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.
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