i definitely want baraka in the new game. i tore it up w/ him in mkt, mkd, and mka.

I basically think he's pretty perfect the way he is.

I like your vlad the impaler fatality, but i think impaling them thru the rectum is sort of weird... plus, i dont think baraka's blades are long enough to go all the way out their mouth. and even if they did, they'd be just barely long enough and it wouldn't look right. I think he should instead impale them in the lower or middle back, going up at a sharp angle so that the blade then comes out of the mouth. so basically, keep the fatality, just impale them in the back instead of the butt.

i think the other fatality is ok, but it just doesn't sound that great. also, i think it could be pretty offensive to some, because that's how terrorists and insurgents have beheaded a lot of their captives.

I want Baraka to have more story this time, something involving Mileena, Kabal and Nightwolf. I don't know but those characters really scream to have something to do with Baraka.
I hope he doesn't have ANYTHING to do with Bo Rai Cho, that is horrible, maybe Baraka is a concurrent to Rain, both fighting for the role of outworld general.

Also the very vain Johnny Cage could revolve around Baraka, because Johnny Cage HATES ugly characters, johnny cage is the vanity smurf and Vega from mortal kombat.

For his moves and fatalities... I think all his moves are fine, fatalities... damn everything is fine with me but PLEASE PLEASE no headslash fatality, that is SO freaking boring.... Johnny cage head uppercut was boring, Kitana's headslash fan was boring and Baraka's headslash was boring, more originality please!

I've always wanted baraka to use his teeth during a fatality. Like if he impales the opponent and bites their face or something of that nature.

His deception fatality was sick where he slices everything and the torso squirms on his blade like a slug.

Baraka is awesome. He's another very important character and a fan favorite. I also like his MkII look as well as his mkvsdc look.

Double post. Sorry.

Everything about Baraka is awesome. The blades, the moves, the fatalities, all great. I'm glad they gave him a new voice in MKD, because his voice in MKG was too high-pitched. But just like everyone else, I wish he wasn't just some servant to the big cheese. He and his horde could definately be a problem by themselves, without having to take orders from bosses.

I came up with a fatality for him and it goes like this:

Baraka punches the opponent in the stomach, then immediately extends his blade, impaling the victim. He then raises his arm upward to slice the opponent's upper body in half (and maybe he could chop the body up some more). Finally, he strikes his win pose.

Baraka is very iconic of MK2 the same way Kabal is to MK3 or Fujin is to MK4. I don't really like the character, but he fills a unique role and you really feel his absence when he's not there. There's definitely a time and a place for him, though. I'm glad he wasn't initially in MK4, but feel he should have been in MKDA.

I can't comment on his gameplay because don't use him, but he needs to feel loose and aggressive, sort of a risk/reward character.

He doesn't need a complex story. I don't think one would fit him anyway; it would be like a 5-year-old child trying to wear his dad's sports jacket. Just make him relevant. Let him do what he does best and give him a reason to do it.

I'm guessing Baraka will have the best x-ray move in MK2011. High hopes in that department.

I definately agree with all your points. Baraka is very iconic in the MK universe ever since part 2. I'd like to see him develop more as an interesting and deep character while keeping him simple.

Another idea I had is that the nomads could disguise themselves as almost any type of warrior. They should use this deception in war - disguising themselves as shadow priests, knights, samurai's, brotherhood shadows, extermination squad, etc. I've seen a sick concept art of Baraka with some samurai-like outfit.

Imo Baraka and his nomadic mutant race should rise and take orders from no one ( agreed NS922), being an opposition against all, kind of like Blaze's story in MKA where he's against everyone. If Outworld was to be at chaos I'd like to see alot of races/clans go against Baraka's people for control over the realms. A clash against Rain's rebels would be awesome, like Sincubus said. In the end I want to see Baraka and his army wage war and become a big threat in MK's plot. Baraka needs to become a king/warlord of his own.

Something I forgot to mention for a fatality idea is that Baraka could extend more blades from his arms and do a super blade fury (shredder) and cut up his opponent to pieces.

