no longer a Zaterran warrior whose lizardlike stature is endemic to his species, but a normal Earthborn man with the skin condition known as Harlequin-type ichthyosis, a real disease with supremely painful effects. This version of Reptile is "just" a serial killer, so no green ninja duds. Instead, he dresses in a beige shirt and checker-sleeved jacket, with wrappings around the back of his head. Now I don't know about you, but I for one would love casual apartment tenant Reptile to be an alternate outfit in the next game.

Shang Tsung...

Shang only shows up in a file photo as Jax reveals him to be the boss behind Reptile and Baraka. In this short, he's still the tournament organizer of Mortal Kombat, reenvisioned as a one-realm underground fight club. For this take, he is only seen in a simple dark suit.

Jax...

Jax is captain of Deacon City's police force, and is played by Michael Jai White, who had twice been approached to portray Jax in the film series. This version lacks the metal arms for obvious reasons and dresses in a maroon shirt with black suspenders and a hyperdetailed tie.

Baraka...

And finally, we have Baraka, played by Lateef Crowder, who keeps his Eddy Gordo locs on proud display here. Like Reptile, Baraka is a human, in his case, a former surgeon. After a surgery he performed on someone else went wrong, he began mutilating his own body, sharpening his teeth into fangs and implanting surgical tools into his arms to match his game counterpart's Tarkatan blades. He basically feels like a less sympathetic version of Guilty Gear's Dr. Baldhead/Faust, and his white jacket evokes a medical coat just enough for me to say that Tancharoen and co. were going for a mad doctor look.

---

Rebirth would not get Tancharoen the film he so clearly wanted to direct, but it did get enough attention to spur Warner Bros. to let him head a separate Mortal Kombat web series that saw release in the following year...which I have not seen yet, so this may take a while. Stay tuned.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

In April of 2011, less than a month before Mortal Kombat 9 was released, Kevin Tancharoen and his team collaborated with Machinima to debut Mortal Kombat: Legacy. A web series given the backing of Warner Bros. and the blessing of Ed Boon himself, it would build off of the foundation laid by Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, though adhering to the games' aesthetics far more openly. While set in a different continuity from Rebirth, several actors from that project would reprise their roles. The series' first season consists of nine episodes aired anachronistically, with each serving as a vignette for one or more fighters before they participated in the Mortal Kombat tournament. As this show was meant to be a happy medium between the more grounded take offered by Rebirth and the more fantastical elements seen in the games, the kostume design follows suit.

Here's a full playlist for the first season. Warning: Strong language, intense violence, mistreatment of the mentally ill (and those presumed to be mentally ill), and depictions of gore ahead.

Raiden...

Raiden spends his one focus episode as a prisoner of an asylum after he crash-lands in their backyard. He sticks to ungarnished white robes for the entirety of his screentime, only getting his straw hat after he snatches it from a pedestrian once he escapes.

Sonya...

Sonya takes a more active role in Legacy, performing a recon mission to scope out Kano's weapons-laundering depot. As such, she's dressed in all-black tactical gear, and it actually looks like tactical gear!

Johnny Cage...

Johnny is somehow more of a washed-up action star here than he is in the games, having suffered a full-on career slump. He does wear his shades for some in-universe interviews, though given he's mostly indoors or seen at night for his focus episode, he has no need for them otherwise. For his episode's final fight scene, he's just dressed in a red T-shirt and jeans.

Scorpion...

Hanzo Hasashi gets the penultimate episode, where we see much of his life in Japan before the Lin Kuei (allegedly) murdered his clan. He seems to be more of a samurai than a ninja in this continuity, actively teaching his son about the ways of the warrior. When Hanzo suits up, his iconic uniform's silhouette is maintained, though with the overtunic having a more folded look akin to a kimono. Most notable is the screaming mask worn over an additional cloth mask. Yeah, I'm admittedly not too fond of the hard mask worn here. Anything that mimics human teeth without actually being human teeth will always look a little weird to me without proper context on what authentic Japanese warrior custom was. I have a similar problem with Taki's various masks in Soulcalibur, though Hanzo's mask at least provides a bit more protection.

Sub-Zero...

Bi-Han shares a focus episode with Scorpion, and dons a multi-toned blue get-up. I like the leg wrappings and the fact that the overtunic is almost like a poncho. Though, I must admit that the mask, while cool and pretty game-accurate, looks a bit oversized, especially when Bi-Han actually talks.

Kano...

Kano is just a contemporary crime boss and as such he dresses like a dude, though he keeps a shark tooth necklace because of course he does. He gets the metal faceplate and prosthetic eye at the end of the second episode after Jax punches him so hard his real eye flies out.

Shang Tsung...

Shang Tsung appears sporadically throughout the first season, first offering Johnny a chance for redemption at the tournament. There, he dons a business suit to keep up appearances despite having already paused time and space to make his Faustian offer to Johnny. His more recurring kostume is wizard's robes with the expected gold detailing. It also has a red sash that I like. Shame the viewer gets so few good shots of him in it.

Kitana and Mileena...

Kitana and Mileena's shared episodes are called "Kitana & Mileena" and are about Kitana and Mileena who hate each other because they're Kitana and Mileena. They wear multiple ninja outfits in this episode. The picture seen above on the right is a behind-the-scenes shot of the actors sparring for Shao Kahn's favor. Their uniforms are identical color-coded training gis. I like the idea of the sisters going for flowier cloth "ninja" attire over spandex, though I wish it didn't have to come with patented holed ninja pants.

Jax...

Jax again serves as a member of Deacon City's police force and suits up in tactical gear to extract Sonya when she's caught by the Black Dragon. By the end of the second episode, Stryker informs Sonya that Jax is getting prosthetics for his injured arms and back courtesy of the U.S. Department of Defense.

Baraka...

Kitana and Mileena's first focus episode also features Baraka leading his Tarkatan soldiers against the Edenian royal family's stronghold. Baraka looks like a rougher take on his Deception design, wearing a metal chestplate over a black shirt. It works. What I personally take more notice of though is just how wrinkly Baraka looks in this show. My word, prosthetics for this franchise have come far. The wispy white hair trailing behind him is a nice touch too.

Shao Kahn...

Shao Kahn goes helmetless for all of his appearances, donning dark short-sleeved armor. It's alright, though the loss of any notable skull motif kind of takes the oomph out of the emperor.

Stryker...

Stryker appears in the first two episodes, working as a fellow detective of Jax's. For his appearances at the precinct, he dresses in a suit, wearing tactical gear when he accompanies Jax to save Sonya.

Sindel...

Sindel appears pre-resurrection in Kitana and Mileena's backstory, her penchant for purple maintained in a rather lovely aristocratic dress with a...petticoat? Overcoat. It's a coat. Seen above on the right is an on-set picture with Sindel and Jerrod's actors due to ease of access and a better view of the color of the dress, which pops far more when this show's gritty 2010s reboot filter isn't applied.

Cyrax...

The final episode of season one focuses on the Lin Kuei's Cyber Initiative and the abject horrors that such a process entails. The cyborgs are rendered via CGI and motion capture, with Cyrax looking largely as he did in MK9 (though with more green lights around his waist area).

Sektor...

Sektor is largely a palette swap of Cyrax, retaining the same shoulder pads, hazard symbol pectorals, and faceplate.

And once again, here are the two's human forms:

Yeah, it's just black attire with some admittedly cool masks. They're ninjas, I guess.

Lin Kuei Grandmaster...

And we get to see Sektor's father as well, dressed in a simple business suit since he's out of the lair and actually has to interact with non-assassins for once. At least his color scheme is maintained via the red tie and handkerchief.

Quan Chi...

Quan Chi shows up to enlist Hanzo's services for the Mortal Kombat tournament after having mortally wounded Hanzo himself in the guise of Bi-Han. He wears a black overcoat with leather shoulder pads, with his facial markings centered around his right cheek instead of his forehead. Honestly, it's a little freaky to not have Quan Chi wearing spikes all over, though the wannabe biker jacket is pretty metal in its own right.

Kana and Jubei...

Hanzo Hasashi's wife and son, Harumi "Kana" Hasashi and Satoshi "Jubei" Hasashi, were frequently mentioned in Arcade endings and supplementary material related to Scorpion. They would make their first visual appearance in MK9, as a vision induced by Quan Chi to spur Scorpion to kill Bi-Han. They appear in this show not immediately terrorized, Kana wearing a lovely kimono of multiple shades of purple and Jubei wearing mustard yellow robes to highlight how much like his father he wants to be.

Jerrod...

And finally, Jerrod gets to have an actual voiced appearance in media, portrayed by voice actor Kirby Morrow. In Legacy, he dresses in far more westernized clothing compared to the faux-Eastern attire of his daughter(s). He wouldn't be too out of place in Game of Thrones.

Jerrod spends most of Kitana and Mileena's focus episodes in hiding, using voluntarily disguised duplicates to stave off assassination attempts and live long enough to tell Kitana the truth of her heritage.

By the time Kitana finds the real deal, he's an old man in tattered robes, a far cry from the kingly statesman we saw even in Ermac's MK9 ending.

Hydro...

Hydro was a Lin Kuei and a friend of Bi-Han previously only seen in Malibu's Mortal Kombat comic series. He died at the hands of Scorpion in that series but became a fixture of fangames for years afterward. And it seems someone on the production crew of Legacy was enough of a fan to give him a nod in the season one finale. Here, he's a sort of prototype for the Cyber Initiative, let loose to test Cyrax and Sektor's powers. While Hydro in the comics was able to get a unique uniform to help him stand out from the other blue guy in the organization, in Legacy he's just a recolored Cyrax. CGI is expensive, y'all.

---

Season one of Legacy has now been talked about. All things considered, it was a decent enough take on the mythos with some outfit designs that didn't look like total trash. Sonya certainly looked better here than she had since Tobias left. Though there is something to be said about the power of a signature color. Power Rangers knows it and the Mortal Kombat games certainly know it. Really, it's only Shao Kahn and Stryker who suffer from color loss here -- relative to where they were circa 2011, anyways. Sonya and Jax had been moving to more muted colors since the 2000s, with only Jax really beginning to move away from that in MK11 nearly a decade after this show premiered. This is more so me on a soapbox squawking than any serious attempt to drag this show in particular, but I would say that even if you're in a "grounded" world, it's good to remember that people still wear clothes with bright hues.

Anyway, Legacy was a success and would receive a sequel two years later that would cover the tournament proper and feature more fan favorites.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

'

More than two years after Mortal Kombat: Legacy aired online, a second season (aptly titled Mortal Kombat: Legacy II) was dropped all at once in September of 2013. This season covered the Mortal Kombat tournament itself while still also detailing backstories for (more) fighters and explaining what they were up to in the interim. Most of the returning kharacters from the first season have been recast, with only Kitana and Scorpion retaining their season one actors. With that said, one actor from the 1995 film would return as part of the batch of recast actors.

This season is available to watch on HBO Max and was formerly officially uploaded to YouTube, though I imagine Machinima's dissolution left the episodes in a sort of limbo.

Here is a production photo of the actors on set to provide a general idea of what they looked like without the show's specific lighting:

And since I can't rip any music from the show for you to listen to, enjoy the Utah Saints' take on the original film's theme.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU7gPxDsFjE

Liu Kang...

Immoral Champion of Mortal Kombat...I'm sorry, I meant to say immortal Champion of Mortal Kombat. Liu Kang here has lived a hard life. Left the White Lotus Society to pursue love in the outside world, lost said love, committed murder to avenge said love, then got excommunicated from his Shaolin brethren which led him down a neverending spiral of violence and self-loathing. And he didn't even have to become a Revenant for any of this to happen. Anyways, this is Liu Kang if he were plopped into Final Fight: Streetwise, so he dresses in hoodies and jeans. While on Shang Tsung's Island, he's got a leather hoodie with a red shirt underneath to tap into his inner Jin Kazama. Points for keeping the color scheme if nothing else.

Raiden...

Raiden arrives to summon the Warriors of Light, seeming to be in a far better place than he was when we last saw him. He's even found more traditional robes with a blue sash. I like the very sage shrine overseer look Raiden's got going on here.

Johnny Cage...

Johnny dresses like a dude off the street still, though we actually get to see him wear his expensive sunglasses a little more this time. While at the tournament, he dresses in a black jacket, yellow/black/gray shirt, and jeans. Not bad, though the silver jacket he had in prison when Raiden recruited him looked cooler to me.

Scorpion...

After Hanzo's rebirth into the hellspawn Scorpion, he...didn't really change all that much. His overtunic is far more worn out, faded, and burnt-looking, which is an obvious but cool signifier that he's basically been reborn in the fires of hatred. His waist sash looks more leathery, and his mask has been swapped out for a sneering gold mask with human teeth again. The mask looks alright in some shots, but oddly offputting in others.

Sub-Zero (Bi-Han)...

One of the big twists of this season was revealing that Bi-Han is the far more honorable of the Sub-Zero brothers in this continuity, living to become head of his clan and trying to honor a truce with his childhood friend Hanzo. Hearing of Scorpion's resurrection, he arrives at the tournament in new garb. On a tangential note, I'll admit I was thrown off by the timeline in this show because I have no idea how old Hanzo and Bi-Han are supposed to be. Anyways, Bi-Han gets newer gear and I think he looks like a professional paintball player. Is this what the kids call "tacticool" armor? Because that's admittedly what I was thinking of. While Bi-Han in this show is definitely more forward-thinking than his game counterpart, the suit looks almost too modern, if that makes any sense. Like, yeah, a group of clandestine assassins who also like bright colors would update their gear (see: Sektor), but I guess I think it looks too basic for a Mortal Kombat clandestine assassin. To their credit, they kept the blue all around the uniform, but this is just FPS gear. Sub-Zero looks more like a terrorist mook in a shooter when he's supposed to look like cheap enemy fodder in a Ninja Gaiden game. I really shouldn't be belaboring this given game Sub-Zero and Legacy II Sub-Zero are both just divergent ideas of what an Eastern foot soldier is supposed to look like. Neither is really accurate, which is maybe a point of discussion we should have before Mortal Kombat 12 becomes a thing, but I digress. This one is odd, and it's even odder because of the egg mask.

Sub-Zero (Kuai Liang)...

Kuai Liang does appear in this show, though he is not long for this world. He appears in a flashback, wearing what was then the standard Lin Kuei uniform, looking like a maskless dark blue palette swap of Scorpion. It works, and despite being the biggest proponent for diversifying the recolors' designs, I admittedly wish they had just given Bi-Han a lightly modified version of it in the present-day sequences.

Shang Tsung...

While Shang Tsung wound up getting probably the most notable actor switch, his actual "wizard" attire isn't too different. Dark browns and gold are still his forte here, and his cuffs even seem to have layered frills like they're dragon scales. I approve. This is basically the edgy dark version of his Deadly Alliance default and it works.

Kitana and Mileena...

The sisters return, now wearing more form-fitting pants and taller heavy-looking boots. Both continue to go maskless, Mileena sporting some scars around her mouth to signify her Tarkatan features coming in fully. Seriously, though, can we go back to the boots? I'm not used to either of them wearing what are basically military stomping boots. They're certainly no more out of place than the battle stilettos they usually wear, but seeing them just took me by surprise. The parameters of a 3D game are not the parameters of reality*. The kostumes look fine, and they definitely maintain a duality better than Bi-Han and Scorpion's do. The pants aren't even really pants, though, they're just spats with irregularly shaped stockings and faux-garter belts. I have no idea what to make of them.

*Please ignore that any other production would've likely given them wedge heels instead.

Kung Lao...

The non-Great Kung Lao finally gets to make his show debut. He's apparently become the head of the White Lotus Society, and he's a far calmer presence here than he is in most of the games post-Shaolin Monks. The designers even got around the issue of him wearing an unsheathed sawblade for a hat and bound it in straw to help him blend in with a crowd more easily. This Kung Lao upholds his Shaolin teachings pretty diligently, so it works. His battle kostume on the island is not too different from his game counterpart. The red has been downplayed and his pants are a darker shade of blue, akin to his ancestor's appearance in The Journey Begins.

