I agree, Kenpo is a good style for her.

Both Kenpo and Tae Kwon Do are in the striking area of martial arts. Therefore, either one works. But, I would rather see Sonya with Tae Kwon Do, than Nightwolf.

But, Kenpo sounds fine since Jax has Muay Thai.

I like both styles. I'll admit, though, that I'm making this choice having not spent too much time with Kenpo to really explore it.

If I had to choose as of right now, I would go with Tae Kwon Do. This is for two reasons:

1) Tae Kwon Do is one, if not the, most powerful fighting style in latest MKs, IMO. Not only that, but it's a well-known fighting style in the real world, which makes it all the more fitting for an Earth character (not that Kenpo isn't). Also, Sonya has always been portrayed as a very strong and dominant fighter, having hunted down and defeated the entire Black Dragon (until Deception), killed Kano, and all that good stuff. So I think it's very fitting that she have a style as dynamic as Tae Kwon Do. It suits her character: powerful, quick, agile.

2) While Kenpo IS "feminine" (what with its stance and everything), it's still a fact that most of Tae Kwon Do's attacks are very ideal for a girl if you look closely at the movements, etc. Back + Circle is one of my favorites, I use it all the time. Sonya performs a series of three very quick kicks: a low kick, a mid-height kick, and a high kick. She's so quick with this that it's damn near unblockable if you're not expecting it, and I doubt you'd ever see a guy doing an attack like that - they wouldn't look too manly. More examples are Triangle and the Circle Kombo, in which Sonya bends her leg in a perfectly straight line upwards. Again, no guy can bend his legs like that and look good doing it.

This also brings me to another point: Tae Kwon Do is very kick-based. There are hardly any (if any) punches in that fighting style. This makes it all the more fitting for a female character, since girls are most likely to use kicks than guys.

If I could, I'd let Sonya keep BOTH Kenpo and Tae Kwon Do, since both fit her orgasmically well in DA. But if I HAD to choose one, I'd go with Tae Kwon Do. Feminine, powerful, quick... everything Sonya is.

Tae Kwon Do, no doubt.

Its all about the sexy tough kicks. The style suits her perfectly and she does great damage with it. I loved Kenpo in MKDA, the mixed-combos were very fun to do with that style, but I have always pictured Sonya using her legs in battle more then her fists.

Sure TKD has some very effective punches, but Sonya looks tough and elegant with the kicks, the style suits her best imo.

Kenpo is awesome, also suits her, but TKD takes the spot.

If it were another style....hmmm, Im not sure, it would probably have to do with a lot of kicks as well. But I do know Sub-Zero_7th has some very good and informative ideas about fighting styles, he knows about this a lot.



Wow! Very well said man! I only disagree (a lot) on your bit about TKD being more of a feminine style, and that some attacks wouldn’t look mainly or good for a man to perform. I think TKD suits perfectly both man and woman, its elegance is well combined with its ferocity. I used to do TKD (got to red/black belt), so I know a bit about the art. And there are actually loads of man who perfer to use kicks (I just love the kicks!) then punches in kombat. Looks better, works better.

IMO, it’s a great style with great looking attacks for both man and woman.

Both styles are excellent and do fit her, but I'd say Tae Kwon Do is the best for Sonya.

I think Tae Kwon Do as well. Powerful kicks, not punches. Like others have said, Girls are more likely to kick.

Alright, Tae Kwan Do wins 4 to 3.

Next character...

Reptile.

I know many people wanted him to have Crab in MKA. I personally would have liked to see him with Hua Chuan or Snake because the stances look very sneeky and ambush-like, and the moves look that way to, especially Hua Chuan with its very indirect strikes and unpredictability. It also has that more ninja feel to it, so I think that would have gone nicely with him.

Not one to contradict what you said Queen Sindel, I wanted Reptile to retain Crab in Armageddon. One reason is that his species invented the style. Kind of a no-brainer that if he should be limited to just one style, that that should be the one. Another reason that I wanted to see Reptile come back with that style is that I simply loved it. It looked funny but at the same time, I found it to be very effective. It had some quick combos that were easy to perform and could effortlessly knock opponents down or flow into a Style Branch Combo.

Aside from Crab, I thought that Hung Gar was a good style for Reptile. Like Crab, I found it to be very useful while at the same time, it made use of his claws and ninja skills. It had a lot of swipes and other attacks that look as though they were made to be performed with claws, something that animals like Reptile do all the time in nature. Additionally, Hung Gar has a lot of kicks and other attacks that highlight Reptile’s ninja training. Hung Gar brings the best of Reptile’s two worlds and brings them together. The Saurians might not have created Hung Gar, but Reptile sure could have fooled you into thinking it. I was very disappointed to see that Drahmin, a mindless button-masher of a kombatant, got this style...especially since he already had two styles tailored to his personality in Deadly Alliance.

