PART 2

Kano

Kanos Favorite things

* JT: We wanted to give him a little more sleeker look with the black and red.

* EB: A lot of people complained about him being gone in part two. Our big goal was to have him be one of the strongest guys just so his return would have that much more of an impact. A lot of people are just really attached to him-based on all his special moves and his new ones. So he is kind of a novelty.

* The notorious member of the evil Black Dragon clan was wanted in 35 countries, and when word came that he had died, law-abiding citizens the world over breathed a collective sigh of relieve...they were in for a surprise.

* Kano and Sonya were the first Mk3 characters to be confirmed.

Kung Lao

Kung Laos Favorite things

* He is the master of lethal six move combination.

* JT: Initially I liked how Captain America threw his shield and when it would come back, hed catch it. Thats were I think his hat came from. As well, it came from the old James Bond film: Goldfinger where the big Japanese guy threw his little derby. That was kind of cool.

* JT: Our intention with him was to make him really sleek looking. Hes always been kind of thin and perceived as being really fast- the hat and the whole razor tip just added to that.

* EB: He was one of the characters who changed the least, for the sake of not fixing something that is not broken and also for the sake of the balance of the gameplay. He was really one of the favorites who we just brought back.

Liu Kang

Liu Kangs Favorite things

* JT: His reasons for fighting in the tournament were the purest-he was fighting to save earth. Initially he was the only guy who knew what was going on.

* JT: He was brought to part three because he is a popular character, but it was also because he is so central.

* EB: It would be kinda like doing part 3 of Star Wars without having Luke Skywalker in there. You dont want that.

* Ed Boon and John Tobias really liked his Mk2 costume, reason why they brought it back for Mk3 with slight changes.

Sektor

Sektors favorite things

* He is John Tobias favorite Mk3 character.

* John Tobias revealed that they had ideas for Cyber ninjas for Mk2 but did not want to rehash one of the old ninjas, so with the official Mk2 Comic book they hinted that the Lin Kuei had advanced technology and that it was evolving, something that was planned to be used in Mk3.

* JT: I think he was influenced by Boba Fett initially.

* EB: The roboninajs are just like the Batman of the fighting games. The chest is the utility belt. We just said, -lets think of weird stuff-. We wanted to give the perception of: -How much crap can be in this things chest?!-

Shang Tsung

Shang Tsungs Favorite things

* JT: I think by adding the eye makeup we made him a little bit creepier.

* JT: Originally his hair wasn�t going to be a ponytail, it was just going to hang over his face-kind of Crow-like, but that poses problems when he is jumping around and the hairs flopping all over.

* EB: He barely changed, we didn�t want to add too many more moves because he was one of the strongest characters in the past games.

Shao Kahn

Shao Kahns Favorite things

* Shao Kahn loved Sindel and suffered when she died. He decided to resurrect her but he patiently had to wait for the Shadow priests to finish their job, later he realized he could do this in earth, have his queen back, and claim the world as his own.

* His powers rival the powers of a god.

* JT: As far as his look goes, we were trying to combine a samurai look with more of a medieval type. It was kind if a mix between the two with the skull and the shoulder pads, but then the back of the helmet sort of resembled samurai type gear.

* EB: Long after the game was done, he reminded me of the emperor of Star wars, in the sense that in the first MK you are just introduced to Tsung and then you find out that there is somebody a step higher.

* His original costume included a huge mask samurai style that covered his entire face, and a small ponytail.

Sheeva

Sheevas Favorite things

* JT: To keep the Shokan thing alive, we thought �What do the females look like?-

* EB: A lot of Sheeva was inspired by the constant request we were having for a playable Shokan...so we thought, lets give her Kintaro like moves but make this shokan more manageable.

Sindel

Sindels Favorite things

* EB: She is kind of influenced by The Bride of Frankenstein

* EB: Also influenced by a Hong Kong mystical martial arts movie were an old man had this long hair that would whip around and grab things. It opened a lot of things with the fatalities.

* Her appearance leads many to believe she is a Banshee from the Irish legend.

* They both wanted her to fly because they thought she looked like a witch, and they admit she looked freaky doing it.

Sonya Blade

Sonyas Favorite things

* EB: She is perceived as one of the strongest characters. Everybody loves her bicycle kicks move and the leg grab. She has improved big time.

* EB: I think a lot of people will agree she is one of the strongest characters later on...I dont know if its because shes female.

* JT: It was like that with Mileena. At the end everybody picked her. The plan is to make the characters equal. They are all created equal.

* JT: When we decided to put Sonya in the first game, we would always use Chun-Lee as an example. If you make them cool, people are going to play them. Guys aren�t so macho that they are ashamed to pick Sonya, because they can stay in the game with her and cant with somebody else.

* JT: As far as her look, we wanted the costume to have sort of a new and improved look. Introducing the black and white and making it look a little more stylized, it looks a bit more modern. If you see old Sonya and the new one, the old one looks a bit plain.

* Sonya is one of Ed Boons top favorite characters.