Stryker...

Stryker returns without Sonya and Jax, dressed in all-black tactical gear. He's summoned to the island like that, so he at least had the good sense to prepare when Raiden gave him a warning.

Ermac...

Ermac is a weird one. He's a demon who guards the sword Sento in the year 1199. He arrives at the tournament in the present day to challenge Kenshi, all the while still looking like a mystic cave troll. He does wear red, but it's so downplayed you wouldn't be blamed for not noticing. Ermac wears a hood at all times in lieu of a mask or any facial wrappings, and dresses in dark rags. Were it not for the voice and exposition that he steals souls, I would not have known this was Ermac at all.

Kenshi...

The sole kharacter in this season to hail from the 3D era, Kenshi is largely himself, just without his sash. Or any red. Okay, he wears a red and black kimono in a flashback sequence, but for the tournament proper after he's acquired the blindfold he's dressed in black athleisure wear. I can obviously still tell it's Kenshi because the sword and the blindfold are his most recurring aesthetic elements, but come on. He's played by a Red Ranger for crying out loud. Give my man some color.

Kana and Jubei...

Scorpion's wife and son return in another flashback sequence, recast just like pretty much everyone else. Their respective color schemes of purple and mustard yellow are retained, Kana even getting a floral pattern added to her kimono that I like a lot.

---

And that is the end of Mortal Kombat: Legacy. Some design retools that worked wonderfully, some that didn't, pretty much all not looking as good as they could have due to this show's insistence on a grayer palette for its cinematography.

A third season of sorts titled Mortal Kombat X: Generations was in the works years ago and was apparently even filmed, but it's never been released. As you could guess, it was meant to take kharacters from Mortal Kombat X and bring them into live-action. Johnny, Shang Tsung, and Kung Lao's actors from Legacy II were apparently set to return for this series and there are set photos showing a few kharacters, but still no official release. As such, Legacy II would be the last live-action Mortal Kombat project for nearly a decade as Warner Bros. quietly worked to get its big-budget movie reboot off the ground. But before we get to that, we'll take another look at Mortal Kombat's animated side.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

WARNING! OPEN SPOILERS FOR THIS FILM BELOW! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Released in 2020, Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge is the first of a series of animated MK films focusing on the litany of fighters seen in the franchise throughout the years. The film retells the events of the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament, utilizing much of the narrative structure of the 1995 film, which itself borrowed heavily from Enter the Dragon. And as you can guess from the subtitle, Scorpion's Revenge also gives us the first extensive visual depiction of the death of Hanzo Hasashi and the birth of Scorpion. While the film was released roughly a year after Mortal Kombat 11, its kharacter designs are largely based on the outfits seen in MKX.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrASFAjHTrk

Liu Kang...

Liu Kang is once again one of the chosen saviors of Earthrealm, accompanying Raiden, Sonya, and Johnny to Shang Tsung's Island. He's basically MK9 Liu Kang in terms of looks but with MKX Liu Kang's outfit (albeit with shorter sleeves).

Raiden...

Raiden guides the Warriors of Light in a non-participatory role, as has usually been the case since 1995. His outfit is a less detailed version of his MKX default, removing the storm cloud patterning on the overtunic and giving said overtunic a more curved look to evoke shoulder pads, likely MK9 Raiden's shoulder pads. His hat also seems to be just sitting atop his head without the interior brace that was featured in MKX.

Sonya...

Sonya arrives on the island in green and black military wear. Seems to largely be a loose recolor of her MKX and MK11 military wear, just with a brighter color. I'm okay with this.

Johnny Cage...

Johnny notably does not pull from MKX for his design in this movie. Instead, it seems the art team looked at his Miami Vice-inspired alternate kostume from MK9 for his get-up here. It makes sense; Johnny's under the impression that he's on-location for a movie shoot and not an interdimensional tournament to decide the fate of the human race, so of course he's going to just dress like a dude. Johnny opted for a blue suit and pink shirt with a loosened tie in the ninth mainline game, while here he goes for a white jacket, blue shirt, and gray pants with a belt buckle that's either a "G" or a very stylized "C." Also, a gold necklace in place of the tie. And as you saw in Raiden's section above, Johnny also sports a pair of tinted shades. It's a simple "Hollywood business casual" design befitting the younger, more arrogant Johnny.

Scorpion...

And now we can discuss the (ninja throwing) star of the show. Scorpion, after pledging his allegiance to Quan Chi in the Netherrealm, is given a new outfit and his first mission. Said new outfit is just the MKX default that he never even wore in the story mode. I'm happy we get to see the MKX designs in a work with brighter colors, it certainly helps them pop more. The mask is a lighter shade of gold, and the overtunic is less worn out due to the fact that it's brand new.

Hanzo Hasashi...

...And for the film's prologue depicting a younger, less skeletal Hanzo, the filmmakers opted to give the uniform worn by his older counterpart in MKX to his younger self here. The black lining around the overtunic is more solid here, foregoing the game version's more segmented, faded-out stripes.

Sub-Zero (Bi-Han)...

Bi-Han serves as Scorpion's primary adversary yet again, wearing his younger brother's MKX default outfit for some reason. I guess in this continuity, Kuai Liang inherited all of his brother's stuff. Makes me wonder if the suspenders were actually day clothes from Bi-Han that Kuai Liang just happened to take a liking to.

Reptile...

MKX Reptile and Scorpion's Revenge Reptile are not all that different, though most of the gold trim from the former has been removed in the latter. The movie's Reptile's mask also seems to be a darker, duller shade of black.

Kano...

Kano's a loose hodgepodge of influences in this movie. His camo pants, chest straps, and wristguards are taken from MKX (though the former are green now), his chest reactor is closer to the MK11 version in terms of size and shape, and his hair also seems to be closer to the MK11 default Kano. Kano usually comes in three general varieties: Shirtless, wearing a vest (openness optional), and MK3. The movie settled on variety #1, and that's okay.

Goro...

Goro again serves as Shang Tsung's four-hand right-hand man and unlike the '95 film, gets the chance to actually fight Liu Kang this time around. His appearance is largely MKX-inspired with a few minor deviations here and there. The yin-yang symbol on the (now-darkened) belt is notably gone, replaced with a simple red circle, while his loincloth has a far less tattered look to it. Again, this movie's color palette does wonders for the MKX kostumes.

Shang Tsung...

The elder Shang Tsung reverts back to the MK9 look, with the green skull design on the belt made more clear now. The snake patterning on his robes has also been changed up, making them appear more like demonic versions of Pac-Man munching about. His robes are also more spiked at the shoulders, because the evil B-movie wizard look wasn't apparent enough already, I suppose. He's also sporting some gold shinguards whereas MK9 Old Man Tsung went for black boots with gold binding. Not a bad redesign for the sorcerer.

And in a flashback sequence, we get to see Shang in his younger days as a Mortal Kombat Champion.

It's MK3 Shang Tsung.

Kitana...

MKX Kitana gets to assert her dominance with a shade of blue that people wouldn't mistake for gray, so that's nice. Seeing this design in animated form made me do a doubletake because certain elements look more fanservicey than I remember. Comparing the Legends design with the MKX design proper, there were a handful of liberties taken. Since this is a cartoon where fabric flow is far easier to depict, her pants look even more ill-fitting here than they did in the game; also her "leotard" is far tighter looking than it was in the game, to the point where she looks like she's got a wedgie. Her wooden "belt" is also shrunk down compared to the game, though she's actually exposing less cleavage than before due to the tube top being expanded. Minor changes can, well, change a design in noticeable ways when you compare them head-to-head.

Jax...

Jax dresses in a green version of his MKX garb of vest and pants. Guess who rips his arms off this time?

Baraka...

This movie commits so hard to the MKX aesthetic that even PC/console version NPK Baraka uses his outfit from that game here. The production crew even retained the rope straps for his armor.

Shao Kahn...

Shao Kahn appears at the end of the film to chide Shang Tsung for his failures and vows to set up the next phase of his plan to take over Earthrealm. He dresses in a mostly faithful reinterpretation of his MK9 attire, the most notable difference being the lack of a black stripe across his loincloth.

Motaro...

The sole kharacter from MK3 in this film, Motaro appears as part of a horde of Outworld monsters Johnny and Sonya have to fight to get to Kano. He has...I don't know what they are, actually. Really short shoulder pads? Whatever he has, he's got 'em.

Quan Chi...

Quan Chi looks about the same as we last saw him in the games: Hyper-edgy and one moment away from getting his teeth kicked in by Scorpion. Though his chest belts -- really, the whole lower half of his outfit -- aren't as ornate as they are in the games. Also, his shoulder blades actually look more decorative instead of deathly sharp, so points for practicality there.

Nitara...

Making her first appearance in the series since Armageddon over 13 years prior, Nitara shows up in the movie as another invited kombatant who gets a cameo at the banquet scene. Her design is quite similar to her Deadly Alliance default, though with her jacket lengthened and the non-sleeves portion turned black. Her bra also lacks the gold studs it had previously and her wings have no tattoos on them at all. Credit goes to YouTuber RebelTaxi for getting this (mostly) full-body shot that I could isolate.

Moloch...

Moloch, simply referred to as "Demon Torturer" by the film's credits, appears as Scorpion's designated tormentor when he awakens in the Netherrealm. He dons spiked shoulder pads and a skull belt befitting his evil orc from Hell cosplay. You know what he doesn't have? The ball and chain. Though really, Moloch's body shape is more of a departure than anything else. He's far stouter and doesn't crouch anymore.

The Great Kung Lao...

Old Kung Lao appears in the aforementioned flashback alongside Shang Tsung, looking as he did in MK9 and the early comics.

Kana and Jubei... Harumi and Satoshi...

Hanzo's wife and son make their animated debut, foregoing their color schemes from Legacy and settling on earthier tones.

---

Scorpion's Revenge seems to have been a success, garnering the highest Rotten Tomatoes score to date for the movie franchise. It embraces the over-the-top violence and colorful designs of the universe rather well, though hewing so closely to the games' outfits didn't give me much to talk about. I'd say next up is this film's sequel, but the new live-action film (after having been in the works on and off for about 10 years) finally clawed its way out of development hell and released in between the animated entries.

HEY, YOU! YES, YOU, PERSON SCROLLING UP FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE! ABOVE BE SPOILERS FOR THE FILM SCORPION'S REVENGE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

Thank you all for your support.

WARNING! OPEN SPOILERS FOR THIS FILM BELOW! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

The year is 2021. Warner Bros., having endured failed start after failed start to resurrect the live-action Mortal Kombat film franchise, has finally gotten its new project off the ground. The film kicks off a new continuity, focusing on world-weary MMA fighter Cole Young as he and several other warriors are chosen to participate in the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament. Not that the movie ever actually gets to the titular tournament, what with Shang Tsung's machinations to kill Raiden's champions before they even have a chance to get to Outworld. Despite the more "grounded" packaging, this film looks as "Mortal Kombat" as its two theatrical predecessors, just in the modern armored sense instead of the aerobics B-movie sense. Weirdly enough, despite the amount of work put in by the three most recent (as of this post) entries, only kharacters featured or alluded to in the first five mainline games get to appear in this film beyond mural cameos.

Folks, you know the drill at this point. We'll go in theme song order and follow my arbitrary order from there.


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7XvA9gOCxQ

Mortal Kombat Official Soundtrack | Techno Syndrome 2021 - Benjamin Wallfisch | WaterTower

Techno Syndrome 2021, a new track by Benjamin Wallfisch from the #OfficialSoundtrack of Mortal KombatAvailable Now: https://lnk.to/MortalKombatIDWritten by: ...

www.youtube.com

Sonya Blade...

Okay, so in the movie there's this stuff called Arcana. It's apparently the essence that releases fighters' inner abilities and it's connected to the dragon tattoos that all of the chosen ones get. Sonya doesn't have that, so she's "only" a decorated military vet who helps Cole find Raiden's temple. She largely dresses in pants, fingerless gloves, and a tank top that's either black or green depending on the day. The get-up works for a no-nonsense Special Forces operative who has several bones to pick, usually in regards to Kano, seen pictured above while on the receiving end of one of Sonya's beatdowns.

Jax...

Jax helps Cole and his family evade Sub-Zero and loses his arms for his troubles. Goodness, he didn't even get to go to the island this time. Liu Kang's fellow monks (I think) provide him skeletal metal prosthetics that eventually grow into fuller arms as he unlocks his Arcana. I bet you forgot about that plot element, didn't you? The arms themselves are alright, though they look a little busy and since they're technically organic, I feel like they should have some mystical inscriptions on them or something, I don't know. Also, I might be tripping mad balls, but I think his nipples are metal now too. That's a choice. Overall, it's MK9 Jax, dog tags and all.

Kano...

Kano's his usual crass self, switching sides when it's convenient for him (or when he feels the need to amuse himself). His attire doesn't look too off from his Deadly Alliance and MKvsDCU kostumes, and the belts and brass ring even emulate his usual chest reactor. He looks like a "folksy" outback hunter dropped into a bad situation with the personality to match.

Shang Tsung...

Shang Tsung is the would-be figurehead of the tournament, covertly sending his underlings to kill Raiden's kombatants early to ensure a technical victory. He dresses in ornamental attire, looking far more like an emperor than an emperor's sycophantic sorcerer. One of Shang's alternate skins in MK11 kind of looks like it could've been a dry run for this design, especially with the gold detail on the chestplate. Shang is far less physically involved in this film, so he's content to strut around in long robes like it's MK1 again. I dig the shoulder pads and cape. This is a very impressive look for him.

Raiden...

Raiden finally gets to wear blue in a live-action film, usually in the form of a jacket over his white robes. His hat is also trimmed with metal and features a new inner brace. It's Raiden, God of Thunder, alright.

Liu Kang...

While Liu Kang is not the main hero of this film, he does at least look the part. This is by far the most game-accurate kostume we've seen in the live-action expanded media, giving him plenty of red to offset the black. He's even got red leg bindings in place of the usual black ones. If I have any "issues" with this kostume, it's that the white gi on top alongside the red headband (taken from the fabric trim of Kung Lao's hat) make him look like Ryu from Street Fighter. That's not a dealbreaker by any means, but I can't imagine any Mortal Kombat fighter, sans Kobra, ever wanting to be compared to a Street Fighter character. With that said, this design works well, it works very well.

Kung Lao...

The present-day Kung Lao makes his film debut and does so with aplomb. The production crew thankfully didn't try to tone down the concept of "Shaolin monk wears a sawblade hat that he throws at people" and that seems to have extended to the design side of things as well. Kung Lao keeps his general silhouette and plenty of red. Even his uniform contains some blue trim to keep the old color scheme alive in this reboot. The shoulder pads and red sash around his belt are a nice touch as well.

Sub-Zero...

Bi-Han is once again at odds with Scorpion over the death of the latter's family and clan. For his appearances after the prologue sequence, Sub-Zero wears heavy layered armor with what appears to be blue chainmail. For most of his screentime, the lighting makes the chainmail look so dark you'd think he was wearing all black. Certainly can't imagine why the designers would want Bi-Han to look like he's some shadowy phantom. He notably discards portions of his armor during the final fight to reveal his black undersuit, which I suppose is a bit more "ninja" than his armored appearance for the rest of the film. It's a fun look for the Lin Kuei, though I've been cursed with the viewpoint that his mask is a bit ill-fitting. Fan-edited images may ruin your life.

Scorpion...

