Besides, if ANYONE is discouraged, it's ME!

Assuming Kira's one of the top 2 in Group D, she's gonna end up going against Eastwind right in the quarterfinals (I'm calling it right now) and lose!

And here Eastwind was my above-all most favorite... ;____;

That makes me feel SOOOOO good DJ. We all know it's true, though. BTW, your on my friends list now :P

Crap, missed the last fight. Well, I'll make sure my vote is cast tonight.

Group A: Eastwind

Group B: Dead Soul

Group C: The Simberleen

Group D:Ameerah

-Neuros reads over Umbra's beat-down, then paws at his chest.- no...heart is...still in there? DAMN IT! I wanted some eyes to put on my toast! -Rifts from the thread to find eyes elsewhere.-

Thanks for the review, Umbra. As promised, I shall do the same for you. look for my notes AFTER I catch up on my sleep.

Group A: Eastwind
Group B: Dead Soul
Group C: The Simberleen
Group D: Ameerah

A. Eastwind
B. Dead Soul
C. The Simberleen
D. Ameerah

P.S. Woo-hoo! Mizrath won this round!

Group A: Vipehr (solid saurian concept overall, sick 2nd fatality!)
Group B: Dead Soul (the picture in my mind is so much better than the description)
Group C: Wei-Lu (evil monk has plenty of long term potential)
Group D: Ameerah (just a great, consistent vision executed here)

1.Eastwind
2. Dead Soul
3.The Simberleen
4.Ameerah

Here are a set of moves I created for Blight after some feedback.

Locust Swarm: Blight unhinges his jaw and lets out a stream of locusts in the opponent’s direction. If caught, the opponent starts to wail their hands frantically, as they swat around while the locusts bite at their flesh.

Bone Wall: Blight uses his necromantic powers to raise a wall of bones from the ground to defend himself against an incoming projectile. (Ex: Blight can raise the wall even higher and use it as an anti-air, smashing the opponent with the top of the wall.)

Death Spiral: Blight leaps at the opponent in a crock screw spin, his claws extended, slashing at the opponent multiple times.

Ligament Smash: Blight extends the ligaments in his arms allowing him to reach across the screen and grab the opponent. Pulling the opponent back towards them, he smashes them in the face with a rising knee. (EX: Ex version can home in on the target, allowing the smash to delivered on the ground, while the opponent is in the air, or while Blight is airborn)

Necro Blast: Charging a ball of necroplasmic energy Blight fire off the deep purple projectile at the opponent. If it hits. The opponent’s body turns a deathly grey and they are struck with rigor-mortis.

Carrion Swarm: Blight summons a flock of spectral carrion under his opponent’s feet and floats them up into the air, setting them up for air combos. (Ex. Carrion Shield: The swarm surrounds Blight for a maximum of 5 seconds (if held down), absorbing any projectile before being launched towards the enemy.

Eh, I'm pretty discouraged myself. The goal was to make an entry more suited to MK than my last, and this one actually got the 'does not fit in' complaint ten times as much... And there aren't even half as many people participating! Hehehehehehehe.... It's the damn ruffles!!! :P

Oh, and I'll be facing Blight soon, heh.

Like sands through the hourglass, so is this Full-Kontact Character Beatdown!


AMEERAH

Name: As mentioned earlier in this thread, MK has a quiet but dedicated love affair with female characters whose names end in "-a" or "-ah," with 60% of them following this pattern. So "Ameerah" is a smooth and natural fit. It sounds exotic, but its spelling doesn't bear any obvious racial reference or characteristic flavor, so let's delve in deeper and see what we discover.

Appearance: Ooh, a sand goddess. Her costumes are designed with simple yet strong Arabian Nights themes, rich with complexity but not so extravagant that she becomes unapproachable. She has a signature MK look, and yet it's a look we haven't seen before in the roster. Also, her face coverings give her a true sense of mystery and intrigue that MK women have never had before, even back in the "everyone's a ninja" days. We immediately want to know more about her, so let's quit oggling and move along to the important parts.

