How so? None of these really support that. There is no Konquest mode, fighting styles, which is basically what makes the new MKs what they are as opposed to the classics.

1) It was the first MK where Shao Kahn didn't appear.

Besides MK1.

2) It introduced Quan Chi, a character that features heavily in the 3-D games, along with his Kamidogu.

This was introduced in MK: Mythologies.

3) Everyone had a weapon style and could put weapon attacks into a combo as they pleased.

Not a weapon style, essentially a weapon code.

4) The trend of introducing lame new Kombatants that tried to be as interesting as, and replace our classics was set.

Stryker and Sheeva are classics?

5) The storyline is much darker and eviler.

How so? How is Shao Kahn being defeated, therefore Shinnok makes it out of the Netherealm more dark than "hold a fake tournament while Sindel opens a portal to go to Earthrealm whether we lose or not"?

Konquest hardly defines MK for me. MKDA's Konquest was more of a tutorial with plot tidbits than a konquest anyway. You are right about fighting styles though, that just isn't enough to define modern MK off of.

1) Shang Tsung is the messanger of Kahn in MK1. That's definately not a Kahn appearance but he's still there pulling the strings in the background.

2) MKM isn't a fighting game and its more tying up loose ends in the years leading up to MK1.

3) The weapons are an alternate way of fighting against your opponent. The attacks they affect are changed and have different properties with the weapons.

4) I like Stryker and Sheeva as characters, don't bother telling me I'm the only one. Really though the MK4 cast was the first one to be gutted and filled with new characters.

5) Look at the arenas and the endings. People get killed in almost every ending and the arenas are full of very dark colors. It was uncensored and a dark air permeates the whole game.

Some of those seemed more like you're arguing for the sake of arguing.

for me the cycle are:
1)mk1-mk2-mk3/umk3/mktrilogy/mk4/mkhgold
2)mkda/mkd/mka
3)next gen game(s)

now'll explain why:
1)the fighitng enigne is the same of the first three BASE game(so exclude the improvements UMK3 and MKt,but also MKGold) so even if the game was 3d the fight was bidimensional,as the two character fight on a line.
Only the side step let me think that the game was REALY 3d.
2)in truth i see also a darker look in mk3/Umk3/mktrilogy,look some arenas like the church,wastelands,etc...maybe the color of the characters are too HEAVY(is this the right adjective?) in fact in real life the colours are more opaques.But thisi is a effect caused by palette swapping.
And however also mk2 and mk1 were a little bit dark games,some arenas and some characters were a little dark,even tough the games in fat weren't
dark at all.

however mk4 was the first game to make a weird thing:using for the first time a character not created by midway team,Quan Chi appeared first in the cartoon series,Defenders of the realm.
He also appeared in MKSBM.

If Konquest mode and Fighting Styles don't change the resurgance factor, then what does? If it's just the change in plot, that's not what seperates the game, it's basically 100% gameplay. The series is still Mortal Kombat, not MORTAL KOMBAT: THE RESURGANCES, so in reality, what defined them was the absence of an official MK title for those 5 years. MK Mythologies wasn't tying up loose ends, it created more of them, by the way.