Hanzo spends most of the film trapped in the Netherrealm, only resurfacing once a descendant of his sheds their blood on his old kunai. As he and Bi-Han are both warriors from the 1600s, they have what I'm presuming is relatively period-accurate armor modified to accommodate their iconic designs. Scorpion dresses in gold armor over a black and yellow uniform and in a possible nod to MKX, wears a hood, now lined with yellow trim. Outside of Deception, I'm not used to seeing an armor-clad Scorpion running around, but this works. Scorpion fashions himself as a reaper of death in this film, so I suppose he should look the part. Kind of want to see what his uniform is like without the armor plating, though.

Hanzo Hasashi...

In the film's prologue, we see Hanzo doing his day-to-day business at his home before the Lin Kuei put a stop to all that. For said prologue, he's dressed in a brown kimono with dark yellow flourishes.

And now for the rest!

Johnny Cage...

Mortal Kombat, (Not) Starring Johnny Cage. Our favorite celebrity chatterbox is MIA for the duration of this film, only appearing partially obscured on an in-universe movie poster. This is only at the film's end as Cole sets out for Hollywood to recruit him for the coming war with Shang's forces, and that's about all I can say for John Carlton. He does brandish the now-signature Cage belt on the aforementioned poster, though I have no idea if that will stick for this film's sequel.

Reptile...

You can tell how long it's been since a big-budget Mortal Kombat project last got off the ground because the filmmakers or Warner or somebody seemingly realized Reptile is a reptile and thus they don't even bother to hide or alter his true form at any point. The man's a miniature Godzilla. And naked, not sure how I feel about that part. If you're gonna go full-Deadly Alliance, then give me the awesome green and black duds.

Goro...

Goro is an impressive work of motion capture. Design-wise, he doesn't look too different from his MKX incarnation, adding a bandolier and tattered or feathered shoulder pads, and switching out his belt symbol. He also only wears bracelets on his top arms for some reason, with his bottom arms getting shoulder bands in exchange.

Mileena...

Mileena goes maskless for the entirety of the film, showing off her Glasgow mouth for all the realms to see. Her actual attire is a predominantly black bodysuit with hints of purple highlights, alongside what I will generously refer to as a chainmail sports bra over her boobsocks. Yeah, I don't know what to make of this one. Put some more purple on it and don't mold the suit like that and I'd like it more.

Nightwolf...

Sonya's research into the origins of Mortal Kombat gives the audience a few chances to go Easter egg hunting. And one of those Easter eggs pertains to a certain Matokan warrior. Whether this is meant to be the Nightwolf most fans know or a predecessor bearing the title (as MK11 revealed that there have been many Nightwolves) is unknown. Nevertheless, this is a pretty standard look for the kharacter.

Kabal...

Kabal is probably the kharacter who drew the most influence from his MK11 design, specifically the Revenant version. The larger, more demonic mask with glowing red eyes is retained, and it looks more like a gas mask. Understandable, given this is a still-human Kabal who needs the mask for breathing after whatever incident with Kano left him burned to a crisp. His color scheme is retained, with all the military green and brown you could ask for.

Reiko...

Reiko appears as one of Shang Tsung's enforcers and I don't think he speaks a single word. He's here to swing his hammer and give Jax someone to fight. For these purposes, he dresses in white and red robes with an armored vest to visually bridge him to his Armageddon design. Notably, instead of a skull design in the center, he gets an emblem of Shao Kahn in the center, which is a nice touch.

Nitara...

When I first heard Nitara was going to be in this film, I gathered that someone on the crew liked her enough to let her do something here. I was correct, one of the production members thought she was underutilized in the games and decided that if the film's villain side needed more minions, then she might as well get pulled out of storage. I can respect that. Shame she didn't do much here. For her stint as Shang Tsung's lover loyal servant, she dresses far more conservatively and also far more gothically. Gone are the studded bra and endless straps, and in their place leather everything. To offset the loss of red, her wings have been made a brighter shade, which I appreciate. It's a fine, suitably vampiric redesign, though it's a little surreal to see Nitara without her headband or hair sticks. Scratch that, it's surreal to see Nitara with mildly substantial screentime period.

Taven, Argus, and Delia...

On the murals in Raiden's temple, we get several more cameos. And on one of them were Taven and his parents. Taven is notably wearing blue for what is apparently his burial and Argus lacks his long cape. Even Delia gets mild tweaks to her design, her dress becoming more of a maroon shade instead of the deeper red it usually is.

Harumi and Satoshi...

Hanzo's family appears yet again to suffer the consequences of being Hanzo's family. Harumi wears yellow this time and Satoshi opts for white and gray. Also pictured above is Hanzo's baby daughter, seemingly exclusive to this specific continuity.

The Great Kung Lao...

On another mural, we have Liu Kang and modern Kung Lao's ancestor. He looks the same as he normally does, though with far spikier bracelets than usual.

---

I have to say, I'm kind of impressed with the kostume design in this film. When creatives were talking about making a new film, they always seemed to emphasize how much more violent and gritty it would be compared to the 90s films, and I guess I was afraid they would strip away all the fun from the outfits as well. Everyone looks about how they normally do, maybe Mileena and Reiko excepted. And most of the color schemes are retained, which I do consider an integral part of the visual language of the series. It helps keep people like Nitara recognizable even though the bat wings alone should give it away. These are some decent reworkings of the kast, and I wouldn't mind some of them becoming skins in the next game, whenever that happens.

Anyways, we have one more movie to cover, so don't leave this thread yet.

HEY, YOU! YES, YOU, PERSON SCROLLING UP FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE! ABOVE BE SPOILERS FOR THE 2021 LIVE-ACTION FILM. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

WARNING! OPEN SPOILERS FOR THIS FILM AND ITS PREDECESSOR BELOW! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Less than five months after the release of the live-action reboot, fans would receive another movie that followed up on the events of Scorpion's Revenge. Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms takes place not too long after its predecessor, focusing on Raiden and his Forces of Light attempting to keep Shao Kahn's armies at bay. This segues into what may be the most faithful adaptation of Mortal Kombat II's events to date. As most of the production crew from Scorpion's Revenge was retained, many of the returning kharacters look the same and as such I will only cover those who actually got a notable design change.

Please refer to the quoted post below to get comparisons on how the previous movie's redesigns fared:

WARNING! OPEN SPOILERS FOR THIS FILM BELOW! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Released in 2020, Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge is the first of a series of animated MK films focusing on the litany of fighters seen in the franchise throughout the years. The film retells the events of the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament, utilizing much of the narrative structure of the 1995 film, which itself borrowed heavily from Enter the Dragon. And as you can guess from the subtitle, Scorpion's Revenge also gives us the first extensive visual depiction of the death of Hanzo Hasashi and the birth of Scorpion. While the film was released roughly a year after Mortal Kombat 11, its kharacter designs are largely based on the outfits seen in MKX.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrASFAjHTrk

Liu Kang...

Liu Kang is once again one of the chosen saviors of Earthrealm, accompanying Raiden, Sonya, and Johnny to Shang Tsung's Island. He's basically MK9 Liu Kang in terms of looks but with MKX Liu Kang's outfit (albeit with shorter sleeves).

Raiden...

Raiden guides the Warriors of Light in a non-participatory role, as has usually been the case since 1995. His outfit is a less detailed version of his MKX default, removing the storm cloud patterning on the overtunic and giving said overtunic a more curved look to evoke shoulder pads, likely MK9 Raiden's shoulder pads. His hat also seems to be just sitting atop his head without the interior brace that was featured in MKX.

Sonya...

Sonya arrives on the island in green and black military wear. Seems to largely be a loose recolor of her MKX and MK11 military wear, just with a brighter color. I'm okay with this.

Johnny Cage...

Johnny notably does not pull from MKX for his design in this movie. Instead, it seems the art team looked at his Miami Vice-inspired alternate kostume from MK9 for his get-up here. It makes sense; Johnny's under the impression that he's on-location for a movie shoot and not an interdimensional tournament to decide the fate of the human race, so of course he's going to just dress like a dude. Johnny opted for a blue suit and pink shirt with a loosened tie in the ninth mainline game, while here he goes for a white jacket, blue shirt, and gray pants with a belt buckle that's either a "G" or a very stylized "C." Also, a gold necklace in place of the tie. And as you saw in Raiden's section above, Johnny also sports a pair of tinted shades. It's a simple "Hollywood business casual" design befitting the younger, more arrogant Johnny.

Scorpion...

And now we can discuss the (ninja throwing) star of the show. Scorpion, after pledging his allegiance to Quan Chi in the Netherrealm, is given a new outfit and his first mission. Said new outfit is just the MKX default that he never even wore in the story mode. I'm happy we get to see the MKX designs in a work with brighter colors, it certainly helps them pop more. The mask is a lighter shade of gold, and the overtunic is less worn out due to the fact that it's brand new.

Hanzo Hasashi...

...And for the film's prologue depicting a younger, less skeletal Hanzo, the filmmakers opted to give the uniform worn by his older counterpart in MKX to his younger self here. The black lining around the overtunic is more solid here, foregoing the game version's more segmented, faded-out stripes.

Sub-Zero (Bi-Han)...

Bi-Han serves as Scorpion's primary adversary yet again, wearing his younger brother's MKX default outfit for some reason. I guess in this continuity, Kuai Liang inherited all of his brother's stuff. Makes me wonder if the suspenders were actually day clothes from Bi-Han that Kuai Liang just happened to take a liking to.

Reptile...

MKX Reptile and Scorpion's Revenge Reptile are not all that different, though most of the gold trim from the former has been removed in the latter. The movie's Reptile's mask also seems to be a darker, duller shade of black.

Kano...

Kano's a loose hodgepodge of influences in this movie. His camo pants, chest straps, and wristguards are taken from MKX (though the former are green now), his chest reactor is closer to the MK11 version in terms of size and shape, and his hair also seems to be closer to the MK11 default Kano. Kano usually comes in three general varieties: Shirtless, wearing a vest (openness optional), and MK3. The movie settled on variety #1, and that's okay.

Goro...

Goro again serves as Shang Tsung's four-hand right-hand man and unlike the '95 film, gets the chance to actually fight Liu Kang this time around. His appearance is largely MKX-inspired with a few minor deviations here and there. The yin-yang symbol on the (now-darkened) belt is notably gone, replaced with a simple red circle, while his loincloth has a far less tattered look to it. Again, this movie's color palette does wonders for the MKX kostumes.

Shang Tsung...

The elder Shang Tsung reverts back to the MK9 look, with the green skull design on the belt made more clear now. The snake patterning on his robes has also been changed up, making them appear more like demonic versions of Pac-Man munching about. His robes are also more spiked at the shoulders, because the evil B-movie wizard look wasn't apparent enough already, I suppose. He's also sporting some gold shinguards whereas MK9 Old Man Tsung went for black boots with gold binding. Not a bad redesign for the sorcerer.

And in a flashback sequence, we get to see Shang in his younger days as a Mortal Kombat Champion.

It's MK3 Shang Tsung.

Kitana...

MKX Kitana gets to assert her dominance with a shade of blue that people wouldn't mistake for gray, so that's nice. Seeing this design in animated form made me do a doubletake because certain elements look more fanservicey than I remember. Comparing the Legends design with the MKX design proper, there were a handful of liberties taken. Since this is a cartoon where fabric flow is far easier to depict, her pants look even more ill-fitting here than they did in the game; also her "leotard" is far tighter looking than it was in the game, to the point where she looks like she's got a wedgie. Her wooden "belt" is also shrunk down compared to the game, though she's actually exposing less cleavage than before due to the tube top being expanded. Minor changes can, well, change a design in noticeable ways when you compare them head-to-head.

Jax...

Jax dresses in a green version of his MKX garb of vest and pants. Guess who rips his arms off this time?

Baraka...

This movie commits so hard to the MKX aesthetic that even PC/console version NPK Baraka uses his outfit from that game here. The production crew even retained the rope straps for his armor.

Shao Kahn...

Shao Kahn appears at the end of the film to chide Shang Tsung for his failures and vows to set up the next phase of his plan to take over Earthrealm. He dresses in a mostly faithful reinterpretation of his MK9 attire, the most notable difference being the lack of a black stripe across his loincloth.

Motaro...

The sole kharacter from MK3 in this film, Motaro appears as part of a horde of Outworld monsters Johnny and Sonya have to fight to get to Kano. He has...I don't know what they are, actually. Really short shoulder pads? Whatever he has, he's got 'em.

Quan Chi...

Quan Chi looks about the same as we last saw him in the games: Hyper-edgy and one moment away from getting his teeth kicked in by Scorpion. Though his chest belts -- really, the whole lower half of his outfit -- aren't as ornate as they are in the games. Also, his shoulder blades actually look more decorative instead of deathly sharp, so points for practicality there.

Nitara...

Making her first appearance in the series since Armageddon over 13 years prior, Nitara shows up in the movie as another invited kombatant who gets a cameo at the banquet scene. Her design is quite similar to her Deadly Alliance default, though with her jacket lengthened and the non-sleeves portion turned black. Her bra also lacks the gold studs it had previously and her wings have no tattoos on them at all. Credit goes to YouTuber RebelTaxi for getting this (mostly) full-body shot that I could isolate.

Moloch...

Moloch, simply referred to as "Demon Torturer" by the film's credits, appears as Scorpion's designated tormentor when he awakens in the Netherrealm. He dons spiked shoulder pads and a skull belt befitting his evil orc from Hell cosplay. You know what he doesn't have? The ball and chain. Though really, Moloch's body shape is more of a departure than anything else. He's far stouter and doesn't crouch anymore.

The Great Kung Lao...

Old Kung Lao appears in the aforementioned flashback alongside Shang Tsung, looking as he did in MK9 and the early comics.

Kana and Jubei... Harumi and Satoshi...

Hanzo's wife and son make their animated debut, foregoing their color schemes from Legacy and settling on earthier tones.

---

Scorpion's Revenge seems to have been a success, garnering the highest Rotten Tomatoes score to date for the movie franchise. It embraces the over-the-top violence and colorful designs of the universe rather well, though hewing so closely to the games' outfits didn't give me much to talk about. I'd say next up is this film's sequel, but the new live-action film (after having been in the works on and off for about 10 years) finally clawed its way out of development hell and released in between the animated entries.

HEY, YOU! YES, YOU, PERSON SCROLLING UP FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE! ABOVE BE SPOILERS FOR THE FILM SCORPION'S REVENGE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Click to shrink...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrASFAjHTrk

Below are images of the opposing sides before they properly square off in the Outworld tournament.

Look at them, they're friends.

Fire God Liu Kang...

Liu Kang endures a lot to fulfill his destiny as the chosen one in this film. Like, a lot. But once he defeats Shao Kahn, he's given a power boost so that he can go toe to toe with the One Being after Shinnok's machinations make everything go pear-shaped. As I said, he goes through a lot. While he's not explicitly referred to as "Fire God," he is empowered by the Elder Gods and gains a fiery aura, so close enough? It's just Scorpion's Revenge Liu Kang going full-Human Torch...which means it's MKX Liu Kang going full-Human Torch.

Raiden...

Raiden participates directly in the tournament shenanigans this time around, but to do so he has to relinquish his godhood entirely. It seems he lost more than the pupilless eyes in the transition, going for something slightly closer to his MK9 default (or one of his MK11 alternates) in his fully mortal state. It's less detailed than the already-streamlined Thunder God robes of the last movie, but I kind of prefer it because of that. Maybe would've gone for a brighter shade of blue, though.

Johnny Cage...

Johnny, now taking this whole interdimensional war thing seriously, decks himself out in military wear akin to his MKX default kostume. Again, these movies' color palettes definitely make the outfits pop. Look at that blue. He retains the gold necklace from the prior film, but this is an otherwise near-1:1 recreation.

Sub-Zero (Kuai Liang)...

The younger Sub-Zero shares a subplot with Scorpion, understandably feeling a little cold on the Shirai Ryu due to him killing his brother. For his appearance in this film, he wears his MK9 outfit, with the faded blue complexion that was only seen in the 3D era. Bi-Han also had that complexion for some reason, despite presumably neither being in close proximity to the Dragon Medallion in these films. I neglected to properly expound on this earlier, but most of the designs in these films, while in the spirit of the games, do sand away a lot of elements. I presume any streamlining is done for the convenience of the animators. Having to draw all of MK9 Kuai Liang's loose tassels sounds like a pain, so I'm not sobbing much over their absence.