* Sonyas inner strength allows her to focus her bodys energies into rings of force. (This also clears the doubt of whether she had any Special Forces weapon in her wrist to do the rings)

* With mind control (just like Liu Kang) she defies gravity flying up from the ground in a stunning bicycle kicks.

* Sonya and Kano were the first Mk3 characters to be confirmed.

Stryker

Strykers favorite things

* John Tobias thought he was going to be one of the most popular characters in Mk3.

* Stryker was never happy to be a chosen one, his only wish was to save the people that were dying (souls being stolen by Kahn).

* JT: Somebody wanted a SWAT type of character, but we didn�t want a guy running around with a blue hat and all that stuff, so we gave him a sleeker look.

* The team wanted to introduce weapons in Mk3 and had many ideas for Stryker using many, but they had problems that couldnt be fixed and might had cut down the amount of memory.

Sub-Zero

Sub-Zeros favorites things

* JT: Like Sonya and Kano, he was a favorite character and we wanted to bring him back. We thought it would be cool to have him without his trademark mask, because people start creating a backstory in their head...we were aiming to change his look.

* EB: In the early version of Mk3, we didnt have the ice shooting forward, we just happened to videotape him doing that move. He wasnt going to have it. I saw enough people complaining that they wanted it, so we put it back in the game, and hes all the sudden everybodys favorite again.

The 4 ACTORS speak

Rich Divizo: Kano

* He was really looking forward to see the new Kano outfit, he was glad they got rid of the white karate Mk1 outfit, but was very disappointed (at first) when he saw his Mk3 costume. He thought it was too futuristic, space like, but later got used to it and liked it.

* He had many creative differences with Boon and Tobias, specially because of the metal face plate. He claimed that wearing the mask was a bitch.

* He played Baraka in Mk2 and admitted to never really like the character that much.

* He said Mk3 was going to be his last Mk game.

Profession: Computer Artist.
Fave Video Game of all Time: Tempest.
Favorite Movie: Star Wars Trilogy.
Favorite Character: Kung Lao
Favorite Opponent: Sonya
Nobody knows I: Need my sleep.

John Parrish: Jax

* He joked with Rich Divizio saying if they ever need someone to give him a call, 5 months later he was Jax.

* He created the Hand Clap Mk2 fatality. He had many more ideas but they were not used.

* For his makeup they used the �The untouchables- artist, he really hated the makeup sessions the most.

* He was too tall so the team had to shorten him in the game.

Profession: Personal Trainer.
Fave Video Game of all Time: Ms. Pac-Man
Favorite Movie: Outbreak
Favorite Character: Jax
Favorite Opponent: Kano
Nobody knows I: N/A

Tony Marquez: Kung Lao

* Being a martial arts expert, Kung Lao was easy for him to play.

* He loves Kung Laos hat even though it was difficult for him to move with it.

Profession: Martial Arts instructor.
Fave Video Game of all Time: Mk2
Favorite Movie: Legend of the Fong Sai Yuk
Favorite Character: Kung Lao
Favorite Opponent: Kano
Nobody knows: Am a killer singer.

Kerri Hoskins: Sonya Blade

* Although she knows Tae Kwon Do and Tang Soo Do, she is not a martial arts expert.

* She loves being in control of her character, but her sisters love it more. They were popular in school for they had the insight for Mk3, they knew stuff no one else knew.

* Her favorite Sonya moves are the ring toss and leg grab.

* Being a talented gymnastic, she had no trouble doing Sonyas high action moves. She also gave ideas that were used in the game.

Profession: Photographer/Model
Fave Video Game of all Time: Mk3
Favorite Movie: Shawshank Redemption
Favorite Character: Sonya
Favorite Opponent: Kano
Nobody knows I: Am very religious.

************************************************************

Well, that took me a long time to finish. I hope you found some interesting things in here and enjoyed it as much as I did.

Yeah this book is cool. I got it way back when it first came out. To this day I still mock Ed Boon for his "G Thunder" comment, how he got Chief Thunder's name wrong from KI.

Excellent read(and find), queve! I loved it.

Thanks, queve. Thank ya very mucho. Seriously, dude, this was cool.

Yeah, queve. Thanks a bunch. Those were some pretty interesting facts. I find it a bit weird for Sindel's favorite drink to be blood though... I also found it a bit odd that if Liu Kang's favorite color is white, why does he wear red and black?

There were some interesting things that caught my eye such as Shao Kahn actually loving Sindel as well as Kerri Hoskins knowing Tae Kwon Do and Tang Soo Do. I'm surprised that they didn't get her to play as Sonya in the MK movies or even do motion capture and voice for Sonya in MKDA.

Anyway, once again, thanks very much queve.

Some of those seem out of character....but others make sense.

Shao Kahn actually loving Sindel is pretty cool, but sadly - I'm sure they've forgotten all about it. I doubt it was love, anyway, more like sick twisted obsession (he KEPT her soul once she died, refusing to let her go). But, still, it adds dimension to a character that, up til now, I thought was nothing but a power-hungry devil.

