Mortal Kombatis a franchise that haslasted over 20 yearswith plenty of change over time but two things have remained consistent. One, that it is incredibly violent and bloody in the best way possible and two, that the roster changes between games are always a hot topic in the fan base.
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Most fighting games don’t include every single character that has been in the franchise in each game (Super Smash Bros. Ultimatehas set the bar too high) so the choices made by developers are almost always met with someone upsettheir favoritedidn’t make the cut.
105. D’Vorah (Out)
There are plenty of characters and events inMortal Kombatthat are unsettling, but D’Vorah takes it to another level. Her strange bug-like features are extremely offputting and most of her attacks are something straight out of nightmares. Those aren’t necessarily negatives but between an extremely weak story presence and very uninteresting moves, it makes it a shame that this bug freak is taking up a spot on the roster. It’s great to see newer characters get put into the game but it might be time to go back to the drawing board.
95. Reptile (In)
It may have only been one game since he was last included, but missing one of the original ninja’s is a bit of a shame, especially one that is so different than other characters. Reptile is one of the stranger characters in the game and actually has an enjoyable move-set most of the time. Not every original character can be included and there still be space for new characters but leaving out Reptile is not the right move.
84. Jacqui Briggs (Out)
The least interesting of the “Kombat Kids”, Jacqui Briggs needs to be swapped out moving forward. Her connection to Cassie Cage is probably the only reason she is included in theMortal Kombat 11roster over the other two Takeda and Kung Jin, who both have more diverse moves.
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Jacqui’s only purpose in the main story is the be the foil to Jax’s arc of turning evil, but that isn’t worth taking up a roster spot with her. In addition to that, she plays extremely similar to Jax and while that doesn’t only come into consideration for characters, it feels very redundant in this case.
74. Stryker (In)
While Stryker being an overly violent policeman probably won’t sit right with most people nowadays, but with some tweaking, he could certainly find his way back into the roster. There are not very many projectile-based characters inMortal Kombatbesides Stryker and Erron Black, so it gives some diversity to the roster from a playstyle perspective. There is already a ton of military-styled characters on the roster so his inclusion would warrant the removal of one of them but this character could make a strong comeback.
63. Raiden (Out)
Now before anyone gets too upset, yesRaidenis one of the more iconic members ofMortal Kombatand integral to the story thus far. That said though, he also has seen the completion of his story arc with the latest game so seeing him take a backseat in the future wouldn’t be too surprising. Besides having the same moves for several games in a row, there is very little that can be done at this point to make his character exciting without just making him a different character. He doesn’t need to leave forever, just take a short break.
53. Ashrah (In)
It seems that since the “reboot” the characters Netherrealm Studios like to use has become much more limited than the entire universe so older characters have gotten ignored.
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Characters like Ashrah who plays very differently than most of the other characters used with her holy abilities. She also has a very clean and otherworldly design, something that few other characters have. Plus playing as a demon from the Nehterrealm is pretty metal on its own.
42. Kitana (Out)
Another character that has seen her arc come full circle, Kitana has nowhere else to go from here. Assuming that we aren’t just going to get the Shao Kahn story again in the new game, Kitana doesn’t really have a place anymore. Having finally broken free from his grasps and ultimately becoming one of the good guys (until she becomes a revenant) Kitana has seen her story through. The female ninjas have gotten some over usage and the only left with any story potential moving forward is Jade, who could serve as the queen of Outworld if the timeline wasn’t reset.
32. Rain (In)
In the interest of shuffling the older ninja characters in and out of the roster between games, it’s time to get Rain back in the game. Water is always one of the cooler elements for people to control and Rain has some fun moves that haven’t been replaced by another character in the last two games. It will have been over ten years since Rain has been inMortal Kombatby the time the next game is released, which is more than enough time for people to be ready for his come back. Also, who doesn’t like dressing in purple?
21. Kabal (Out)
Kabal is, at his root, incredibly annoying. Being overly fast and somewhat repetitive with his attacks makes for an incredibly annoying character to fight against.
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Hopefully, his appearance inMortal Kombat 11can be counted as his final send-off. Kabal is more of a villain because of his repetition in moves and not his actions in the story. He and Kano can do everyone a favor and just leave forever.
11. Smoke (In)
The sometimes Cyborg sometimes ninja needs to be given a proper homecoming when and if he returns. Smoke is an interesting and enjoyable character because of all the elements to base a character off, smoke is one of the stranger things to choose but it works well for the character. It might even be worth seeing some of the mainstays not make it onto a roster in the future just to make sure some of the more interesting characters get a spot on the roster.
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