Jade...

Jade shows up with a handful of lines wearing her MK9 default, sans corset straps. Her mask is also missing the gold trim and any gold chains on her game kostume have been either removed or replaced with solid yellow tassels. I suppose that last part makes her look less like Princess Leia on Tatooine at least.

Jax...

Jax is basically the same, just with metal arms. Though his military vest actually does look a little different, featuring a new pocket on his left side and frocked armholes. And the U.S. flag wrapped around his arm is now larger and actually has visible stars on it.

Kung Lao...

Kung Lao makes his animated debut with a design not too dissimilar from his appearance in MK9 thus making it a reference to the outfit in Shaolin Monks which is a remix of the alt in Deadly Alliance which is a remix of the kostume in MKII. The artists definitely sized up the red rings around the caged bracelets, which are almost fingerless gloves now, the latter of which is an interesting choice. A lot of the more ornate silver detailing on the uniform has been removed, which is a shame, but again, understandable given how much of a mess it would likely look in motion.

Smoke...

Smoke appears alongside Kuai Liang early on before the former goes through his roboticization. He's basically wearing his MK9 alternate kostume with the shiny parts made a duller gray. His cowl has some gray streaks applied to it and his under-armor has more black, but those are probably the most notable deviations. I do have to say that the bulkier builds of the male kharacters in these movies make Smoke look like more of an action figure than usual. Look at those shoulders.

Kintaro...

Kintaro loses his cool cat's eye chest gem but gains a red belt in return.

Shao Kahn...

Shao Kahn still looks as he did in the last film. It's MK9-inspired, though lacking the hip guards and the black stripe on the loincloth. The crest on his helmet is also no longer gold.

Stryker...

Stryker looks about the same as he has for the last decade, just with a logoless hat.

Cyber Lin Kuei...

The cyborgs appear and Smoke is properly turned into one for the first time in a while. Cyrax and Sektor are reminiscent of how they were depicted in MK9, though slightly more streamlined. They're all lacking most of the blinking lights down below. Also, the yellow and black on Cryax's armor don't bleed into each other quite as much (which I think is an improvement), but the design is still built off the bones of MK9 Cyrax at its core. Sektor deviates a lot more from his modern game counterpart(s), his shoulder pads protruding less than they did in MK9 while his arms look to have more plating than before. Smoke is largely borrowing from Triborg's LK-7T2 Variation, though the grays contrast each other better here than they did in the game thanks to the movie's more saturated palette. There's not much else for me to say. These are pretty nice reworkings of the Cyber Lin Kuei. Sometimes, more is less.

Lin Kuei Grandmaster...

Sektor's dad also makes his animated debut, dressing in a way far more akin to his Mythologies: Sub-Zero design than the MK9 design, though the exposed face and white beard were retained from the latter. He definitely looks more like a Lin Kuei than a palette-swapped Shinnok here, which I appreciate. Though something about his design reminds me of Aku from Samurai Jack and I don't entirely know why.

Shinnok...

Shinnok is largely adhering to his MKX design, with the prerequisite detail removal. Pictured with him above are the Kamidogu, still looking like the silly glorious mid-2000s video game collectibles that they are. If you put them in a Blinx game, no one would notice that they didn't belong.

Reiko...

Reiko appears as one of Shao Kahn's minions and not Shinnok's for some reason, and he's already wearing the Shao Kahn-inspired armor because that's kind of Reiko's backstory in a nutshell once you divorce him from the Brotherhood of Shadow. It's Armageddon Reiko but with a less pronounced collar and smaller spikes.

Li Mei...

Li Mei is one of the few kharacters to get a wholly new design in this movie, sort of. It's a weird take on her alternate kostume from Deception, which was a suit of armor that was actually pretty conservative relative to the average female outfit in that game. Here, it's had its sides cut out and the pants aren't actually pants, they're really long stockings with a loincloth and metal hip guards. I'd say this is Li Mei if she got to be playable in MK9, but this still probably wouldn't be far enough for that game. Nevertheless, I'm not sure how I feel about basically redesigning an old outfit by carving pieces out of it.

D'Vorah...

And to round things out, we have D'Vorah getting to be the sole representative of the reboot trilogy in these movies. Her "clothing" isn't too different from what it was in MKX, just with more solid black armor. Her cloak is also far more encompassing, as seen in the group picture above.

---

And there you have it. These movies are alright in the kostuming department. The deviations are generally minor enough that I didn't notice them the first time around and in some cases even improved some designs that were maybe a little drab (Sonya's uniform) or busy (Scorpion and his belts) beforehand. I'm not sure if we'll get a third Legends film, but I hope we do if only so we can see how other fighters would be reinterpreted by the art team.

Now this is probably where I'd do a wrap-up to provide some illusion of narrative cohesion so you all can justify the inevitably high number of hours you've spent reading this thread. But I don't have anything particularly pertinent to say yet. We're not done, because I'm going to just do a lightning round covering some of the various guest appearances of the kharacters. And we're doing that because much like the fighters in this series, I seem to enjoy pain. So please, bear with me a little longer.

SCROLL UP AT YOUR OWN RISK! SPOILERS AHOY FOR MORTAL KOMBAT LEGENDS: BATTLE OF THE REALMS AND ITS PREDECESSOR!

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

Mortal Kombat, like any franchise worth its salt, knew how to cross-promote. Midway loved adding the kombatants to their other games, usually sports games with the company's standard arcadey flavor. Let's go over a few, shall we?


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f-tum6yLXI

NBA Jam: Tournament Edition

Featured kharacter(s): Raiden, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Reptile

Raiden and the three playable male palette swaps of MKII made what may be the first official guest appearance of kharacters from the franchise in Midway's NBA Jam: Tournament Edition, an update of the original NBA Jam. Since NBA Jam also utilized digitized graphics, the MK crew made the transition rather seamlessly. They all appear as regular players wearing color-coded basketball jerseys and retain their hats and cowls. These should all be alternate skins in the next game.

NFL Blitz

Featured kharacter(s): Raiden, Shinnok

The (U.S.) football game NFL Blitz was released in the late 90s as Mortal Kombat 4 was picking up steam. As such, Raiden and (Corrupted) Shinnok could be made playable as headswaps for the football players via special codes. The images seen above are the two with the game's big head mode enabled for readability purposes.

The Grid

Featured kharacter(s): Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Noob Saibot

The Grid was a 2000 arcade-exclusive shooter that would be the final arcade title from Midway. It was a spiritual successor of sorts to fellow Midway title Smash TV, being kind of a send-up of reality television. Three kharacters from Mortal Kombat would appear, all wearing kostumes reminiscent of MK4 because that was still the most recent mainline game released at the time. This actually may be the final Mortal Kombat-adjacent project that wasn't a rerelease to feature the Tobias designs as they were and not as a deliberate throwback. Okay, I maybe shouldn't say "as they were" without a caveat. Scorpion and Sub-Zero look like they leaped from MK4, but Noob is wearing a recolored version of Scorpion's outfit instead of Sub-Zero's this time. Scorpion also seems to be missing his skull belt.

Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy

Featured kharacter(s): Scorpion

Psi-Ops was an ambitious shooter from Midway in the sixth generation. While it did not go on to spawn a franchise, it did gain a cult following. It probably helped that Scorpion was featured as an alternate skin for the game's protagonist. For this appearance, Scorpion looks largely as he did in Deadly Alliance.

MLB Slugfest: Loaded

Featured kharacter(s): Scorpion, Sub-Zero

Yet another one of Midway's sports games, Loaded was the third in the company's MLB Slugfest series of baseball games. Scorpion and Sub-Zero appear as guest players, respectively using their default and alternate kostumes from Deadly Alliance. I'm not sure if the images I got were from emulated screenshots, but the colors really do pop for Sub-Zero's uniform. Give me that saturation of colors again in modern games.

Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict

Featured kharacter(s): Raiden (and the announcer)

Midway published the console port of Unreal Championship 2, so the company tossed in one of its own as a bonus. Here, the one chosen was Raiden, garbed in his Deadly Alliance uniform as it was the last design he had that wasn't Dark Raiden. Despite this game releasing post-Deception, Raiden's overtunic is still sea green rather than the deeper blue it was depicted as in Deception's intro and promotional renders. He's also capeless in The Liandri Conflict proper and in its promotional renders.

Batman: Arkham City Lockdown

Featured kharacter(s): Kano

In what I believe to be the first cameo appearance by an MK fighter in a game under WB Games, we have Kano showing up as an opponent of Batman in a mobile entry of the Arkham series. He's dressed in his MK9 alternate kostume, which hewed closer to Deadly Alliance Kano than MK3 Kano.

WWE Immortals

Featured kharacter(s): Johnny Cage

In one of the most recent guest stints for the MK universe's denizens, Johnny was featured as a wrestler in the mobile title WWE Immortals, which was developed by NetherRealm Studios itself. His default appearance in this game draws from his Tournament kostume in MKX, which was a modified take on the MK9 default. His "A-List" kostume in Immortals is a recolor, giving him black arm bandages and red stripes and shinguards on his pants, which I believe was the Player 2 variant of the aforementioned Tournament kostume in MKX (and just a frequent Player 2 color for Johnny in general).

---

So that covers most but not all of the franchise's excursions into other games. I kind of miss when company characters could jump around fairly freely without having to rely on DLC for everything.

Now let's address the Krypton-sized elephant in the room. Once NRS was formed, the team would alternate between its Mortal Kombat games and a new licensed franchise. The latter set of games featured fighters from Mortal Kombat as guests. Will I cover those guest appearances? No, I will not. I'm going to cover them and the DC heroes and villains who have prior fighting game appearances. Tune in to this thread, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

Is there a story behind these alternate costumes in MKX?
Krimson Ermac
Blue Steel Sub Zero
Gold Scorpion

I really like them. Krimson Ermac looks sick

Click to shrink...

As far as I know, Gold Scorpion was a collector's edition bonus, so I guess the artists just had fun with a "What if?" concept. I'm sure one of the NRS people on Twitter could provide a better answer.

---

Did you all miss me talking about fighting games? I kind of did. Our subject for today is Injustice: Gods Among Us, the inaugural installment of NetherRealm's gritty comic-inspired series. Released after Mortal Kombat 9, the game offered a multiversal take on the venerable DC Universe, primarily focusing on the Justice League as they came in contact with their alternate counterparts, including a grieving Superman who had become increasingly authoritarian in the name of "peace." It was a commercial and critical success, owing in part to the story mode building off of the format of the story modes of Mortal Kombat 9 and both games' shared predecessor Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, whose character images I will be primarily using for the "before" columns. Anyone who's played the original Injustice knows that pretty much every character had a "Prime" version -- i.e., the garden variety depiction as interpreted by NRS, the vanilla variant, the original flavor, "Earth-One", etc. -- and the secondary version, coming in either "Regime" (pro-Superman) or "Insurgency" (anti-Superman) flavors. For the sake of my sanity, I will compare the default versions only. I may do a head-to-head comparison of the Prime and SupermanIsEvilVerse costumes someday, but that would likely be in its own thread. Getting full-body renders was an unusual task; several of these are actually from promotional stands meant for parties. Hope you like hearing comic book lore recited by a guy who only knows most of this stuff secondhand.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv3pKXZpY58

Superman...

For a refresher, Injustice released in early 2013. DC had changed much in the less-than-five years since MKvsDCU arrived on the scene; the Dark Knight trilogy had concluded but was still fresh in the memories of the public, the first full-stop Superman movie reboot was coming in the form of Man of Steel, and the comics' own continuity had been rebooted with the New 52 back in 2011. While Mortal Kombat the Eighth was content to use classic designs for the DC characters, this game took far more liberties to reflect the outside media's evolution and the designers' own sensibilities. Gone are the red trunks and bright blue. We have a dark blue suit and a belt symbol resembling Superman's House of El. The suit in general is more armored, just to provide you all with a taste of what Injustice aesthetics are all about. This is Prime Superman (but not Superman Prime), a happy mix of New 52 and Man of Steel with the patented Jim Lee collar. Gods Among Us is among the visually darkest games NRS or Midway have ever developed, and as you can imagine, blue is always the first victim.

Batman...

Batman also went through his own grim armor phase, but most people probably didn't cry foul because he's Batman. Injustice would release in the middle of Batman's Arkham quadrilogy, which would drop the Caped Crusader into a grittier world with an armored Batsuit. His Injustice counterpart would follow suit, looking like a grayer take on the Arkham depiction (or Christian Bale's similarly armored Batman), and even featuring some gray on the mask. The frocks at the end of his cape seem to have been downplayed if not removed completely, which is a shame. On the plus side, the Bat symbol seems to have been enlargened.

Wonder Woman...

Every hero character in this game is so armored that even Wonder Woman's swimsuit of power wouldn't cut it. Or maybe she's just adhering to where her comic counterpart was going at this point. Regardless of the reason, the stars on the front of the leotard have been retired and she gets actual pants, and they look quite nice. Her design is largely unchanged otherwise beyond a few alterations here and there. Her boots' heels are higher now and they feature white trim instead of gold trim. The eagle on the bustier is more of a raised textured armor and her bracelets are far more weathered, but Wonder Woman is Wonder Woman.

The Flash (Barry Allen)...

Admittedly, when I think of Flash, I don't think of armor. He's the thief, not the knight, to borrow an RPG analogy. Nevertheless, Barry's got red plating on top of darker red spandex and plenty of gold lining all around the suit. Presumably, that gold lining is to make up for the loss of gold on the boots, which look like full-on cleats. The lightning bolts on the sides of the shoes call to mind Icarus, which is inspired if nothing else. This is alright, though my neophyte self just keeps thinking of the DCEU Flash, which makes me think of the Power Rangers from the 2017 film.

Green Lantern...

Hal Jordan gets a bulkier suit as well, even though the Lantern Ring is supposed to create a suit that conforms to his figure. Maybe he was wearing the armor before he activated the Ring. I actually dig the glowing green lighting all around, the lines coalescing around the Lantern chest emblem as if they themselves are powering it is a nice touch. I actually like the cross-stitch texture around the legs as well.

Aquaman...

Aquaman was another hero featured in Justice League Task Force, wearing a costume that most would associate with a traditional Aquaman. In Gods Among Us, he embraces the benefits of advanced graphical rendering and dons a more detailed set of armor that can more clearly depict the fish scale chainmail top he's had in the comics for years now. His pants are a darker shade of green than usual, and befitting a king, they have gold trim. Of all the default costumes I've covered so far, this is by far the one I would most say is "Mortal Kombat-esque." His promotional render also looks to me like something that wouldn't be too out of place among Deadly Alliance's renders. Make of that what you will.

Green Arrow...

Oliver Queen, philanthropist, archery aficionado, and all-around cool dresser. He makes bad guys quiver with his quiver of arrows that he usually stores in his lair, the Quiver. "Classic" Green Arrow is usually more open to wearing his Robin Hood inspiration on his sleeve, donning the stereotypical medieval archer's hat. Both of his fighting game appearances on the other hand opt for the hooded marksman approach, Injustice's rendition foregoing the long sleeves and brighter greens of his Task Force design. Injustice Green Arrow also has dark yellow stripes lining his shinguards and wristguards. Both designs are good, though the Injustice Oliver Queen seems slightly more ready for a fight as a guy with no actual superpowers.

Captain Marvel... Shazam!

