If they didn't do so many retcons and rewrites, the MK storyline would be among the best in videogames. The series has a lot of history and backstory, but they need to work on the continuity. Johnny Cage's MK3 "death" being overwriiten by Vogel for example. They need to come up with a credible alternative explanation as to WHAT Cage was up to during the time he was supposedly deceased and in the afterlife.

Definately getting better, but Midway needs to improve their gameplay to go with an awesome story like this.

Hard to say.

There are some things that I think are being done well. Noob Saibot being the original Sub-Zero is a cool idea. I like Ermac's new storyline direction, along with Raiden, Mileena and several others. For some characters they seem to have some sort of plan on where they're going to go down the line.

However, some decisions with other characters and the storyline are very ill-conceived and some just stupid. I'm sorry but Goro's return is very contrived and IMO they shouldn't have bothered. While having Kitana, Kung Lao, Sonya and the others come under the Dragon King's control and be evil is a good idea with great potential, killing and resurrecting them to do it was was bad move. And I'll be very disappointed if in the next game they're all broken free like nothing happened.

But the retconning needs to stop. The worst among them being Scorpion never vowing to protect Sub-Zero, which pretty much ruins Scorpion's entire storyline. Johnny Cage never died. Now all of a sudden Kung Lao was in MK1.
And I just know, with my luck, that they're going to do some stupid shit like say Kitana was never loyal to Shao Kahn and ruin her entire storyline too.


In the end, I guess it really evens out. There are certain things that have gotten better about the MK storyline, but other things that have gotten worse.
There's a lot of potential for the storyline, I just hope they capitalize on it. And they to stop rearranging characters' pasts. Many of them are fine the way they are.

i think they should release an ilustrared book with the Hole cannon story till the end o gamecubes deception with the Official story and like this they can correct somethings and un-change thinks like johnny cages story kung lao in MK1 (I DIDN ́T KNOW ABOUT THAT) and scorpion never voulled to be protective with sub zero is kool , is bullshit to change it

There are parts of the story where I think its getting better and parts where it seems worse. I don't want to get into what I dislike because what it all boils down to is, I think the MK team did an awesome job creating the storyline the way they did. They wanted a story that continued through all the games but they also wanted to be able to cahnge things on the fly to suit the audience and I think they did a really good job of balancing that. Some things are obviously out of place or seem really confusing, but all in all, I think they did an amazing job.

MK1 had very little story and they changed a lot to make MK2, and it was great. The story was fantastic (I think) in MK3 with the twists that occurred and I thought the premise was unique in video games. Then, with MKM:SZ and MK4, I loved how they didn't just build at the end of the story but reached back to before MK1 to build larger, wider story arcs.

Overall I say the MK story in general is ingenious in how it encompasses so many characters in an entertaining way and reaches back and forward in time to make room for additions that I think are greatly needed in any fighter.

I strongly agree with the user who was talking about the creators releasing a book that talks about the storyline and says what happened STRAIGHT from the Horse's mouth. That would be AWESOME, with loads of artwork and stuff, just the entire 100% canon in one book.

A sourcebook, I believe they call it. I agree with the many retcons, though. With MKSM supposedly going to be full of those, I'm kind of sad. This whole time it seemed like they took the stories seriously, but once Vogel took over, there were quite a lot of retcons. I didn't think MK would ever do that, but oh well. They're still doing a great job. Just more emphasis on the continuity.

The only thing I don't like is the fact that they kill someoen and they don't stay dead...Johnny Cage dies... then they bring him back...Goro dies... they bring him back...twice. Mileena has died a couple times to my knowledge as well. I think they should think twice about killing characters. That way they can avoid trying to come up with bullshit to cover for killing off a character that the fans like and want back.

Now with that negativity out of the way MK probably has the best storyline out of all the fighting games that are around today. To bad we can't say the same about it's fighting engine.

Like everyone else, I think there are some parts that are better and some that have gotten worse.

Vogel shows MUCH more detail than Tobias. In the Tobias days just finding out what happened in the previous game was near impossible because he was so vague. Most of what we know about MK3 now was added in MKDA thanks to Vogel. However the price we pay for this is that he has to constantly retcon stuff to make room for new characters so while it was cool that they finally did something like kill Liu Kang they've already ruined that by bringing him back.

Like moy people, I agree the death thing is the worst part of the story. I understand it's a game and you have to make popular charactes return, but it's just pathetic in MK. NO ONE dies. It's a JOKE. They do these huge plotpoints like Kahn's death in MKDA and it falls completely flat because there's no sense of emotion or drama because you know he'll just be back. Instead of getting into the story you're just thinking about how and when he'll end up returning.

Basically there is no tension in the MK story. It doesn't matter who wins or loses because there's never any long term consequences. The DA won MKDA. THE BAD GUYS WON! Big deal huh? Uh, not really. All the good guys are already back to life. You never feel any risk or worry about what's going to happen and that's pretty much key to a good story.

As time passes it becomes a lot more difficult to be original.