Tertiary suggestions I have for Reptile's arsenal are Leopard, Dragon, Fu Jow Pai, and any other styles that makes use of Reptile's claws for half the same reason I said that Hung Gar was good.

crab can be a style for claws.

I personally prefer Hung Guar or Dragon for the green guy. Hua Chuan isn't a fit due to it's lack of combos.

Interesting comments.

Alright, lets move on to another character. Here's a controversial one...

Rain.

Personally, there are a number of styles I would have liked for him. They are Shinto Ryu (aka Karate), Jujutsu, and Kuo Shou.

Shinto Ryu has that aggression that suits him nicely, along with those mid-air flip kicks, but Kuo Shou has the more intelligent type of moves it seems which matches well with his ninjaness.

rain sholde have ninjustu

not jujitsu b/c thats for bigger people and rains not big. he fits for something with quick strikes like pi gua or tae kwon do.

Alright. Now lets talk Mileena.

I'm think Ying Yueng and Mian Chuan are excellent choices for her.

Ying Yeung is the one I prefer for her though. The stance goes well with her and the moves have a sense of tricky sneakiness and grace. Mian Chuan has pretty much the same thing except the moves look more tough, loose, and sloppy.

Ying Yueng's grace is what I like for her though since she has a more formal look with her new costume with its long dress piece, wide-open sleeves, veil, and elegant hairdo.

Both suit her though.

I agree.

Even though I agree, I also present more. I prefer Lui He Ba Fa for revealing her curves. Either that or Zha Chuan.

I agree- both styles are good but I prefer Ying Yueng.

Let's try Reiko now.

I didn't like Ying Yeung for him in MKA. He's looks like someone who should have a rough-looking style, and ying yeung doesn't look rough.

I think Pi Gua or Yue Chuan would have been excellent for him. The stances and moves would have suit him. Especially Pi Gua.

hapkido is rough
tai tzu is rough so thats good exsamples.

Damn. I can't believe I didn't see this thread when catching up. Kudos to you QS. I will warn you and others that this post will be pretty big since I have catching up to do. Anyway, here goes.

Sonya

I think both Tae Kwon Do and Kenpo fit Sonya very nicely, but I'm going more with Tae Kwon Do as it was originally a style taught to the Korean military during WWII. Also, I picture Sonya using various kicks and a style that requires good flexibility and agility. In addition, Tae Kwon Do is generally more of a linear, external style, so I think that goes nicely with Sonya.

Kenpo does fit her nicely as well and would perhaps be her more well-rounded style due to Chinese and Okinawan influences. I would not really consider Kenpo to be a "feminine" style as you are going by a stance that's not even used in Kenpo. Martial arts styles are not really gender specific save for perhaps a few exceptions.

Another style that I think would fit Sonya nicely would be Kali Sikaran, a Filipino martial art that teaches various techniques and even includes knife and stick fighting.

Reptile

I think Crab is a nice fit for Reptile. It's a very strange and esoteric style for a strange character. It was his best style in MKDA and it was pretty speedy and a style that's unpredictable.

Hua Chuan is a style I'd rather see being used by someone like Rain or maybe Mavado.

Another possible style for Reptile could be Choy Gar, one of the 5 family Southern Kung Fu styles. It's also known as the Rat style of Kung Fu. Basically, it's derived from Snake style Kung Fu but includes more kicks and uses speedy movements. It would likely give Reptile a speedy and sneaky feel to him.

Rain

For Rain, I would probably go with something like Hapkido, Goju Ryu, Ba Gua, Daito Ryu, or Hua Chuan for him.

Hapkido has the circular movements, joint locks, and throws from Daito Ryu as well as the linear movements, strikes, and kicks from what is either Tae Kwon Do, Shotokan, Goju Ryu, or some related style. It's said by some to be Tae Kyon as the striking and kicking technique influence, but given the way the Koreans like to hide the Japanese influence of their modern martial arts styles, that bit is ambigious. Anyway, in the older games, Rain seemed to somewhat be great with kicks and stuff. But since he has water based powers, it would be nice to see him with a style that has circular movements, that symbolize air and water. Hapkido happens to have a nice blend of both as well as Goju Ryu.

Daito Ryu is a style that Hapkido is derived from and is a Japanese martial art that uses Aikijujutsu. Basically, it uses techinques of redirecting the opponent's force, kind of like in Tai Chi Chuan. Given Rain's somewhat Japanese influence in his design, it'd be kind of neat to see him use this style though I'd prefer that Fujin would use it.