Great thread for a great character!

Obviously I'm a little biased here, but I've always been a huge fan of Baraka. Not so much his story, but his fighting style, his moves and his look.

I agree wth DN, the black eyes have to come back, for sure. No more glowing, round, jack-o-lantern style face with the bright yellow eyes. The black eyes, or whatever you want to call them, were much more intimidating and just cooler in general.

I also agree with you on the backhand. That was one of my favorite moves and it was so simple. I think that in this game, we could have a bit more of an animation for the character that gets backhanded, you know, spinning around and grabbing their mouth for a moment.

For his look:

It's kind of tough, actually. Part of me says that he should be a full on psycho with a sort of black, burlap looking long coat with a hood and part of me says that they should give him a sort of armor that's almost samurai in nature, but nothing horribly bulky.

I agree that he should be skinnier, with some muscle, but more with the look of a psychotic (almost desperate) starved animal than that of having big bulky muscles and roid rage.

His look is honestly a tough thing because while I'd be just fine with them giving him something that's basically MK2's look, I still want something that says they're evolving his look.

His moves:

Well, his blade spark and his blade fury are givens to me. It's not Baraka without them.

He has two great assets and one of them is sorely underused. He has his blades, and as others have said, his teeth. So I'd add:

Vertical Blade Slice: Think of it as a long distance uppercut, only it doesn't launch someone in to the air. It also doesn't help much in the anti-air dept against deep to average range jump kicks.

Blade throw: Remember his MK2 throw where he just grabbed the opponent and threw them overhead? I'd like to see that return, but you should have the added option of pressing a button or two that would allow Baraka to shoot his blades through the opponents sides in mid air, turning and then slamming the opponent to the ground.

Leap and bite: Think of it as Reptile's MK4 Face Eater fatality, only with Baraka biting a few times and then spitting flesh fragments on the ground.

Stab N Grab: Okay, bad name, but think of it as Scorpions spear, but from a short distance away. He leans forward, fully extends his arms, then extends his blades in to someone, pulling them toward him as he retracts them. They'd be dizzy momentarily.


Fatality: Head splitter

Just an idea, but Baraka walks up to his opponent, extracts his blades and makes an X his forearms (like his victory pose) so that the blades almost look like hedge trimmers.

Like this: / \

Then he brings his thumbs togther and uncrosses his arms so that his forearms are now parallel.

Like this: I I

During this movement of uncrossing, Baraka's blades slice clear through the victims face. It slowly sags and drops off to the ground with a light splash, revealing the blood, muscle, cartilage etc underneath.

As the victim screams, he turns them around and shoots a blade through the back of their neck, palm up, and the screams turn in to choking sounds. He slices the blade up through the top of their head in an uppercut motion while pushing them down with his boot. Blood flies everywhere as the victim falls, pieces of loose cut brain fall out of their head as they hit the ground with a thud.

Anyways, those are my ideas about Baraka at the moment. Sorry, it's mid-afternoon and my head's a bit loopy from staring at a computer screen all day long. I've had better ideas for Baraka in the past, but this is the best I could pull together at the moment.

I have to agree with the OP that his original look in MK2 was the best. MK4, I'm not sure WHERE they came up with that design, but it was pretty strange.
I liked Baraka's appearance in MK2 the best: hollow eyes and a skinnier look (though, nearly all the fighters back then had a skinnier look until someone decided they need to look like He-Man figures, every single one of them).
I really enjoyed his fighting stance, how when he walked he held is arms out. That alone made him stand out from the other fighters, and I hope that look returns.

i just hope he doesnt have the same look as mkvsdc his teeth just looked dumb

Yeah I really hope they make Baraka into a serious fighter in this game instead of the lap-dog for every boss character in the game. I really do like the way his MK2 appearance was, but dont burn me at the stake for saying this.....his MK vs DC look was pretty badass and it gave him the same design as his MK2 appearance except a different outfit.