Beware: Those who don’t want some endings spoiled, do not read.
The story line quality depends on the character. As many have already stated, the truth of Noob Siabot was really cool. I just about hit the roof when I first found out. Otherwise each character has their own story, and each one must be judged individually.
-Kenshi teaming up with Sub-Zero is cool because of all the possible problems they will encounter as Hotaru peruses them across Outworld. Also, Ermac is in the new game, which allows us to ponder his relationship with Kenshi, and how they met. It has a lot of potential. Plus Sub-Zero is a god, so his story is cool by default. Although him finding out his heritage is really interesting.
-Diarou’s moral conflict about killing Hotaru is in interesting concept. However, his story has little involvement with the other characters. The same goes with Darrius, although I will admit, his story line is not even half as interesting. I will say it now he(Darrius) was a mistake.
-Baraka and Millena got pretty good story lines. What helped them was all the promotional advertising showcasing their fight in the Beetle Lair, so I think, going into Deception; we knew they had something against each other. Plus, in the written Bio’s we learn more about Baraka’s code of honor, and how he is actually loyal, instead of being more opportunistic like Kano and Reptile, not caring who lead them, as long as they benefited. Also, Millena posing as Kitana was a cool concept because of all the things that happen through her actions (Bo Rai ‘Cho commanding her army) it expands her character.
- Raiden turning Evil was a really nice touch, again a plot twist that very few anticipated. The Return of Liu Kang was also a really cool idea. Deadly Alliance took him out of the spotlight, which was good, and now we see him as a spirit. I though it was cool how he inspired Bo Rai’Cho, and fought with his own Zombie.
-Tanya was a mistake in MK4, and now she seems like a reoccurring bad dream.
-Jade has always been loyal to Edenia, and it’s cool how she is always willing to help her best Friend Kitana. Now that she is helping Queen Sindel, we really see the loyalty that was questioned in previous games. Also, we get to see what happened to Edenia after MK3.
-I never liked Lie Mie, and I think Bo Rao’Cho screwed up in saving her pathetic a**.
-The resurgence of the Black Dragon is interesting I always like them. And the addition of the new members under control of Kabal is just neat. Also the idea of girl in the Black Dragon is new. It means that midway still has some creative aces up their sleeves. I like how Kabal chooses his new members, as shown in Kira’s ending. It opens up a new story that new characters can be incorporated into. Plus, Kabal’s returning to his origins, commanding the Black Dragon, and the implied killing of Movado makes his story line very intricate.
-Hakiv is on of the few new characters that actually work into the story line. His motives are just, and he does things on the spur of the moment. MK needs a character like that. Especially since he resurrects Shao Kahn in his ending.
-The best Story line of Deception is the Elder gods turning Scorpion into their champion. I consider his situation with Quan Chi in Deadly Alliance similar to Millena and Baraka in Deception. Both fights were highly publicized, and we all though that there would be big fight between Scorpion and Chi, and Millena and Baraka. But both were delivered half-baked. Scorpion died befor he got to Quan Chi, and Millena’s fight in the Beetle Lair was with a false Baraka (watch Baraka’s ending). Bottom line is Scorpion really got the short end of the stick in DA, as far as story is concerned. But he got to be the hero in Deception. I thought that was fair enough.
-The addition of Shujinko, through Konquest mode was very cool. I loved all the adventures and quests he goes on, and it explains how Onaga came back to power. As said by Ed Boon, in the Shujinko trading card, he’s like the next generation Liu Kang, the hero of the game.
-Nightwolf’s storyline always seems to be one-track. His journey to the Neatherrealm was a nice twist, but it remained the same. He doesn’t react with other characters, and he is solitary, making his story line very dry.
-Ashra’s background is a unique one, it reminds me of Scorpion. Accept while he became evil, she decided to purify herself, and become good. The concept that she was originally a demon is ironic, considering her appearance.

I for one think the story has gone to hell in a big way ever since MK1.

MK1 had an awesome, awesome story and overall "feel." It was Enter the Dragon meets Bloodsport meets Big Trouble In Little China. Everyone was in the tournament for personal, usually selfish reasons. The game had a very dark, amoral feel. Most importantly, nobody was there to take over or save the world, but to win a fighting tournament.

MK games today are all about shooting around the universe and saving all of existance and frankly I'm tired of it. You can only put the whole universe in peril so many times before nobody cares anymore. I sometimes wonder why the new games even bother to use a tournament format. It comes off less like a chop-socky martial arts movie and more like some nerd spent too much time with his stack of superhero comics and his D&D "Manual of the Planes."

The characters are another problem. I absolutely hate how they took interesting, morally-complex characters and reduced their motivations to a simplistic "good/evil" description, thereby ruining them. Scorpion is not supposed to be good or evil! He's a damned soul on a personal quest for revenge. Sub-Zero is supposed to be a mercenary assassin. Raiden is not supposed to be the "protector of earth", but just an arrogant thunder god that likes to smack around puny mortals that offend him. Shang Tsung is just supposed to be a creepy old wizard who makes people fight in his tournament for perverse pleasure, not a supervillain with plans of world domination.

Anyway, I give the initial MK story an A and the current one a D -. It has gotten way too big for its britches and lost sight of the intimate scale and moral complexity that made it so appealing initially.

I think the story is getting better, but I think they should have a tournament
again. Thats why im getting mksm because they are going back to the
original storyline. Im very excited about it.

Er, yeah... Don't bump stuff... >_> Diskussion gesperrt! Sincerely, SPOOn

Don't bump! Why did he get a DP?

i think this kid is surpasssing the limits,he doesn't understand "don't bump old topics"....then the moderators gives SKULLS if you insult them,i understand that insulting another people is bad,but man,how many times this crap is gonna happen??....PLEASE,it's annoying.