Characters who were bad, or character people didn't like, it didn't really start becoming an issue until MK3.

MK1 had such a small cast, but there was a good variety between them, and an appeal for all, Scorpion and Sub-zero at least had completely different specials, and both have a fan boy appeal to them, suffice it to say, every character in MK1 was used.

In MK2 it becomes a little more difficult to say, still each character has a strict uniqueness and appeal, but with the old characters that were still there, I would say characters like Liu Kang, Johnny Cage etc were abandoned, at least temporarily for characters like Kung Lao and Baraka.

MK3 it is obvious, Stryker and Nightwolf were the red headed step children of MK. They were the first alienated characters in the series, no matter how effective they could be. It was their look, and perhaps their sounds that made them unappealing.

UMK3 still they remained unused and ridiculed by the general population.

MK4 I really don't know who was terrible, but Tanya is top tier, she might not have been used in the same sense as Nightwolf in MK3.

Matt

MK1: Sonya, I just never got a feel for her
MK2: Yeah, it's a hard one... I'd have to say Mileena, just because I barely ever recall playing as her.
MK3: Stryker and Nightwolf... Stryker is just one of those characters, in my opinion, to make the game realistic, a good guy has to die off, Stryker is our man.
MK4: Kai, same as above.

You guys really have no concept of character value.


Tanya was the strongest character in MK4. Bar none.

-Mileena was the strongest character in MK2. Bar none.

The weakest most apart character in any MK game was Reptile in MK2. He was seriously so far below everyone else it wasn't funny. Never since then has a character been that pathetic.

In general, Reptile has usually been a good character; sometimes even top tier. But MK 2 he was the games weakest character, and the whole series weakest.

the worst overall? probably Shang Tsung in MKT with the loading time and all

Yeah the fast forceball, and the fact you can have multiballs out at once, and his elbow dash used as a tactical positioning tool, help Reptile out in UMK3, his invisibility is more useful as well. He was pretty worthless in MK2.

Matt

It is kind of hard to pick only one. But here are my picks for each MK game, and why.

MK1=Sonya Blade. She seemed slower than any of the other fighters. Especially when she would do her Leg Grab.

MKII=Mileena. She had speed, but her Sia Shot was horrible. It was always hard to catch someone in it.

MK3=Sheeva. Became boring after a while. Her only good move was the Teleport Stomp, but it gets boring after a while.

UMK3=Kitana. I'd take Sheeva over Kitana when they added Kitana. Her fans seemed slower, and she only had two crappy combos.

MKT=Khameleon/Chameleon. Either one of these characters were horrible. Nothing new here!

MK4 & MK Gold=Shinnok. His impersonations were a very bad rip off of Shang Tsung's morphing abilities.

MKDA=Everyone. The game was too slow. The controls were changed, and hardly no one had any of their original moves. Some did, and some didn't, and the Fatalities could have been done a lot better.

Mileena as the worst character in MK2? Astounding.

I'd say Reptile in MK2. Despite the fact that I loved his look and story and everything, I just couldn't do much with him. Any tactics I had with him I could use far more effectively with almost anyone. He was just shafted when they made him.

Second place after him would be Shang in UMK3T. I don't care for his regular moves at all and his morphs are some serious openings to take damage so I just don't see the point in using him.

MK1- Sonya, her rings were her only decent move, and I think her roundhose sucked... can't remember too well though.

MK2- This one would have to go to Jax, his moves were cheesy, and he was more of a cheap character, than a good one. I didn't like him.

and just saying, Reptile was amazing, I think MK2 was Reptile at his finest, with the execption of MK1. If you take the time to learn how to use him, he's just so good. I'll admit he has a learning curve, but he is very powerful.

MK3-Sonya, not much chaged for her other than her bra size, still useless in my opinion.

MK4- Tanya.... well I hated her but I'd say Kai was the worst. His moves sucked and he was an uninspired character (like many of the characters in MK4)

MK5- Bo Rai Cho. I thought that the characters we're pretty well balanced for the most part in this one, but Bo's weapon style dragged him down a lot I think, and his fatal made little sense.