Billy Batson A.K.A. Shazam, formerly Captain Marvel of the Marvel family*, goes for broke. His powers are strictly magical and not quasi-magical like the Lantern Corps' Power Rings are sometimes depicted as, so the high-tech armor looks a little weirder on him than it would some others. The armor almost looks like it's organic and trying to wrap its tendrils around him, what with all the lining. Not sure how to feel about that. Shazam also loses most of the ancillary cloth around his suit, everything getting replaced by a harder material. Everything except for his white cape, which while losing the gold rope gets upgraded into a cloak. It better sets him apart from Superman if nothing else. Honorable mention to the new lightning insignia, which is either reflective or functioning like an LED screen to have lightning within it. That's dope.

*Marvel family as in that was the shared name of the group of heroes, not created or owned by Marvel Comics, but actually owned by Fawcett Comics, whose assets would be purchased by DC Comics. Enjoy.

Catwoman...

Before I say anything else, I would just like to thank Midway for burning money on the nice renders of MKvsDCU. Despite the game releasing in 2008, that level of attention to detail for background modeling for fighting game art almost felt like a relic even back then. The MK side of the roster generally just did standard martial arts stances, but the DC side got far more dynamic poses. The Injustice cast largely didn't, and that may have just been down to lack of interest or promotional stand-ins necessitating less finicky stances...what were we talking about again?

Catwoman returns in this game, finally having zipped up her suit. Her suits in the comics have largely avoided purple since the 90s, and this game followed suit. But I'm not interested in that, the raised goggles, the leather corset, the fake tail, or the two-tone suit cleavage. Let's talk about those metal prosthetics. Look at them. I guess the devs wanted to provide a reason as to how Selina Kyle could go pull off her acrobatic heists without breaking her legs, or go toe-to-toe with the likes of Cyborg. I haven't played these games or followed their story modes with any serious interest, so I wouldn't know the real reason -- didn't I warn you all that such things would screw me over when covering franchises outside of my lane? Whatever the reason, they're there, and they're weird, and I kind of love them. They're not just leg augments, they're leg augments meant to evoke cat claws. That's just silly enough for me to appreciate.

Deathstroke...

Deathstroke the Terminator, real name Slade Wilson, is a mercenary/criminal mastermind/proud father and frequent adversary of Batman and Robin. He likes chainmail or materials that look like chainmail. He likes the color orange and masks that are half-orange. Both the MKvsDCU and Gods Among Us designs have these visual elements in spades. The latter design also drops the orange trunks and gives us big shoulder pads and spiked boots and gauntlets in return. Like, he is a bulky son of a gun, almost making his already armed to the teeth Mortal Kombat design look modest. There isn't much else to say here. Deathstroke looks like a borderline parody whether you add more armor or not, but Injustice's rendition could pass for an escapee of the Lin Kuei's Cyber Initiative.

Lex Luthor...

Holy mechanical steroids, Batman! Lex went from Marvel vs. Capcom Iron Man to Hulkbuster Iron Man. He kept the green and purple color scheme, though the latter color has been downplayed around the lower leg area. The new armor isn't bad, though it seems more generic. Maybe it's the loss of the oh-so-modest "L" insignia from the MKvsDCU design. With the new armor, I just think of a mass-produced suit from Titanfall. Or Van Roekel from Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects of all things. I bet half of you just aged 15 years right now by thinking about that game.

The Joker...

The Arkham series feels like it really left a bit of a mark on NRS' design choices. Joker here looks far more faithful to his usual self in the facial department than his MK11 rendition, though his suit is far more faded and worn out. His suspenders are down and his bowtie is orange instead of black. The coattails are also longer, please pretend that that's a sign of the character's increased insanity. This Joker looks like he's at his wit's end, if such a thing is even possible.

Harley Quinn...

For Harley and several other characters, I will be using images from 2011's Batman: Arkham City Lockdown, a mobile title developed by NetherRealm itself that served as a prologue to the console version of Arkham City. According to Wikipedia, it's a fighting game, so I get to count it by my arbitrary standards. Harley is sexy clown jester with face paint in both fighting games, though at least the Arkham version has pants. I appreciate the Injustice design for dyeing her hair to more closely resemble her old harlequin hat, though she looks like the Wendy's girl now. The diamond patterning on the stockings is also a nice touch, but seriously, pants.

Solomon Grundy...

Grundy the undead zombie Revenant thing is another Lockdown transplant, not looking too different in Gods Among Us. He's got a noose necktie and purple pants now, as well as (tattered) shoes and some blades sticking out of his back, but he's largely the same.

That's all for the base roster, but NetherRealm would release characters via DLC, some exclusive to the title's mobile companion game.

Downloadable and/or mobile-exclusive playable characters

Scorpion...

Scorpion...gets over here. Making his first guest appearance in an actual fighting game, the hellspawn gets to join in on the action figure armor fun, with a design devised by Jim Lee. It's a metallic get-up with enough blades and pointy angles to make Jean-Paul Valley's incarnation of Batman blush. The cowl has evolved into more of a reaper hood and we see the return of the visibly metallic mask after its heyday in Deception. I like this design, it's befitting of the universe the character was dropped into and it makes me wish more crossovers really leaned into the aesthetic merger.

Darkseid...

Darkseid made his playable debut in Injustice: Gods Among Us Mobile in 2014, wearing new duds. He's lost the shoulder pads and donned a darker blue suit with silver plating and a visible Omega symbol adorned up top. It's very Darkseid in the best ways possible.

The Flash (Wally West)...

In late 2016, Barry's nephew would appear as a playable character in the mobile game, wearing a composite of his Kid Flash uniform with the open cowl and his own adult Flash uniform. I like the silver adornments he's got to complement his uncle's gold. I also appreciate that he's not armored from head to toe.

Non-playable characters

Robin...

The Tim Drake incarnation of Robin appeared in both Lockdown and Injustice Mobile as an NPC. The latter game's depiction gave him a look closer to the comics in color scheme if nothing else, with a big black orb in the center of the suit. Something about Drake's mask looks almost Schumacher-esque. Like, Batman Forever's Dick Grayson would absolutely wear this mask.

Two-Face...

Two-Face is really not that different from his Lockdown design, though Injustice's version lacks the cool two-toned tie.

Sub-Zero and Shao Kahn...

And finally, we have Sub-Zero and Shao Kahn, featured in Scorpion's announcement trailer before he gets whisked away to punch Kryptonians. Their appearances are unchanged from Mortal Kombat 9.

---

So ends our wrap-up of the first Injustice game. It's certainly an interesting take on the DC Universe and I imagine the devs were happy to be able to stretch their art sensibilities on something that didn't primarily involve ninjas and martial arts movie archetypes for once. Really, I'd say these designs are more let down by this game's color palette than any excess of detail. Even Mortal Kombat X feels more saturated than this game. But I digress, we'll next cover this title's sequel, which kept the focus on the Regime and Insurgency side of the multiverse. Stay tuned, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.

Also, be sure to check out the MK3 post again. I had to update it because I will literally always be revising this thread until I'm 40.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

NetherRealm Studios' latest non-Mortal Kombat game gets its turn in the spotlight. Injustice 2 was yet another story-heavy title, this time keeping the majority of its focus on the moodier Earth of the Regime and the Insurgency. This universe, which I will colloquially refer to as Earth-NRS (or Earth Twenty-Two to match the film), has gotten a bit of a makeover. The developers, having learned of the magical Lantern Corps technique called color saturation, opted to bring a brighter palette to this world's finest. The act is appreciated and I send my regards to the person(s) on the team that gave the green light for it.

Anyways, the plot of this game is that Batman, having spent some time trying to rebuild the world after the imprisonment of Superman and the dissolution of his Regime, must gather forces to combat the oncoming threat of Krypton's destroyer Brainiac. Former enemies must put aside their differences to save the planet so they can fight over it later. You know, 'cause that's what superfriends do. The game had a tie-in comic series that explained the rise of the Regime and the events in the interim of the two games, so I will be pulling from them for a few comparisons. Pack your Oceanic Repellent Batspray, glowing green rock candy, and invisible airplane food, this is going to take a while.

Oh, and we're using the alternate costumes for most of the returning Gods Among Us cast since this game focuses on them over their more traditional "Earth-One" counterparts.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTJw58inAO4

Superman...

This Superman, former tyrant that he is, dresses more like himself in the sequel. At least for versus matches anyways. Promotional renders and his primary appearance in the story mode give him a completely different uniform that's more evil authoritarian Supermensch. His actual default is just the Big Blue Boy Scout, though. Regime Superman actually has a belt now and he's lost the New 52 Nehru collar. I do like that even though this is an armored Superman, his suit can still pass for spandex. A good start for this rundown.

Batman...

Batman's new suit opts for shinier armor plating, making his cowl and various other accessories take on more of a gray hue. I'm all for Batman not dressing exclusively in black for everything, but the plating may be a little too segmented here. I also lament the loss of the larger Bat symbol. Arkham knock-off it may have been, the Insurgency costume from the first game still looked a little more distinguishable.

Wonder Woman...

Regime Wonder Woman went from gladiatorial attire with a tasseled skirt to something a bit more like Earth-One's Wonder Woman from the first game. It's a brightly colored ensemble with prominent gold lining on the chestplate. It's a very colorful design and I like it a lot. It reminds me of a Wonder Woman who isn't a violence addict with delusions of grandeur, which is probably why it's not her story mode costume.

The Flash (Barry Allen)...

Earth Twenty-Two's Barry reformed partway through the first Injustice's story mode and for his assistance in taking down Superman, he was seemingly offered a pardon by the Earth's governments. It seems Earth's governments also offered him a less armored suit. It's still two-toned, but the material is closer to that patented MCU "spandex" than the costume seen in Gods Among Us. The new duds also sport a lightning bolt insignia sans white background, gold plating on the shoulders, gold lining across the suit to possibly evoke the New 52 design, and far, far, far less prominent wings on the sides of the cowl. It's a nice suit and feels appropriate for a Barry Allen who's trying to get back to his roots as a superhero.

Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)...

Speaking of getting back to roots, we have the case of Hal Jordan. On Earth Twenty-Two, he succumbed to fear in the wake of the Regime establishing dominion and became a Yellow Lantern of the Sinestro Corps. Both the green and yellow variants of the Regime suit offer slick LED lining, an element that would be retired when Hal regained his green ring in Injustice 2. His suit is armored per the NRS standard, in some respects even surpassing the levels of his Prime counterpart from the first game. But, and this may just be superior graphical fidelity at work, the suit looks more organic now. Maybe it's the lack of cross-stitching on the pants and the aforementioned LED light loss. In terms of color mapping, I'd say Injustice 2's suit wins, if only because the green isn't enveloping Hal's entire crotch now.

Aquaman...

Some time has passed between the events of the two games, so I guess Aquaman decided to shave, taking away the design element that most visually distinguished him from his Prime equivalent. He's also ditched the orange scaled armor completely, showing off his chest tattoos. Thankfully, the loss of color up top is mitigated by the blue scaling on the pants and boots. That blue pops. The Atlantean insignia is adorned proudly on his probably-way-too-high belt buckle, completing a look that feels like DCEU Aquaman and comics Aquaman did an underwater Fusion Dance.

Green Arrow(s)...

Alright, so most of these guys belong to either the Regime, the Insurgency, or Gorilla Grodd's Society. This guy? Technically, he belongs to none of the above. The Green Arrow of Injustice 2 is not the one seen in the prior game's story mode (who's back on his Earth), nor is he the one from Earth Twenty-Two (who's long dead). He's an Oliver Queen from a wholly different Earth brought to Earth Twenty-Two's Black Canary by Doctor Fate because they're both grieving bachelors who need human companionship very badly. That is as clear as I can state it without going (further) into comic book multiverse nonsense, so I hope I'm not confusing you.

Green Arrow here adheres to the tradition of flashy athleisurewear that the character will veer into every so often in the comics and expanded media. You know what most Green Arrows of any media lack? Hard, shiny metal shoulder pads. I don't hate them, mind you. In fact, Oliver Queen is probably the person who needs armor the most out of anyone because he's just a rich guy with above-average physical dexterity. I appreciate that the upper armor is actually a dark green as opposed to black, but after seeing toy merchandise with the design, I would've opted for more of a forest green. Really embrace that urban Robin Hood of Sherwood look. It's a fine design, helped along by the multiversal savior gold trim, which features prominently on the armor and gauntlets.

Cyborg...

Regime Cyborg is generally adhering to the same template in both games, white on gray armor to match his design in the comics. Injustice 2 Cyborg is just less bulky and lacks the red tubing. An addition through subtraction.

Catwoman...

Batman's on-again, off-again lover in multiple continuities returns to deliver all the kinky cat innuendos the writers could think of. Regime Catwoman of the first game is not all that loyal to the cause, only siding with Superman under the belief that she could better protect Batman from a distance. She notably avoided the more armored outfits of her peers, going for a classic-inspired look with a goggle-free cowl and purple highlights all over. Aside from the cutouts on the sides and back (and boobsocks), this is a fun design. Catwoman opts for more modern catsuit gear in the sequel, losing the mask and having the suit evoke a leotard with lighter gray leggings. It's like a retooled variant of the Arkham City design, which works for her. It should be noted that she usually does have goggles still in-game, as a Gear piece. All the images you see here are basically the cast "naked."

The Joker...

The Joker who killed Lois Lane and pushed Superman off the slippery slope is long dead on Earth Twenty-Two. But NRS wasn't going to let a little thing called the laws of nature keep them from having one of DC's most popular characters in the roster. Enter Scarecrow's fear toxin, which makes Harley hallucinate that her ex-boyfriend is back to drag her into a life of crime again. This Joker is a weird one. He's ditched a shirt and is donning the longest longcoat I've ever seen him in, obscuring the "HAA" written in blood on his chest. At least he kept the flower pinned to his lapel.

Harley Quinn...

Harley, now done fraternizing with Jokers of any Earth, has taken the interim between games to practice some self-care. She's wearing a retooled variant of her Insurgency attire from the first game, but with the corset more commonly seen in the modern comics. She's also lost the domino mask, going for segmented eyeliner over her face paint to make up for it. I really do like how shiny the corset is; it's like a sample of how nice the fabric would be rendered in Mortal Kombat 11. I've admittedly always been on and off with any designs for Harley that aren't the standard jester suit, but I like this one. I like it a lot. The red and black motif is maintained, and she even keeps a few nods to her clown days via the diamond pattern on the pants. And to demonstrate her loyalty to Batman, she has the Bat insignia on her jacket. That's sweet. My only gripe with this design is that the image I chose doesn't show her goggles. They complete the look.

Bane...

Regime Bane is now covered from head to toe, with the piping for his chemical supplement glowing a sickly green. Bane's frame also looks like it's been shrunk ever so slightly. He's still buff, just more top-heavy with thinner legs.

Black Adam...

The Regime's Black Adam goes for a more traditional look in the sequel, proudly brandishing the lightning bolt on his chest once more. The shinguards looking like gold-plated cloth wrappings are a nice touch as well. I don't think I have much to say here. It's Black Adam, and he looks cool.

Robin(s)...

Damian Wayne is the Robin of Injustice 2, and was featured prominently in both the Year One comics and the game's prologue which detail the growing rift between him and Batman. Damian's Robin suit was always more armored than most of his predecessors to begin with, so he fits right in. I think I'm marginally more in favor of the Robin suit featured in the game proper because of the hood, more noticeable splashes of green, and classic Robin chest-stitching. With that said, comic Robin's quilted interior pattern for the cape is weird and I'm all for it.

Nightwing...

As stated before, Damian was Robin in the prologue to Injustice 2, which took place before the Regime had completely ensnared the world's governments. As such, he only became Nightwing later after his brother Dick Grayson died. His suit in the first game is not too different from the usual Nightwing suit, just with red instead of blue. Damian's hair had also grown out, which makes me want to call him the Crow. For the sequel, Damian is still using the Nightwing identity, with a more armored suit. The red has also gotten far brighter and has been extended throughout the costume. For a revision on an alternate universe "What if?" take, it works. If we ever get an Injustice 3 and Damian returns, I wouldn't be surprised if he winds up integrating green and yellow into the costume to come full circle and restore his "true" self as a way of redemption.