Kano's favorite book is "Steal This Book!" by Abbie Hoffman....makes sense. ALOT of sense.
\

Some of those are OOC to me, like I said. Alot of those quotes I have a hard time believing they'd actually say. Sub-Zero's song is Ice Ice Baby. Hardy-har, creators.....NOT. Cyrax and Sektor actually liking things at this point of the story? Mmmm.....nah. I also doubt Shao Kahn, Motaro, and Shang Tsung watch TV and movies period. Yeah, I can picture it, Shao Kahn sitting in front of a TV in his throne, crying because "Dynasty" has a sad scene, hahaha.

But alot of these, such as their favorite movies and books and songs, provide insight to their characters. If you piece them together, it's actually pretty cool. Once again, queve, thanks. I wonder if they made bios for MK2 characters, or for the UMK3-exclusive characters too.

You are welcome guys. I knew all this info would be interesting for fans. I just hope more people find this, the classic games forum is not visited that much anymore.



LOL, I know, some of those facts are a bit weird and odd. I bet most of them were just thrown in for fun. Im sure they said Sindels drink was blood because she has that vampire thing going on with her character, even the team agrees she looks like a creepy witch.

Yeah, I agree on Liu Kang, I guess they keep the cloth because they said that was their fave costume design for him, and gave him white as his color because it represents purity. Maybe thats what they wanted....or maybe Liu Kang is just a virgin, lol. I also found interesting the fact that Kerri knows TKD and that was the style they gave Sonya in MKDA, I doubt she can act though.



You are welcome , Im really glad people liked this. And yes, I also agree some of those facts were just thrown in for fun. For example, there is a Mk4 updated guide that has all the characters favorite things as well, who they like, dislike, food, etc. Sonyas food according to the Mk4 guide is not the same of this guide, but tastes can change lol.

Yes, Shao Kahn loving Sindel was pretty cool actually, I wish they would focus on that tiny bit in MK7 if he is to return or her.

OMG, I remember reading this!

It was back when the screens of Kitana vs. Scorpion in Hell were floating around. I saw this in a magazine rack at a gas station, and was like, OMG MK3 info, finally!

I was so disappointed when it didn't have any of the characters that later appeared in UMK3.

Thank you Queve, you've brought back some fond memories.



Ka-Tra

Oh, there should be no doubting - have you seen the FMV's from MKMSZ? None of them (except maybe whoever played Raiden) should be allowed in front of a camera again...The crappy acting could be overlooked though, cus the costumes and CGI backgrounds were solid.

Nice thread btw

You are welcome Tetra_Vega. This info rocks. i only hope more people get the chance to see this, its too interesting to miss.



LOL. I know, all sucked.

* Extremely violent and intense fatalities were planned but never executed. Mk2 Baraka was going to slit the guy in the mid-section and then the guts were supposed to spill out slowly with gory detail. EB: I think disemboweling is a little extreme (reason why they never used the ideas for Mk1, Mk2 and Mk3).


A little extreme? Explains a lot of the recent Fatals...
That's kind of a shame. It would have looked a little like this(plus the shadows and proper lifebar info):

That was an excellent read. Thanks for posting it, Q! I won't repeat stuff as everyone has more or less said what I would have said. Again, great stuff.

Agreed. That would had been amazing back then! It would had really made people say WOW. Now we have some of that stuff, but it doesnt look that good (Kanos MKDA fatality).



I knew I was doing the right thing by sending you a pm about this thread. I knew you would like it. The bad thing is that no one visits this site as much as before. It’s a bit deserted.

Some of those things are pretty funny

Where can I find the book to buy?

I bought it from ebay. Its very rare and old, you wont find it in other stores.

And yes, some things such as Boon saying “Over our dead bodiesâ€? when asked if he would work on Mk without Tobias are hilarious.

lol! that stuffs' hilarious! Where did u get the magazine anyway?

Don't you read what he said?....He got the book from Ebay,today it's very difficult and rare to get this piece of MK.Great reading Queve!!,thanks for taking the time in writing all that info.

Does it say anything about Smoke?

Did you know that Mortal Kombat should have been "Blood Sport" "The Videogame"?

Midway originaly wanted to make a game of the Movie but it was to expensive to buy the license for Van Damme.
So they made Mortal Kombat with a wanna be Van Damme (Johnny Cage).

I bought it in ebay, its very rare.



You are welcome! Im really glad you enjoyed it. I just had to type all that for the fans.



No, sorry, not a word on Smoke.



LOL, yeah, and they were very very happy they didn’t use Van Damme in the end.

Bumped.

Just in case some people ain't seen it.

I doubt many have seen this, mostly because not many visit the classic forum.

Thanks for the bimp, PF. This is a great post Queve. Kinda wondering how I missed this before. Although, some of the questions do seem odd for that character.

They weren't serious when they did that. Farting around as always.

Good stuff, is there anymore info form that book that you would like to share?