Because I did not like all the little tiny spikes on the back of his head.......

Fatality wise I think the should get really gruesome intead of the typically head slice or blade impale, because even though it is short and to the point its kind of boring when compared to the other characters fatalities.

I mentioned this in another thread a while back but I want baraka to have some sort of animalistic fighting style that shows how much of a threat he actually is and also shows off how blood thirsty his race really is.

Baraka was always a favorite of mine as well. I remember seeing fanart here somewhere, I think it might have been done by the user Asesino. It depicted the Tarkana eating away at people's organs. Well, a fatality of that sorts would be interesting. I'm talking, Baraka using the blade to slice through the torso/stomach and then picking and gnawing through the heart or intestines.

Another interesting idea I had conjured would be something along the lines of Hostel 2. Baraka can stab the opponent with one blade, life him up above Baraka in a horizontal position. Then begin slicing and severing the victim with the other claw while it rains blood all over Baraka.

Great ideas.

Yeah, the way he held his arms out in MK2 when he walks definitely made him stand out more than the other characters. It made him look and feel like the dead mummy/zombie of MK.

I personally never liked the spikes on his head either and imo his MKG appearance was the worst. I was never feelin those staples on his head. But in general, Baraka is one of those characters that can look bad ass in almost any type of outfit, it matches his deception. A trench coat, samurai, hoodie, etc would all give him a unique appearance.

I think its safe to say that the bloodiest and most gruesome fatalities people come up with match Baraka. Anything that involves gutting, slicing/hacking and tearing; I remember that one pic in the fan art where him and his clan are eating someone's guts/intestines. I want to see something new like that.

Everything about Baraka and his race spells roguery. I love they're rogue nature, these guys are the bold hyenas of MK. I want to see Baraka and his nomadic insurgents rise in power; like I said earlier fight for domination of all realms if not just Outworld.

PEOPLE!!!!

Just imagen how Kabal and Baraka are going to be in this game!

So awesome!! Especially with these graphics!

I would like to add that Baraka should be shown as an intelligent leader, not an idiot servant like he is mainly thought of and portrayed. I loved how he talked in MKD's Konquest mode and his MKG ending, intelligently; not retardedly, like in the comics. As far as his horde goes, most of them could be dumb for all I care, I just want Baraka to be the leader for a reason. He needs authority, upmost abilities, and of course, leadership. And without brains, he would have basically none of that. So I would love for him to have MKD/MKG-type dialogue, and not "I Baraka, I kill" dialogue.

Ha ha, yeah... You just named my starting tag team. Those two are gonna be sweet. I can't wait to see what's done with them!


Oh, and I thought of another fatality:

Hangman's Noose:

Baraka uses his blade and slics open the victim's stomach. Their guts come out and as they do, Baraka grabs a hold of the opponent's intestines. He wraps a long cord of intestine around the victim's neck and then goes back to back with the victim.

Baraka then leans forward, pulling the victim off of their feet, victim's back on Baraka's back, so that they're being hung by their own intestines. They make choking noises for a few moments until Baraka gives the intestines a good, hard pull, and the opponents neck snaps loudly.

Baraka quickly leans upright, shrugs off his opponent as they fall in to a pile of their own blood and guts with a splat.

I think Baraka is in many way similar to Reptile. I mean that in the sense that the character has a loyal following of fans because of his uniqueness but ends up being disappointing because the character got lost in the shuffle and just sort of there.

I'm a big Reptile fan, (yes even though he is terrible to play as in MK2) because I thought the character concept was sweet and could be taken a bunch of different ways. Unfortunately, Baraka and Reptile have both fallen into that hired goon/servant to the real bad guy kind of character.

I've always thought that Baraka was selected to be in MK from all the other random tarkatan hordes because he was in some way unique. The blades obv but also his unpredictability and viciousness. He should go back to that.

And PS - How awesome would it be to just have Mileena and Baraka double/triple/quadruple crossing each other repeatedly during the storyline of the new MK? Seeing one of MK's most dysfunctional couples would be highly entertaining.