Deadshot(s)...

Deadshot's traveled the ultimate journeyman's road. He started as a stage cameo in the home version of Gods Among Us, became a player character in the mobile version of the first game, and is now finally a launch character in the sequel's home version. He's wearing far more red on the torso area than he did before, with segmented pectoral armor plating. His mask also has venting, which makes me think of a Mortal Kombat ninja. Though when you've been doing this as long as I have, everything looks like a Mortal Kombat ninja. So, yeah, Deadshot. Love the color balance, the silvery black is a good choice. Moving on? Moving on.

Supergirl...

Supergirl was a character card featured in Gods Among Us Mobile before getting promoted to a playable role in Injustice 2. She's like an inversion of her mobile counterpart. Instead of sleeves, no gloves, and no pants, she's got no sleeves, bright red gloves, and blue pants. Her House of El emblem's colors have also been inverted, featuring a nice gold finish on the "S." The two-toned boots are an interesting choice. I don't think I've seen any Superperson outside of Eradicator go for that design element in a default costume. It's a nice refresh for Kara to help her stand out from her cousin without going full-on sexy Halloween costume.

Black Canary...

Black Canary was prominent in the Injustice comics released between games one and two, where her background with Batman was explored. Arriving in the games proper, she's traded in the arm plating for her more familiar leather jacket and gotten a pair of pants. And to honor her comic self's traditional penchant for fishnet stockings, Canary's pants have vented mesh cutouts on the sides. Black Canary always had one of the more interesting juxtapositions between costume and character alignment. She's not particularly moody, but dresses like a gothic Vegas showgirl because she likes what she likes. She's always stood out among her more brightly dressed heroic cohorts that aren't from Gotham, and her biker chic sensibilities have been retained for Injustice 2.

Swamp Thing...

Swamp Thing is a mossy man made miraculously from "the Green." I don't know what that is, but it sounds ominous. Between Gods Among Us Mobile and Injustice 2, he's gained...some brown armor. Might be wood, probably fungi. Gear pieces, y'all.

Doctor Fate...

Doctor Fate hasn't changed too much beyond his armor and cape taking on a more muted shade of gold. Also, he has visible armor beyond the helmet, complete with an ankh symbol adorned on his chest like a medallion. There's also some black segmenting on the undersuit to break up the blue. Despite having minimal affinity for the character, I feel like Doctor Fate is one of those heroes you don't really need to mess with too much. I don't imagine the mortal vessel for an omniscient being who seems situationally bound by tradition would mess with their costume frequently anyway.

Scarecrow...

Scarecrow was a stage cameo/hazard in the first game, more or less carrying over his design from the Arkham games wholesale. For Injustice 2, he's dropped the gas mask and hood for a slightly more traditional bag cowl. I like that he seems to have some kind of hellish flame glowing from inside the mask to evoke a jack-o'-lantern. He also spends much of his screentime in story mode wearing a tattered but otherwise mundane doctor's uniform over his suit that he throws off before battles. It's a freaky-looking redesign for one of Batman's freakier adversaries, and the noose necktie has been retained.

Poison Ivy...

Poison Ivy was a major villain in Arkham City Lockdown, with all the visual trappings that entailed. For her appearance in the Injustice comics, she dressed in a more traditional Poison Ivy way, green leaf swimsuit included. Her Injustice 2 incarnation takes more from the latter than the former, though changes the fashion foliage so the art team can flex. She's got multi-layered leaves adorning her body, with equally leafy stockings. I like that her outfit even has some maroon thrown around here and there to more closely resemble the leaves of her namesake.

Cheetah...

In between her two fighting game appearances, Cheetah went from stark naked to jungle warrior gear. How do you compare someone who didn't have a costume beforehand?

Gorilla Grodd(s)...

Earth-One's Gorilla Grodd appeared as a stage cameo in the first game, adorned with gold armor. His Earth Twenty-Two version gets far more detailed armor in the sequel, with silver and red galore. His helmet/headdress also has a single horn at the front.

Captain Cold...

Captain Cold is a character predominantly known for dressing like an evil Mt. Everest explorer. His comic incarnation knew the drill and put him in a blue parka with a few frills and a hood that screamed "Santa's diabolical helper." When he made the jump to the games, he bulked up. Protective armor around the torso and shoulders, and a helmet in place of the Arctic Green Goblin hood. I think both work, but it would've been funny to see the former design carried over more faithfully.

Atrocitus...

Atrocitus goes from a more traditional red and black ensemble for his stage cameo in the first game to a molten exterior in the second game. Pictured with him in the two images above are Kilowog and Dex-Starr, respectively.

Brainiac...

And now, the final boss of the game. Brainiac first appeared as a brain in a jar in one of the first game's stages. People apparently assumed that he was the Brain from the DC Universe, but NRS stated that it was Brainiac. He later appeared as a card in the mobile game, but it's just a headshot so all we can really see is a black collar and those red diodes on his head. We get a full-body, full-bodied Brainiac to serve as the sequel's main antagonist. He's maintained his general green/purple/something else color scheme, and is decked out in a metallic bodysuit with purple lights all around. In addition, he features prehensile tentacles to assist him in combat. I'll be upfront and say that my exposure to Brainiac generally begins and ends at his appearances in the DCAU, which made him look bluer and stockier compared to the one seen here. But he works too.

---

And that...is not all. We'll cover the DLC fighters, additional alternate skins, and NPCs next time. In the meantime, I'd like to hear from you all. Tell me what your favorite Injustice 2 redesign is.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

We're back to discuss the downloadable fighters, special alternate skins, and non-playable characters.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVBcMMH_8GY

Downloadable characters

Darkseid...

Serving as the pre-order bonus character, Darkseid has gone for a more armored appearance. And by that, I mean he got pants. The armor itself is a less glossy shade of blue and the Omega symbol is more angular.

Sub-Zero...

Following up on Scorpion's guest appearance in the last game, Kuai Liang showed up as part of Fighter Pack 1. And he's also gotten a snazzy new design courtesy of Jim Lee. It's a suitably "superhero" design for the Lin Kuei, boasting a long cape, a hood, and goshdarn icicle shoulder pads. I appreciate that his old-school design layout is kept consistent even with all of the added bells and whistles. And that blue absolutely pops. I'm not used to any Sub-Zero having sleeves outside of alternate skins and live-action material, but this is a fun redesign that gives us a look at what Kuai Liang could be if he were running around the DC Universe on the regular. Just a shame he didn't also get his Batman-styled costume from his MKvsDCU ending via unlockable Gear pieces.

Starfire...

Starfire appears in Cyborg's Injustice 2 ending, wearing something reminiscent of her DC Rebirth costume. For her playable appearance as part of Fighter Pack 1, NRS said no and went for something different. We're back to the two-piece armored swimsuit, complete with the obligatory New 52-styled collar. The lavender lining on the bodice is an interesting design choice, though it winds up evoking weird alien veins and I don't know how I feel about that. Honestly, I would maybe take the shoulder pad sleeves away. They feel kind of extraneous. And while I appreciate the designers for not defaulting to an abundance of the usual standby metallic colors, I think there should've been more silver to make the purples stick out better.

Black Manta...

Black Manta was a support card in Gods Among Us Mobile and showed up as a stage cameo in the second game before becoming a player character in Fighter Pack 2. His design is pretty standard Black Manta, flat helmet of doom included. His Injustice 2 design has a multi-toned costume and "fins" on the back. Take away the helmet and this could be a Black Panther design. There's not much else to say, nice detailing all around.

Raiden...

The second Mortal Kombat guest fighter in this game, Raiden gets his own comic book-inspired makeover. And for the first time in nearly a decade, he gets to wear a cape by default. In spite of the more covered-up appearances given to Sub-Zero and Scorpion before him, Raiden bares his chest for all the realms to see. Again, like with Starfire's collar, it's a little weird and maybe demonstrates why cleavage windows are very hard to get right when designing costumes. Looking at the outfit more closely, it does feel like a retool of the MKvsDCU design, if only due to the fact that said title and Injustice 2 are the only times where Raiden goes sleeveless for his primary outfit. The big shoulder pads of Mortal Kombat games past also make their return, alongside a plethora of metal adornments. Even his cowl is a metal domino mask now. His tunic seems to be hard metal as well. It feels fitting of stereotypical shogun armor, just with the usual "V" cut that we associate with Raiden. This design is more interesting the longer I look at it. I didn't even mention the cloud carvings on the gauntlets or the animal motif of the boots until now. This feels like a dry run for MK11's Dark Raiden in all the best possible ways.

Atom(s)...

"Atom" is the superhero name of multiple individuals in the DCU. Above on the left and in the middle is Ray Palmer, featured in the first game (as a stage cameo) and the comics which detail his untimely death. Above on the right is his successor Ryan Choi, who became playable as the first character of Fighter Pack 3. His suit is far more armored, comparable to the Arrowverse's Ray Palmer's suit if not the comic designs. It's interesting that the red parts of his suit seem to be a thicker material than the usual spandex, but not quite the usual Injustice armor either. The red lining around the cowl is a nice touch.

Enchantress...

Enchantress showed up in the comic series briefly before getting a full appearance in Injustice 2. Her design retained the hood, but lost the cape. While she still has a leathery costume, it's not quite as ornate as the other characters in the game. I suppose that's fitting given she's a sorceress, not a technomancer. Also pictured above is her new headpiece, which seems to be in the shape of an eye.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...

Leonardo​	Donatello​	The team in their next mutation, err, iteration​
Raphael​	Michelangelo​	Your heroes in a half-shell say "Support trans rights!"​

And finally, we have our last DLC fighter(s). Before NRS got a hold of them, the Turtles made their last fighting game appearance in their franchise's 25th anniversary title TMNT: Smash-Up, a platform fighter that took aesthetic cues from the 2007 CGI film. For their "realistic" appearance under NetherRealm, the Turtles are closer in looks to the live-action trilogy of films that 2007's TMNT served as a loose sequel to. Straps across the chest, circular belts (though missing the letters, which makes them look rather plain), and color-coded kneepads/limb wrappings galore, though the latter accessories are only featured in the Fighter Pack 3 reveal trailer.

Premier skins and mobile-exclusive playable characters

The first Injustice took advantage of the vast amount of legacy characters in the DCU and would occasionally feature multiple iterations of the same superhero identity as alternate costumes. The sequel took this a step further and expanded the reach of this initiative to include characters who weren't just legacy characters but had enough of a similar powerset to their respective parent fighter. Hence, Premier skins.

Power Girl...

Premier skin of Supergirl - The alternate universe (sort of) equivalent to Supergirl makes her playable fighting game debut here after appearing as a support card in Gods Among Us Mobile. She's abandoned the "P" insignia on her suit for the old cleavage window and has less gold on the gloves, among other changes. It's a surprisingly low-key design in a game that usually went for broke for costume revisions. Admittedly, Power Girl with actual pants will never not be surreal.

The Flash (Jay Garrick)...

Premier skin of the Flash - The Golden Age Flash appeared in the first game as an alt skin for Barry, as part of the "Earth 2" costume pack. In the second game, he's the classic Jay Garrick with the metal wings of Icarus helmet. He's still got some added NRS flourishes like the black patches on the pants, but this is a rather faithful recreation of one of DC's longest-running heroes.

Green Lantern (John Stewart)...

Premier skin of Green Lantern - Hal's fellow Lantern of Earth was also seen as an alt skin in the first game. He returns in the sequel, now cleanshaven and featuring a lot more green around the suit. His Lantern Corps emblem is also bigger and lacks the circular border. It's a strange layering of armor for Injustice 2 John Stewart, though I kind of dig the glowing green lights on the gloves and boots.

Bizarro...

Premier skin of Superman - Clark Kent's evil-ish doppelganger appeared in the comic tie-in, wearing his usual attire with the reversed House of El logo. For his appearance in the games proper, he ditches the red trunks and wears far darker colors to match Bizarro's usual palette. If anything, it's weird that comic Bizarro has brighter colors than Superman proper. With that said, in this continuity he's a creation of the "good" Lex Luthor of Earth Twenty-Two who was meant to serve as a moderating force to Superman, so I suppose he can have a less faded color scheme.

Mr. Freeze...

Premier skin of Captain Cold - Dr. Victor Fries initially appeared as a launch day skin wearing dark protective gear. However, he was missing his most important protective gear, the helmet that keeps him alive due to his health condition. A newly created helmet would be added down the line, looking more like a modern hazard suit mask than the clock protector helmet he's traditionally known for (and wearing in the comic tie-in).

Reverse-Flash...

Premier skin of the Flash - Eobard Thawne, formerly Prof. Zoom, generally Reverse-Flash, perpetually douchebag extraordinaire. He was a player character in the first game's mobile counterpart and wore a layered yellow suit that wouldn't look too out of place in the Arrowverse. When he returned, his suit gained extensive red lining, serving as an inverted complement to Barry's own suit. The lightning insignia is also far larger and the shoulder pads are gray instead of yellow. Not bad for a glorified recolor.

Black Lightning...

Premier skin of Raiden - Jefferson Pierce showed up in the comic series as a domino mask-wearing member of Batman's Insurgency before getting the distinction of being the only DC character to be a skin for a guest character. For his playable appearance (his first-ever playable appearance?), he switches out the mask for goggles and wears a costume with two lightning bolts on the chest, bordering a lighter blue patch of armor. The latter part is a welcome change, as it helps him stand out from Black Adam. The gold plating lining the sides of his uniform is nice as well.

Shazam...

Premier skin of Black Adam - Speaking of Black Adam, let's talk about Shazam. He returned to a playable role only in Injustice 2 Mobile, where he took on the appearance of Zachary Levi's Shazam from the then-upcoming live-action 2019 film.

Raven...

Raven was added to Injustice 2 Mobile in 2020 by popular demand, and she's apparently a Premier skin of someone, not that I know who. She takes on a marginally brighter color palette, wearing a more distinct purple with black patterning over the leotard. Or maybe that's just the lighting. Her costume seems like it was taken wholesale from her Prime version from the first game. She also appears in Starfire's ending, wearing robes in her more traditional indigo color.

Deathstroke...

Deathstroke returns, wearing a less armored and more traditional take on his costume.

Martian Manhunter...

The Martian Manhunter was one of the DLC fighters of the original console game, but he died in the comics so he couldn't be in the sequel without multiverse screwery getting involved. He returned in Injustice 2 Mobile, wearing a capeless variant of his Gods Among Us costume. It's the Martian Manhunter through and through.

Batwoman...

And finally, we have Kate Kane, the modern Batwoman. She first appeared in the comic tie-in yadda yadda, and later appeared in Injustice 2 Mobile etcetera etcetera. Her comic rendition seems to possess a far more armored Batsuit, while the game version hews closer to the tried-and-true spandex. The game version also has a red belt to break up the black, which is appreciated. I also prefer game Batwoman's more traditional cowl, though the comic version's red trim was a nice touch.

And that's all for the DC blokes and assorted riffraff who got to be playable.

Non-playable characters

Speedsters...

Meet the Flash Family. They're various Speedsters from across the multiverse, whom this game's Barry Allen meets in his ladder ending. Among them are versions of both Wally Wests, Jay Garrick, and Jesse Quick, one of the few female Speedsters. Take note of Jay and Jesse's more classic costumes in the ending picture.

Solomon Grundy and Two-Face...

Our two villains here returned in the second game as stage cameos, both dressed in prison garb.

Lobo...

The Main Man was a main-adjacent character in Gods Among Us, being the first of six downloadable characters. In the sequel, however, our irascible anti-hero is a mere cameo in Superman's ending where the Kryptonian recruits alternate-universe variants of other characters. This Lobo sports a less spiky vest and white skull kneepads.

Zatanna and the Constantines...