Hua Chuan (Flower Fist) is a Northern Kung Fu style that some say is like a Northern version of Wing Chun. It's a close-ranged style that is said to have the softness of Tai Chi Chuan. This style contains strikes, kicks, and grappling techniques like pretty much all other Kung Fu styles have. It also happens to have groundfighting techniques though I'm sure they aren't really in the same way as those used in Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

What you have to understand about Kuo Shou is that it's not an actual style. First off, they misspelled it. It's spelled Kuo Shu, which means national art. It's simply another name for Wushu, which means martial art or military art. In other words, it refers to all Chinese martial arts, not a specific kind.

Karate and Jujutsu are also rather generic terms though they give a better idea of what they are like, to an extent.

Mileena

I like her better with Mian Chuan. It was the superior of her two unarmed styles in terms of gameplay. It's a style that uses a lot of counterattacks.

I still don't know where they got Ying Yeung from, and I still think they made it up.

Reiko

For Reiko, I would've liked to have seen with him Xin Yi Liu He Quan and Yuejia Quan, both of which are more militaristic styles of Kung Fu.

Xin Yi Liu He Quan is also known as the following:

10 Animal Xing Yi Quan
Muslim style Xing Yi Quan
Honan/Henan style Xing Yi Quan

This style is often passed down through the Chinese Muslims (Hui nationality) and is a style known for its directness and cruelty. It's actually an internal martial art that uses direct, linear techniques and has an aggressive approach.

Yuejia Quan, also known as Yue Chuan, is a Chinese martial art that is attributed to General Yue Fei. Whether it's tied to him or members of his family is uncertain as traditional Chinese martial arts tend to exaggerate about their origins for whatever reasons. Yuejia Quan (Yue family Boxing) is a very combat-oriented style that favors simplicity and directness.

Well, that seems to be all the characters for now. Once again, nice thread. Please keep posting more. Now, onto some of the replies here....



I don't see why he should. I know you're likely going to give the "he's a ninja" explanation, but he's not much of an actual ninja. And besides, Ninjutsu is the methods of stealth and espionage. Given his time serving Shao Kahn, he seemed more like a general of some sort than a military spy.



That's ridiculous. How the hell did you get the idea that Jujutsu is for bigger people? And which style of Jujutsu are you even referring to?



Please explain what you mean by "rough".

Tai Tzu doesn't seem right for Reiko. Kahn seems a better fit. As for Reiko, he seems best with an acrobatic styles, like Jun Fan or Monkey (my choice).

Kahn's character doesn't fit any martial art style.
He is supposed to be an hybrid between a Barbarian and a samurai warrior, but because of his massive muscular structure, and behaviour (RROOOOOAAAAAARRRR!!!! BOW TO ME!!!!!)
i think he's fighting style must be brute force. You know, free-fighting-all-going-ass-kicking-mother-fucker.
It suits better an imponent figure like his. You don't imagine Kahn training hard a kata, or spending hours training his high kicks, or fast punches.
He is just that kind of character that is so over-powered, that he doesn't give a fuck about training, since his strenght is enough to provoque an earthquake.

Reiko is a confused character, i don't really know what style to put him, maybe my creation: Jaw-Breaking Ryu.

Since when is Jun Fan an acrobatic style? Which style of Monkey are you referring to? If you want to talk about acrobatic styles, then maybe you consider something like Fan Zi Quan, a Northern style that uses linear, close-ranged techniques with a lot of striking and Chin Na as well as acrobatic and tumbling techniques.

Regarding Tai Tzu, it maybe a hard-external style that's linear, but it has acrobatic movements.

Tai Tzu form 1

Tai Tzu form 2

To Nightcrow: Shao Kahn is a cunning and tactical warlord, not some simple-minded oaf like Moloch.

If he's going to have a brutish type style, then he's best off with something like Pankration (All Powers), a Greek martial art.

i agree sub zero it would also seem like kahn would use the technique of chancery alot
Chancery: a fighter grabbed the hair of his enemy, pulling the head down while delivering an uppercut to the throat or face with the free hand. Occasionally while standing a competitor's foot or ankle was grasped and the leg tilted upwards until the opponent tumbled backwards to the ground. One Sicilian pankratist was known as "Jumping Weight" due to his penchant for throwing his enemies backwards manner while attempting to twist their ankles out of their sockets. while it would seem he would add more force to that insted of trying to push the person down he would probably break the ankle and slam them on the ground repeadedly with the ankle in hand.

As to reiko he seems more militaristic to some of the roster but i thought he was an assasin to so i would think more of the straightford combat with some chokeholds and quick death strikes.