It is too bad man. I love Kintaro, he'd be such a badass sub boss again, especially in 3D. Word has it that NOob Smoke is the Sub boss, sorry if it spoils it for you!
Peace.

[removing erronious post]

I'm pretty sure Kintaro was blown up by Raiden in Mortal Kombat II, still it wouldn't be the first time a MK character returned from the grave, especially since
**** SPOILER (highlight to read) ****

When Onaga returned, he resurrected many of the most powerful warriors killed over the years and imprisoned them. Rumors suggest he's intending to use then in his army. This means that all bets are off - any and all MK characters who have previously died may now return without warning due to this - assuming these rumours are true.

**** /SPOILER ****
In any case, Rain was never really developed and had few original moves of his own. If I remember correctly his only 'original' move was that he could roundhouse kick an opponent off one side of the screen and they'd fly back in from the other... that always looked like a bug to me!
I really can't imagine Rain returning... ever!
[this is the first time I've ever posted a spoiler, and I'm not sure of the validity of this since I got it from these forums. Have I hidden it correctly?]
Peace!

I know Noob/Smoke probably will bee the new sub-boss and having Onaga beeing big and nasty having Kintaro (also big and nasty) as a pre boss would bee to much. In my opinion it sucks Noob-Saibot and Smoke are not seperat solo characters and it would defenetly bee cool to see Kintaro in 3D!!!
/
Noob--Saibot

As I recall, there was never any REAL reason (plot wise) for GORO being the sub-boss of MK4. Most players thought he was dead and his return was truly unexpected. What I believe happened was that the creaters were desperate to see what a Shokan would look like in 3D so instead of making a new one they just re-did Goro.
Now Goro's had his return I can see Kintaro coming back eventually... but I just hope theres a real reason not just that he suddenly appears as a sub-boss of a later game due to laziness!
He was cool, but resurrecting old characters is always gonna be easier than designing new ones so when they DO decide to do it then at lease give a good reason!
Peace!

Well your wrong, the Kintaro being blown up by Raiden isnt apart of the official storyline. It was a offspin by threshold.
Just in case you want more evidence, Kintaro is shown in a konquest picture with some MK3 cast like Motaro which further shows that he probably survived into MK3 and that he may never have died at all.

Pobatti Wrote: I'm pretty sure Kintaro was blown up by Raiden in Mortal Kombat II, still it wouldn't be the first time a MK character returned from the grave, especially since **** SPOILER (highlight to read) **** When Onaga returned, he resurrected many of the most powerful warriors killed over the years and imprisoned them. Rumors suggest he's intending to use then in his army. This means that all bets are off - any and all MK characters who have previously died may now return without warning due to this - assuming these rumours are true. **** /SPOILER **** In any case, Rain was never really developed and had few original moves of his own. If I remember correctly his only 'original' move was that he could roundhouse kick an opponent off one side of the screen and they'd fly back in from the other... that always looked like a bug to me! I really can't imagine Rain returning... ever! [this is the first time I've ever posted a spoiler, and I'm not sure of the validity of this since I got it from these forums. Have I hidden it correctly?] Peace!

Oh and I forgot to address the Rain issue. Your right he isnt very developed but the same thing could have been said about Sub-Zero in MK1. They can develop any character no matter how underdeveloped they are simply by adding the character to another game or giving them a bio of what they have been doing.

Your theory of Kintaro surviving cannot be proved by the fact that he's seen in Konquest along with some of the MK3 cast - no doubt these scenes took place BEFORE MK2! The characters would have existed before then after all - the only reason they didn't appear in MK1 or MKII is because they weren't thought up.
You may indeed be right about Kintaro, but I thought that it was common knowledge he survived. With so many people here (and on other MK message boards and faqs) giving me that story I can't help but believe it's true unless proven otherwise. I'm not sure where it originated tho.
Peace!