In one corner, we have stage magician Zatanna Zatara. In another, we have John Constantine and his daughter Rose, the latter of whom is a creation of the Injustice universe. In Dr. Fate's ending, they all make a cameo appearance. Zatanna's GAU design is retained sans corsage and fishnet stockings. Constantine the elder now has darker pants and Rose is wearing a T-shirt and shorts as opposed to her overalls (though the former outfit also appeared in the comics).

Killer Croc...

Killer Croc appeared in Gods Among Us Mobile as a playable fighter, with a design not too different from how he looked in Arkham City. He returns as a stage hazard in the sequel, mostly submerged in the water to attack the player. Imagine my surprise that not only did someone go through the effort of isolating and extracting his Injustice 2 model, but that there was actually a full model made for him to begin with. For his latter appearance, he's decked in a loincloth and lots of rope. Also, he has a visible tail now.

Superboy...

Superboy is Superman's younger clone and usually has a street clothes look for his hero attire, which is retained for the comics and the game (though comics Superboy has blue trim around his shirt collar). At some point in the comics, he also takes over as Superman proper, 'cause Clark is in the best state of mind to serve as the world's symbol of hope.

Alura In-Ze...

Supergirl's mother and a scientist like her brother-in-law Jor-El, Alura gets to have drastically different takes on the same alien color scheme. It's perhaps taken for granted that Krypton and its surrounding regions are treated as posthumous locations in the mainline comics and their various adaptations so often that it rarely even registers to me that these highly advanced humanoids could possess more than one article of clothing. I do wish Alura got to keep her jacket from the comics for Injustice 2 the game.

Red Robin...

Tim Drake's other alter ego, Red Robin shows up from time to time in the Injustice continuity. In the comics, he looks like he traditionally does in the main DCU. For his appearance in Cyborg's ending, he wears a more classic Robin costume with a new insignia to make clear that this is a new identity. I prefer Tim Drake sans cowl, but I admit it helps him stand out more.

Lucius Fox...

Lucius Fox is one of Batman's most trusted associates in multiple continuities, including this one. He first appears in the comics wearing one of his usual business suits before appearing in the prologue of Injustice 2's story mode. His bowtie is a darker color in the latter.

Lucy Quinzel...

Lucy's Injustice 2 image taken from this video.
Meet Lucy, Harley's daughter whom she had with the Joker before the events of Gods Among Us. Harley leaves her in the care of her sister Delia (seen alongside Lucy in the middle picture above) and assumes the role of "her crazy Aunt Harleen" until she finds the time to tell her the truth. In the comics, Lucy is a redhead wearing a denim jacket. In Harley's Injustice 2 ending, she wears pinks and purples and sports blonde hair.

Wonder Girl...

Cassandra Sandsmark, the Wonder Girl of the 90s, also appears sporadically in Injustice, wearing more Themysciran armor in the comics and athleisurewear for her appearance in Cyborg's ending.

Connor...

Connor Lance-Queen, known as Connor Hawke in other continuities, is the son of Green Arrow and Black Canary in this game. This incarnation first appears in the comics as an older child wearing overalls. His game counterpart is stated to be three years old and goes in a simple T-shirt and pants.

Hawkman...

Hawkman's Injustice 2 image taken from this video.
Carter Hall, while never playable in the games, has made a few appearances. A more classic-looking version of him appears in the comics, while a more armored AU incarnation shows up in Superman's ending. Comic Hawkman's chestpiece is looking very Thundercats from my vantage point.

Isis...

Adrianna Tomaz, Black Adam's wife and a superhero in her own right, is only seen from the back in her husband's endings. She has a longer skirt in the first ending. That's all I got.

Etrigan and Deadman...

Etrigan and Deadman's Injustice 2 image taken from this video.
Jason Blood, AKA Etrigan the Demon, is a chainmailed fellow for his appearance in the comics, though hews to a more traditional design when appearing in Raiden's ending. Flanking Raiden and Constantine is Etrigan's fellow Justice League Dark member, Boston Brand, AKA Deadman. He has fewer visual discrepancies from medium to medium, though the "D" insignia usually located around his waist in the comics is migrated to his chest area, making me think of Marvel's Daredevil.

Ra's al Ghul...

Ra's al Ghul is yet another of Batman's enemies and Damian's maternal grandfather. He shows up in the aforementioned second game ending of Black Adam, offering to revive Isis in exchange for his services. He wears green robes and an elaborate cape in both appearances, though his game version is definitely lacking the layered cloths of the comic's Ra's.

Victor Zsasz...

Zsasz is a convicted serial killer, which puts him on Superman's hit list very soon. He goes shirtless for most of his appearances in this continuity (as is the case for most depictions of him), wearing only orange pants from his prison jumpsuit. Though his game counterpart lacks the visible drawstrings on the pants. Makes me wonder if Arkham Asylum is suffering from budget cuts.

Kidd Thunder...

Kidd Thunder, after about 21 years of absence from Mortal Kombat games, makes a surprise cameo alongside Raiden as an Easter egg. His appearance is largely the same as it was when we last saw him in 1996, just with dark wrappings around the legs.

Krang...

One of the Ninja Turtles' most recurring extraterrestrial adversaries, Krang is an Utrom, a species that gets around in mech suits for combat and espionage purposes. His appearance in Smash-Up, referred to as the Utrominator, looked far more like a battle mech with visible Gatling guns and the like. For his brief appearance in the Turtles' Injustice 2 ending, Krang is wearing a far more humanoid suit, with an actual protective screen for him. I like the longcoat they added, it gives the suit personality.

The Shredder...

The Shredder of Smash-Up took most of his visual cues from the 2003 Ninja Turtles series, which is one of my favorite Shredder designs ever. For his appearance in Injustice 2, Shredder's design looks like it was drawn from the IDW comics, which itself looks to be a composite of the aforementioned 2003 design and the more brightly-colored Shredder of the 1987 cartoon and first two live-action movies. It's a suitably metal Shredder.

---

And so ends the cosmic costume commentary of Injustice 2. While a bit overdesigned in some areas, I kind of adore the unabashed 90s environmental variant action figure energy going on with a lot of the costumes. With that said, though the litany of detachable clothing articles was an inevitability for the game's Gear system, I believe they could have gone easier on the armor for a lot of these heroes. But I suppose they ultimately did (on average) compared to the first game, which is appreciated. And the color being more saturated helps these comic book characters feel vibrant in a way Gods Among Us or MKvsDCU couldn't quite convey.

I again must also tip my hat to NRS for the neat little tweaks done to the various guest characters. Adapting Sub-Zero and Raiden to this series' aesthetic is fun in a way most fighting game guest appearances don't quite attempt in the name of authenticity. But, the devs were more than capable of faithfully reinterpreting old designs into this game's art style as well. The Turtles are perfectly rendered for the "real world" this game posits itself taking place in, and I feel this game is where NRS really started to "get" guest characters.

This is a pretty little title, and I'm happy to have gotten the chance to talk about this series at length. Now with the existence of the Injustice movie, we have. One. More. Comparison. Post. We're almost there.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

OPEN SPOILERS FOR THIS FILM, BOTH INJUSTICE GAMES, AND THEIR COMIC BOOK TIE-INS! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

It's all led to this. We end our final comparison post not with a bang, but a whimpering half-lucid post-5 AM scrawl by a man who spent more time gathering images than actually thinking of commentary for design changes. The Injustice film focused near-exclusively on the tyrant Superman half of the multiverse, but mostly used the "Prime" designs of the first game's cast. As such, I'm not going to bother with expositing the differences in heavy detail. The film loosely adapted the first game and the tie-in comics, sometimes lifting dialogue and scenes directly from the latter. Its art style also seemed to be closer to the 2020s Mortal Kombat films as opposed to the usual DC Universe Animated Original Movie look. The cast listed below were all featured in the games and comics, though I admit I could not find any images of Deadshot or Bane (05/03/2024 EDIT: Found! They're only in prison garb in this film, as are several other villains). I apologize in advance.

And for posterity, here are the results of the first poll as of 3:54 AM Eastern Time yesterday.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFcM7BntI0M

Batman 1 hour theme song

Batman 1 hour theme song

www.youtube.com

Characters...

Superman ​	Superman (Prime) ​	Batman ​	Nightwing ​	Deadwing ​
Wonder Woman ​	The Flash ​	Green Lantern ​	Aquaman ​	Green Arrow ​
Shazam ​	Cyborg ​	Raven ​	Catwoman ​	The Joker ​
Harley Quinn ​	Bane ​	Solomon Grundy ​	Killer Frost ​	Robin ​
Deadshot ​	Scarecrow ​	Poison Ivy ​	Cheetah ​	Captain Cold ​
Reverse-Flash ​	Atom ​	Lois Lane ​	Jimmy Olsen ​	Jonathan Kent ​
Huntress ​	Hawkman ​	Captain Atom ​	Plastic Man ​	Mr. Terrific ​
Rama Kushna ​	Riddler ​	Ra's al Ghul ​	Killer Croc ​	Victor Zsasz ​
Calendar Man ​	Giganta ​	Trickster ​	Captain Boomerang ​	Weather Wizard ​
Mirror Master ​	Plastique ​	Amazo ​	Mantis ​	Lois Lane (comic) ​

And here are many, many, many shots from the film.

Spoiler: Lots of images. Some violent imagery ahead.

I find it amusing that the Prime Superman finally gets to wear his red trunks.

---

And that is it for the Injustice universe. For now, anyway. I will be back to provide my general final thoughts on its sister series' design ethos (ethea?) and bring up some random tidbits to amuse myself. You're not rid of me yet. I should have another poll up within 24 hours if the site allows that.

YOU KNOW THE DRILL, SCROLL UP AT YOUR OWN RISK! OPEN SPOILERS FOR THIS FILM, BOTH INJUSTICE GAMES, AND THEIR COMIC BOOK TIE-INS! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

No, no, no. Reptile drools, you know, 'cause of the acid spit.

And yeah, the new poll is up. My thanks to the staff for their help.

Well, I think we've reached the twilight stage of this thread. It's been nearly a year, and I cannot thank you all enough for your support. I again extend my thanks to L Thammy for helping with image sizing, CommandThrower for supplying the images for the MK11 posts, Osu 16 Bit and emperor bohe for helping inspire me to make this thread, and every last one of you who tossed in a kind word. Y'all know who you are.

The current poll covers who among the original kast got the most consistent string of redesigns. If I may throw my hat in the ring, I'll offer my single favorite (default) redesign period for each of them and the non-playable fighters.

Spoiler

Liu Kang...

Winner: MK4 design

It's the OG design with a red shirt. Simple and to the point. For every game in the Tobias era, Liu Kang got a new article of clothing. If Tobias stuck around for an MK5, Liu Kang would've had a funny hat.

Raiden...

Winner: MKvsDCU design

Ornate without being quite as bogged down in fabric as the otherwise good Deadly Alliance default. Raiden needs a cape. This is probably the first kostume to really make the white pop due to the gold trim around said cape.

Sonya...

Winner: MK11 design

If she's going to be in military wear (and she should be), then it should at least be colorful military wear.

Johnny Cage...

Winner: MK4 design

I waffled between choosing this or MK9 Johnny, but MK4's brighter and more prominent blue accessories took the crown. Bally Total Fitness gear at its best. Though the true best Johnny is MK11's younger variant. I love that jacket more than I love chocolate.

Scorpion...

Winner: Armageddon design (formerly Deception's alternate)

This is really a win for UMK3 and MK4 as well, I just prefer the slight tweaks done for its final appearance as a primary outfit in 3D. Skull mask for life.

Sub-Zero...

Winner: MKX design

The bubble vest is a little weird and people have noted the sideboob (not that this is the first instance of such a thing happening in this franchise), but neither of those is enough to deter my love for this kostume.

Reptile...

Winner: Deadly Alliance design

Yeah, I'm still going to bat for edgelord Aeon Calcos. Sue me, the black on green with gold armor is a good look.

Kano...

Winner: MK9 design

Again, this is technically a win for the MK3 design, but MK9's rendition just looks better to me.

Goro...

Winner: MK9 design

Literally not much competition due to how few times Goro has gotten any substantial visual overhauls, but I think his first look from the reboot timeline is his best overall.

Shang Tsung...

Winner: MK9 design

I was this close to choosing the old man wizard look before remembering that it wasn't eligible. Thankfully, the next best thing offers plenty to like as well. The outfit leans into the snake motif, and this is a case where doing so works for me.

Which redesigns for any of the fighters did you like the most? And while we're here, I've got a completely separate third poll prepared. This one concerns possible future attempts at doing comparison threads for other fighting game franchises. I have a few ideas of my own, but I'd like to hear from you lot and the lurkers reading this thread as well: https://strawpoll.com/polls/1Mnwvr1zKy7

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

"Kostume" is op a blood?

Click to shrink...

No, just a konsummate fanboy with a knack for theme-lettering.

always glad to see updates to this thread!

Click to shrink...

I'm not particularly a fan of Mortal Kombat but I've been checking out this thread whenever it gets bumped. Lots of respect for how thorough Scrappy's breakdown of the character design history has been.

It makes me realize that fans attach a great deal of weight to details that others might miss; you show me two Scorpions and I'll just think "yep, that's Scorpion", but for someone who is into Mortal Kombat they're both kompeting against the mental image of what Scorpion's supposed to be.

Click to shrink...

Thank you. Mortal Kombat's one of the few fighting game series to update the wardrobes of the fighters on a regular basis, which meant there was a lot to talk about. I'm personally surprised at how well a lot of these designs actually hold up. John Tobias' stuff is classic, obviously, but a lot of the modern games are still benefitting off of the back of the visual divergences and detailing promoted in the 3D era. And I suppose that leads me to the second part of my wrap-up.

I had ideas for this thread as far back as early 2017. My love for the series' aesthetic and lore meant that this was as good an IP as any to pretend I was a qualified expert on. In the nine and a half months I've been updating this thread, a few lessons have been learned or reinforced.

Lesson 1: Having a signature color is often a boon

Before

Forever After

It's a good idea to have bright readable colors in art, even in a series as gruesome as this. Liu Kang without red is just naked. With red, he's the hero. Having at least one color to call your own can help artists when they're overhauling everything else for a sequel. To expand on this point, I would also say MK should always stay colorful in general. Deception is a moody game, but it's no less vibrant for it. Imagine Yin Yang Island without those bright popping colors. That's Xbox aesthetique.

Lesson 2: Ninjas are awesome

Look at these edgy mothertruckers. They were born to sell action figures. I likened Mortal Kombat to Power Rangers in my opening post, and I stand by that firmly because of these guys. You pick a favorite ninja like you pick your favorite Ranger. While I do believe fans overstate the appeal of these guys relative to everyone else in the roster, they're the soul of Mortal Kombat.

Lesson 3: You can evolve former palette swaps

A good base design need not be duplicated in perpetuity. Much as Luigi and Ken Masters have been allowed to evolve from their indistinguishable Player 2 status, so too can the various masked offspring of Scorpion and Bi-Han do so. Some (Reptile, Ermac) have deviated from the mold more than others (Smoke, Noob Saibot), but they're all part of the family. And again, there are rewards to innovation. Mummy Ermac and reaper Noob are iconic designs in their own right. One day, they might get their own knock-offs based on their contemporary looks.

Lesson 4: Details are generally more palatable if a certain template is upheld

Relating to lesson 1, you can make good designs that aren't just 1:1 recreations if you just honor the past template. Coordinate the colors similarly, retain the kostume with new bells and whistles, or some other third thing. There's more than one way to skin a Tigrar, and I will give credit to Midway and NRS for practicing this idea for 29 years and counting.