Story: Daughter of the earth and mother of Jade, Ameerah has very solid motivations and her story generally fits in with MK storytelling. But it's a bit troubling that the reason she fits so well is that she borrows so much from existing plot lines. We already have a royal Edenian mother-daughter combo, estranged after the war with Kahn (Sindel/Kitana). We also have a long-banished and disempowered ruler, transcending unreality to possess the body of a familiar mortal and reclaim the homeland (Onaga/Reptile).

To be fair, the way she uses the mother-daughter dynamic is different than it is with Sindel. While Sindel was brainwashed into brutally murdering her own daughter (and appears to be disturbingly aroused by the act, which sounds ever worse the more you think into it), Ameerah is loving and protective from start to finish, which provides a good contrast of character. Then again, once free of Shao Kahn's control we've seen Sindel be loving and protective too, which makes Ameerah a little less special.

As for the striking Onaga parallels, it's refreshing to see the same kind of story told from the heroic side and the family twist helps to set it apart. It feels original, so it's much easier to forgive the story similarities.

Unfortunately, the biggest problem with story-borrowing with Ameerah is she steals the mysterious Dreamrealm figure from Jade's MK9 ending, which we expect NRS to already have their own plan for in the canon. Speculating on what a mystery character might become may not seem wrong off the top of the head... but on careful consideration, it actually defies the rules of this contest. This specific Dreamrealm entity is not an original creation, even if this fan speculation about her story is. If this entry were made for a more well-known undeveloped presence -- like an incarnated One Being, or the Black Dragon surgeon, or the Lin Kuei Grandmaster, or even the "Hornbuckle" sprite -- then it would be easy to see where the problem lies. These characters already exist; fans can guess at their stories, but they cannot create them and sell them back to NRS as "new characters." If Ameerah were any other Dream being than the one already established, then there would be no problem.

There is also a small canon flaw in that Quan Chi does not belong to Shao Kahn. He has been an agent of Shinnok since long before MK1, and appears in MK9 at Shinnok's bidding as part of the new Outworld-Netherrealm alliance against Earth. A plot question remains as well, since we don't know how exactly Ameerah ended up physically trapped in the Dreamrealm. But these are minor nitpicks compared to the rest -- an extra arm rip after an already fatal head-smasher. FATALITY!

Gameplay: Ameerah gains back a sliver of health in Mercy after checking out her gameplay. Her moves are well conceived and in character. Her X-ray is simple and satisfyingly painful. "Inner Skinner" Fatality comes off a bit dusty (hahaha, puns!) because all the damage is internal; while there is bloody sand coming out of the body, it's only coming through holes that already exist, and the body in general looks unharmed. It's a nice unconventional Fatality, but maybe an X-ray view of the internal damage could improve it. The "Sand-nado" Fatality has a pretty goofy-sounding name, but then it punches you in the mouth for saying that because it's such a badass< finisher.

Personality: In her story, Ameerah has gobs of personality. She is the mother of all mothers -- a "grand" mother, if you will -- who is gentle, comforting, and matronly, while fiercely protective of her child and her home.

This contrasts very sharply with the character we see in her entry and victory poses, who is a remorseless force of nature that doesn't care if anybody lives or dies, and if you so much as stand in her path of destruction she'll pump you so full of sand that you'll end up... coughing up some sand. FATALITY!

Conclusion: Make no mistake: Ameerah is a great character. She is strong and believable, she has a powerful mystique, and she seems fun and different enough to keep the players playin'. But perhaps unintentionally, her story too closely mirrors what has already been done -- and worse, she is not entirely a created character, drawing conclusions on a character who already exists in the MK universe.


Beatdown Lineup: Phantom, Dead Soul, Blizzard, Eastwind

OK. I'm ready to have my head clobbered in then slammed back out as my big boss-esque character.

Great and interesting write-up! If you don't mind I would like to answer to some things. First of all good job on noticing the contrast between Ameerah's personality and her attitude during the game. Coz that is something I wanted to focus on.