BTW -I have yet to see a mention about how Scorpion's Fatality in the new MK is definitely inspired by Baraka's brutal MK:D one!

BARAKA is da man

if he aint in the game then i aint buying it.

He needs his claws out at all times. Make him a character with long range. Give him the chop chop blades and spinning shit and you've got one awesome Baraka

This is honestly one of the sickest Baraka fatalities I've ever read (and I mean sickest in a good way). Pure kudos to you bro.

I loved Baraka's blade lift fatality in MK2 because to me its a very painful and slow death. He needs more fatalities where he inflicts malicious damage to his opponents.

A fatality where he completely just hacks at his opponent in a frenzied attack would be suiting, even after their body falls. Jason Voorhees style with Michael Myers random psychosis behavior.

I think an idea somebody else said was a blade lift plus gnawing. I'd love something like this where after he lifts you, he just eats you alive and you lay dying slowly with chucks of your flesh being ripped off piece by piece. Fatality.

i'd like baraka to look almost human like how the descent films are but with a twist. have him be a skinny but somewhat muscular white guy with black eyes. maybe have him walk like the slayers do in the game the suffering. on his arms have like a tatoo of a strange marking or symbol of his race or something. when you least expect it during the match have him change similar to how the new wolfman movie was. his jaw extends hearing the bones cracking and seeing his form change into the type of monster he is. his teeth would grind similar to that screechy noise found in the nightmare on elm street films where freddy scratches his knifes on the pipes. his tongue could hang out like venom in spiderman. certain teeth would be long and sharp and other teeth would be short and jagged. his blades would come out of the strange marking or symbol to know that is where his blades lye. his ears would become pointy and his skin would become a bit darker and saggier.

story wise - i'd like to see him take up arms and conquer outworld with his race. lead up his army to destroy whatever stands in his way. also maybe form an alliance with reptile to destroy kahn, and shang tsung for making them there lackys and to show them what there really capable of.

new moves - i'd like to see him do an x slash with his blades. it would be a knockback attack. also maybe have an unblockable version if you hold it down instead of tapping it.

fatal 1 - sliced away. baraka jumps on the opponnets shoulders and takes out his blades and puts it in the form of an x. slicing the fighters head right off. causing the blood to hit the screen along with the head. then jumps down and starts to growl at the screen while not looking at the camera. all of a sudden he slashes at the screen to surprise the player or players. fatality.

fatal 2 - thirsty. baraka walks over and stabs the fighter in the head and along the waist line repeateadilly over and over again until his blades are stuck. once they are stuck baraka lifts the fighter like he his about to body slam his opponnet to the ground. he pulls the fighter apart making there guts and blood spill out all over the place, while baraka drinks the blood and eats the guts. fatality.

hope you enjoyed, and feel free to comment on how i think he should become.

MKDC took Baraka and amde him into something amazing looking. I honestly wouldn't even take a shot a t them if they ported him from that game. His character just enspired me to want to be him.


-Casselman

Are you serious dude??? Baraka looks terrible in this new MK movie... he and reptile both look like shit... that movie destroys everything cool in MK and turns it into something all-human and non magical... BORING

Baraka must stay the same but cooler of course, and with these graphics that is a big chance he will look cooler.

I really hope Boon doesn't take that stupid new Jax-movie serious... and keeps with the old looks of baraka...

I also want the wolverine-like style of his blades, if they are out the entire time it would spoil Baraka in a nostalgic way and it wouldn't be as cool.

This is my wish for Baraka
Baraka must be the only tarkatan (good??) with those steel blades, the others tarkatans must be without those blades, Baraka is changed by Shang Tsung or Quan Chi with magic or experiments and is the general of Shao Kahns tarkatan armies.

I Agree He looks cool in Mk2 n i like the deception one all buff n shit and looks even better wit his alt. costume. his grab wuz lame, i prfer his grab to be like the one in MK Shaolin Monks impales the enemy wit his two blades n kicks him off.