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...
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 th
ree gam
es of the Dragon King trilogy and hasn't chang
ed 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.