What I mean; She represents one of the 4 elements that makes her serene, peaceful, free spirited nature obvious but but I didn't wanna stop there. As with earth and nature itself sometimes when you anger it, it comes back at you with a blow! So as calm as it may seem, the force of nature sometimes brings destructive results (obviously talking about earth here coz that's Ameerah's thing) like seismic waves, sandstorms etc and that's were the contrast of Ameerah's character relies on. She represents earth so of course she is a loving and caring mother that wants peace for her realm but when someone stands in her way make no mistake, she will tear them apart! And that's were her "revenge" story came to life. So you have a good character that would be the typical hero for this game but you also have a character that wants to avenge for her baby being taken from her. This is also something which if not done well, can end up making a really boring character with a crappy story. Combining those two though..bam! That is what made the story interesting in my mind.

Also that is a reason why I gave her liners that have to do with her not really caring if her opponents live or die. She is too big for that :P Her real vendetta is with those who messed with her homeland and her family. The rest...she just kicks their asses and dissapears again in her sand form.

Now about the already existing character thingy, I thought it would be kinda cool to elaborate on the character everybody was talking about and who she really is. So after we were told that Jade was given away by her parents and got no further info, I came up with the idea coz it would be a nice twist imo to have some other character have ties to Jade and Sindel which were themselves background characters that had ties to fan favs like Kitana. So by Ameerah's story you develop Jade's as well ;) And since we know nothing about her yet (and who knows when we will) why not? Maybe NRS will follow some of the ideas...What?? Hope dies last :P

So thx for the comments, I appreciate every critique coz I put so much work into it and I'd be happy to know what people think.

So good luck to everyone!
My votes for this are: 1.Eastwind 2. Dead Soul 3.The Simberleen 4.Ameerah

blight. i really dug some of the new moves you added. my fav is Carrion Swarm.

by the way do you play warcraft or diablo. some of your moves remind me of stuff in blizzard entertainment games. just curious. the name blight is even used to able to build apon decayed ground for the undead race in warcraft.

Since you posted these, I'm guessing you might want some feedback on them as well?

I like a lot of what you have here, but I'll take them one by one:

Locust Swarm:

I'd give this an 8 out of 10. It's a solid projectile move that also creates an opportunity for more hits and it also fits his character very well. It seems a little similar to Drahmin's ball of flies, but given that it's coming from his mouth and it's locusts, I think that it has enough originality to stand on its own.

Bone Wall:

I'd give this a 7.5 out of 10. It feels a lot like what Quan Chi did in the intro for Deception. Creating a wall of skulls that Raiden had to slowly eliminate with his electricity. Now, I know that's not the exact spirit of the move here, but it does feel a tad derivative. That said, it still fits this character a lot, and anything that has him using his necromantic powers is aces in my book. Good job on this one. man!

Death Spiral:

I'd give this one a 6.5 out of 10. Do you mean this to be like Ashrah's corkscrew attack, or his he standing and spinning in the air toward his opponent like a top? Either way, I'm not as big on this move, as it seems sort of like a stock attack move that any character could use. Still good, but not as good as the other stuff I've seen from you.

Ligament Smash:

I'd give this one a 6 out of 10. That might be a bit harsh, but this feels like Dhalsim from Street Fighter or Hsien Ko from Darkstalkers. Either way it definitely has more of a cartoony SF vibe than an MK vibe. It's not bad, but again, compared to the other moves you've described and the powers that this guy possesses...

Necro Blast:

I'd give this one a 10 out of 10. This move is just awesome. Perfect. It's like sub-zero's ice freeze, and yet it completely and totally fits his character. I especially like the part about turning a deathly grey. Great detail and a great move for this character.

Carrion Swarm:

I'd give this a 8 out of 10. I think at this point, you're going to the "disabling character movement," "projectile" and "shield" wells one too many times here. Unless I read the Necro Blast wrong and the rigor-mortis doesn't disable character movement... Either way, I like these moves and again, they fit his character, but coupled with his other moves? I'd probably have one or the other. The carrion shield or the bone wall. The Carrion Swarm or the Necro Blast.