Lesson 5: Simplicity is good

The reason Scorpion and Sub-Zero pretty much always look like Scorpion and Sub-Zero is that they had good foundations set for them from the start. Limitations can breed creativity if you're willing to work with what you have. The early games were done with real actors wearing the outfits for shoots, and Tobias was an accomplished artist who designed kharacters with that in mind. The outfits were about as elaborate as anything from a budgeted game emulating a death metal album could be, but Tobias is a comic book artist at heart. He made sure outfits were readable, with colors that popped. We laugh at the aerobics gear of a lot of kharacters, but said gear at least avoided a lot of the excesses of the post-90s 3D era (or even Tobias' own Tao Feng). Johnny's old designs weren't particularly special, but someone on the team had the foresight to give him the shades, which may have saved him from just being another martial artist in a series that has several. Tiny touches can make all the difference.

Lesson 6: ...But gold trim is better

I waxed on about the beauty of restrained kharacter design, and I stand by that. With that said, as I went further into the rundown between games, I realized that a lot of these designs really do get enhanced with additional accessories, even if some in-game depictions didn't always do justice to the talents of the art team. They're warriors locked in battle over the fate of the realms, some armor is okay every once in a while. And it'd be unfair to expect the devs to design with real people in mind on everything when they're not digitizing the mo-cap actors anymore. Making kostumes look cool instead of needlessly sexualized? That's fine, forces them to get creative with things. "Practicality" is a broad term and thus a slightly different matter, especially when you're designing for a medium that isn't wholly grounded in reality. I'd say MK11 found a decent balance. Realistic people wearing hilariously over-the-top kostumes with just enough stylization to keep it from looking like glorified cosplay. Or maybe it is glorified cosplay. That's basically what the old games were, so MK11 could be seen as the series coming full circle. To make a long story short, I'm willing to flout "realism" if it at least looks cool.

---

I thank you all for taking this journey with me. I certainly couldn't have made it this far without your support. I again ask you to answer this poll to gauge future interest in threads such as these. Until then, go in peace, my friends. Your souls are free.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

Hello, hello. I've been looking into the poll results so far and I'm both pleasantly surprised and horrified at the ranking.

Spoiler: Screencap of the Straw Poll as of Mar. 11th, 2022

I really shouldn't be shocked. Bandai Namco's Soulcalibur changes its playable characters' default costumes about as frequently as Mortal Kombat does, so I can understand why people would want to see comparison posts. Admittedly, I didn't want to do a series where I'd be phoning in my commentary about the designs of what is currently its most recent entry. I don't have the energy to devise enough distinct ways to say "This character looks like a revised version of their 90s incarnation, but with a more detailed/fanservicey outfit." Maybe later, but not now.

As such, we're not covering that series next. Instead, we'll do something a bit easier.

It's one of the current runners-up, so good for me. Two sequels, 15 veteran characters to cover. Stay tuned.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

WARNING! OPEN SPOILERS FOR MORTAL KOMBAT LEGENDS: SNOW BLIND AND ITS TWO PREQUEL FILMS BELOW! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

We're baaaaack. Did you miss me discussing loincloths and gold trim with the dedication of a college student writing their thesis? It's time I revisit this franchise, and what better way than with the movie that saw release in the month of Mortal Kombat's 30th anniversary?

Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind is the third entry of the Legends series, and marks a shift in the films' art direction. Facial features are still angular, but with some of the heavier shading seen in the prior two films toned down significantly. This adventure focuses on the adventures of Mortal Kombat's beloved Kenshi Takahashi, who must shed his arrogant nature under the tutelage of Sub-Zero if he's to stop the Black Dragon from laying waste to, well, the wastelands. This is the first Mortal Kombat movie to not have Liu Kang, Raiden, Sonya, or Jax present in any significant way.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIbHmItRsSw

Sub-Zero (Chinese Ninja Warrior)

Provided to YouTube by Universal Music GroupSub-Zero (Chinese Ninja Warrior) · The ImmortalsMortal Kombat: The Album℗ A Capitol Records Release; ℗ 1994 Capit...

www.youtube.com

Scorpion...

It wouldn't be an MK project without the yellow-clad one always showing his skeletal face at some point. Scorpion is still a denizen of the Netherrealm despite some unspecified amount of time passing since Battle of the Realms, and it seems he's gone from an involuntary minion of Quan Chi to a full-on emissary of hell who can enforce blood oaths. Kuai Liang summons him for the final battle and Scorpion emerges from the flames like a gold-armored horseman of the apocalypse. The heavy amounts of metal remind me of Scorpion's design from the first Injustice. To complete the look, the team for this movie opted to drape Scorpion in a spiked cloak, as if he wasn't looking like Spawn enough. This kostume's the right kind of edge for this iteration of the kharacter, and I would gladly welcome its inclusion into a game.

Sub-Zero...

The younger Sub-Zero has lived long enough to be an old man, and suffers a recurring nightmare of a horrible incident that necessitates us to see him wake up, get out of bed, and get dressed with what looks like the exact same animation multiple times. Kuai Liang is long retired from the Lin Kuei life by this point, but keeps his signature color hidden underneath dark robes as he tries to keep a low profile. When things reach a point where his direct assistance is needed, he suits up in Lin Kuei attire again. His uniform looks to have a more patchwork design to it, which could imply it's either fallen into disrepair due to repeated usage or become discolored due to lack of maintenance. Or it's just ramshackle because it was made from whatever Kuai Liang had on hand just in case he ever needed to go out into the field again. His cowl is worn more like a hood, much like the Jim Lee-designed Sub-Zero suit from Injustice 2. You can see just how rough Sub-Zero looks next to the surprisingly pristine armor of Scorpion in the leftmost image above. I guess the Oni do a good spitshine.

And seen below is an image from very late in the movie.

Yes, that is an animated recreation of the gathering of heroes in Mortal Kombat 11, as viewed by King Kano through Kronika's Hourglass. The unmasked Kuai Liang sports a white headband for whatever reason.

Kano...

Despite suffering a very violent death in Scorpion's Revenge, Kano is back and nastier than ever. After a Revenant invasion of Earthrealm, he's taken over pretty much all of what's left of the planet as its ruler. "King" Kano is pretty much what you'd expect an already rough-and-tumble mercenary to look like if he was plopped into Mortal Kombat's interpretation of Mad Max. His cybernetics are even more pronounced, with virtually all of his body being mechanical. One could theorize this development as a one-time upgrade of the Black Dragon leader due to the heroes thrashing him in the first Legends film, but given Kano's had extended access to Kronika's magic, he's seemingly been giving himself prosthetics every time something goes south for him. That would potentially explain the lack of consistent coloration on the limbs. It's unknown if the Lin Kuei had any hand in helping Kano access his new tech, but I wouldn't be surprised given how closely he resembles the clan's Cyber Initiative units. Of course, Kano's still a crime boss so he has to have some style. As such, he wears a sleeveless, fur-trimmed longcoat that would work as well on Kabal as it would on Kano. This whole look feels like a logical visual evolution for what I think might be the most interesting Kano we've seen to date.

Shang Tsung...

The proud, regal Shang Tsung gets to spend his days licking Kano's boots for a good majority of his screentime in this film. The power of Kronika's magic and alternate timelines, y'all. He wears a worn-out brown tunic that evokes his MK9 default, though with a comparably higher neckline. After he absorbs the souls of Kenshi's ancestors (as he does in canon), his youth is restored.

You know, has young Shang Tsung ever been depicted with the Fu Manchu mustache?

Nightwolf...

Yeah, I mentioned a Revenant invasion earlier. Where these Revenants came from is left unexplained until the very end of the film, but we see a few attacking a city during a flashback. And it seems Nightwolf was one of the victims. His design seems to just be a more tattered version of his usual gear, plus the volcanic veins associated with the species.

Kabal...

We've seen old man Sub-Zero, old man Kano, and old man Shang Tsung, so now it's time to talk about old man Kabal. His design is rather traditional outside of the gray locs. Kabal wears an outfit pretty close to his non-Revenant design in MK11, just with the colors swapped around. His gloves are longer and lack the light brown cuffs and he wears a mask that evokes the default Kabal of the same game, even keeping the glowing red eyes. His chest armor from the default design is retained for this movie, making Snow Blind's Kabal a neat composite.

Jarek...

Jarek's Snow Blind images come from this video.
Instead of running off of cliffs, Jarek's making a name for himself by running directly into Kenshi's sword. Pictured above in the center and on the right are images of Jarek after and before he's bisected. His design looks like it draws inspiration from his MK4 and Armageddon looks, taking the heavier armoring of the latter and the facial features of the former. This might be my favorite design for Jarek, it's fitting for a low-level grunt who thinks himself the coolest guy on the planet. Like, it's the right amount of edge for this guy while still making him look recognizable. Maybe it helps that Kano is so mechanized that Jarek serves as a better contrast to his boss.

Tremor...

Tremor makes his animated debut here and pretty much wipes the floor with everyone. Keeping in line with the Legends movies' art direction, he has bulked up considerably, but otherwise retains most of his design elements from Mortal Kombat X. He has his internal volcanic "blood" coursing through his craggy flesh pretty much perpetually during Snow Blind's runtime.

No Face...

Also returning from Special Forces is Kano's pyro specialist, No Face. He was notably the only new Black Dragon member from that spin-off to never make any notable appearance after, not even in the MKX comics where Jarek and Tasia showed up from time to time. But now he has arrived as one of Kano's enforcers in this movie, meaning just about every nominally important creation from John Tobias' tenure has made at least two appearances. No Face is likely named as such due to his burnt skin, though in his debut it was only noticeable on his face due to the bodysuit he was wearing. He opts to go shirtless in Snow Blind, showing off more of his complexion and his various injuries. Now I'm no weapons expert, but I don't think having a live flamethrower attached to your bare back is a good idea for a number of reasons.

Kenshi...

Kenshi has come far. Being one Deadly Alliance newcomer out of several, he broke out and rose through the ranks, guaranteeing him a level of attendance that few kharacters introduced after MKII can boast. Now, he gets to headline his own movie. Kenshi has been recast as a younger warrior wandering between outposts looking for a challenge to entertain himself. He wears a sleeveless red and black bodysuit with a brown cloak, contributing to a very archetypal vagabond design. I'm used to Kenshi being a more even-keeled, deadpan warrior, but it is canonical that he was an arrogant fighter before Shang Tsung hoodwinked him into losing his sight. His visual look is consistent with how he's generally portrayed in the games, it's just his age and arguably personality that diverge. This Kenshi works for the dusty wanderer Snow Blind depicts him as, though that is with the caveat that Snow Blind takes some timeline liberties in general.

Drahmin...

We saw Moloch in the first Legends film, and now his masked buddy appears for a fight sequence. Drahmin is a member of Kano's army for some reason, and his appearance is more or less the same as it is in the games. His skinless flesh is a comparatively deeper shade of red, which pops more in night scenes. And his mask doesn't look as overdesigned in animated form, which is a plus.

Dairou...

Also appearing for a glorified cameo during the film's big fight sequence is Dairou. His design appears to be a simplified retool of his default outfit from Deception.

Kobra...

This movie had a rather eclectic selection of kharacters. It feels like the Deception of the Legends line. If you're going to have the Black Dragon as the main villain faction, then you may as well staff its ranks with faces that fans will recognize. With that said, I'm not sure Kobra's all that recognizable in this movie. His street punk background is never mentioned and his Cobra Kai design influences are completely expunged, taking away pretty much all resemblance to Ken Masters. But with the longer hair, he now looks like Andy Bogard, the other blond second banana fighting game protagonist that fans like to dunk on. Outside of his rapport with Kira and Kabal, the only other real pre-existing trait that remains is his penchant for violence, and the latter is pretty much a requirement to be a Black Dragon.

I'd argue this is more substance Kobra's been given since, ever, but I do wonder if there's a point where you can say that a superior adaptation is not necessarily a good adaptation. Mind you, if his vest had stayed white, I probably would be typing far less right now. It's just about a kharacter losing what few visual indicators they could call their own. Kobra was an obvious lift of a more famous fictional fighter, but within the context of Mortal Kombat, Kobra could at least be unique in his shameless unoriginality. Now he doesn't even have that. He has a stronger silhouette thanks to the shoulder pad, and he does look more like a typical Black Dragon member, but the latter might be the problem. He has little to set himself apart even next to his Johnny Lawrence cosplay design, which at least stuck out next to Jarek and Kano back in the day. With that said, Kobra being the least "rugged" of the Black Dragons does offer a potential venue for future designs. Ken Masters is considered to be one of the most handsome Street Fighter characters in-universe, so maybe badass wannabe Kobra wants to make a name for himself in the criminal underworld despite his baby face. That, or he keeps looking like a different fighting game franchise's blonde every time he appears. I await his turn toward Paul Phoenix's highrise hairdo.

Kira...

The design team also took some notable liberties with Kira, but I would say she's a bit more recognizable at first glance. She's retained her red and black color scheme, and her torn jeans and myriad belts evoke the old pants while not looking as strange. Her double ponytails are merged into a single voluminous tied-up mane of red hair, with a streak of white added for good measure. Her complexion seems noticeably paler, making me think of Aurra Sing from Star Wars, who also sports black eyeshadow and a ponytail on a mostly bald head. Kira's looking as Mad Max as anyone else in this movie, and I think she pulls it off a bit better than some of her contemporaries.

Erron Black...

Erron's Snow Blind image comes from this video.
Erron Black returns to his home realm to lay down the law as another recruit of Kano. His design looks like a simplified take on his MK11 default, though with the vest removed or downplayed.

Ferra/Torr...

Meet Ferra and Torr. These Outworld denizens are a symbiotic race where a small childlike rider (Ferra) bonds with a large mount (Torr). They were a joint team kharacter in Mortal Kombat X, with Torr taking the brunt of physical abuse from opponents. In the games, they serve as bodyguards to Kotal Kahn, but in this movie, they are minions of Kano despite neither Ferra nor Torr showing any personal interest in Earthrealm. Given these two were inspired by the Mad Max duo Master Blaster, I suppose it's thematically appropriate to have them in a post-apocalyptic locale such as this. Torr looks about the same as he usually does, though with notably fewer spikes on his gauntlets. Ferra maintains her usual look, though she sports wild white hair. Ferra is not a fully mature member of her species in the games, but she is not actually a child so to speak, even if NRS went out of its way to have her flee the scene whenever a Fatality was about to be performed on Torr. I imagine the more overt signs of aging for her in this movie were an easy way to show the passage of time since Liu Kang's triumph over Shao Kahn and allow Ferra to get more involved in the thick of things with fewer concerns from the audience.

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And that's all, folks. Sadly, no funny logo jokes in this film. After the prior two films' relatively straightforward adaptations of pre-existing outfits, it was nice to see the team stretch its talents and reinterpret the Mortal Kombat crew in a newish setting. This whole movie feels like an Elseworlds tale, and those are pretty much always fun from a visual perspective if nothing else. I would like to see more movies tackling different periods and eras of the MK universe that we don't see as often.

Yeah, no StrawPoll for this post. However, I am currently working on a redesign discussion thread for Street Fighter, so feel free to check that out.

WARNING! OPEN SPOILERS FOR MORTAL KOMBAT LEGENDS: SNOW BLIND AND ITS TWO PREQUEL FILMS ABOVE! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

Hello, all. Anyone who's been looking through the thread in the last several weeks likely noticed, but I just wanted to inform you all that I've combed through the thread and updated posts for grammatical and continuity purposes. I've also updated certain images whenever I could find higher-quality versions.

As you all know, Mortal Kombat 1 and Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match are here/on the horizon. There's also the matter of Mortal Kombat: Onslaught, a game whose specific date of release I don't even know. I will look into doing a brief primer for Mortal Kombat 1's base roster down the line if I can gather suitable images. If/when I cover it, though, I will likely be using "MK12" as the shorthand acronym, at least within this thread because "MK1" has already been reserved for the 1992 game. If I explicitly say "Mortal Kombat 1" in full, then I'm talking about the 2023 game. If I'm talking about the first game, I'll just say "the first Mortal Kombat" or "the original game" when I'm not abbreviating.

Thank you for your time, and I hope to see you again soon.