Overall man, these are great moves. Very unique and very well suited to your character. I think that all of these are a huge step up over what you had previously and again, really well done. Great job!

Hey umbrascitor sign me up for one of those beatdowns, since you beat me last year your opinion is very interesting for me!


For today I am going with:

Group A: Eastwind
Group B: Dai Kahn
Group C: The Simberleen
Group D: Ameerah

Respect to fellow artbrahs!

Yeah I'm a big fan of Blizzard's games so I'll draw inspiration from them on occasion. Baraka407, you're probably right about the Carrion Shield. The Bone Wall already gives him an attack to eat a projectile defensively. The swarm is more like Scorpion's Hellfire or Rain's bubble. It's meant to be used as a controller/set up. It gives Blight 2 "free hit" moves if landed, counting his Necro Blast. Blight's a zoning character so his moves will either stuff you in mid-air like the Death Spiral since it travels in an upward arc, or he'll disable/control your movement with the Necro Blast or Carion Swarm. At this point in MK so many characters have moves similar to at least one other person on the roster, it becomes more about flavor and style just as much as it is about utility.

Group A: Eastwind
Group B: Dai Kahn
Group C: The Simberleen
Group D: Ameerah

i wouldn't mind your thoughts on the stuff that was removed from my character. you can check it out 1 page back or 2. the good or bad. just to like to hear your opinions on them. i had hara - kari/ extra moves,another x-ray, friendships, so much more.

Group A: Eastwind
Group B: Dead Soul
Group C: The Simberleen
Group D: Ameerah

Here's a fun new x-ray I thought up for Blight. Think of it like scrambling a rubix cube.

The X-Ray is a grab, so it's short ranged and easily avoidable, but also really painful if you get caught in it. Blight grabs the opponent by the skull, snapping it 180 degrees, breaking their neck.Then grabs them by the torso and twists snaps it the other way, snapping the spine before grabbing the opponent by the arms and thrusting them upwards, cracking the ball socket and shoulders before kicking them away, causing them to tumble across the floor to the other end of the screen. The kick is mostly to give the character model an easy and cheap way to unscramble itself during the tumble. It's an animation cheat.

How exactly would it be super-damaging? Either you mean it looks powerful and it hurts, or you mean it does alot of damage. Thing is, most X-Rays don't reach beyond the point of 30%-35%. Would this exceed that and be possibly 39%-50%? Just askin'.

It's not Shao Kahn levels of damage, to where it's so broken that you might as well just throw the match if you get hit with it. But I'd say it's closer in damage to Johnny Cage's X-ray.

The MKOmmunity
Group A: Vipehr: 4 | Eastwind: 12
Group B: Dead Soul: 12 | Dai Kahn: 4
Group C: The Simberleen: 14 | Wei-Lu: 2
Group D: Maia: 1 | Ameerah: 15

The Judges
Group A: Vipehr: 0 | Eastwind: 4
Group B: Dead Soul: 3 | Dai Kahn: 1
Group C: The Simberleen: 1 | Wei-Lu: 3
Group D: Maia: 1 | Ameerah: 3

Final Day 8 Result:
Group A: Vipehr: 0 | Eastwind: 3
Group B: Dead Soul: 3 | Dai Kahn: 0
Group C: The Simberleen: 1 | Wei-Lu: 2
Group D: Maia: 0 | Ameerah: 3

For updated information visit the Kreate-a-Kharacter VII hub.
For an extra perspective, check out the KAKVII Roleplaying thread.

DAY 9:

Group A: Sphere versus Blizzard
Group B: Neuros versus Dai Kahn
Group C: Ekimaru versus Kwah Dah
Group D: Kira Sherry Motoaki versus Xorah

FIGHT!

Group A: Sphere
Group B: Neuros
Group C: Ekimaru
Group D: Xorah