It's too late for Hsu Hao, they already took the only thing that made him interesting away and gave it to Kano.

That would give Hsu Hao a chance to get something completely new and interesting. I don't know what it could be, but the possibilities are endless.

It's not too late for ANY character, it's not a matter of IF they can do something with him, but WILL they do something to make him interesting.

His moveset is actually unique and he's really not that bad, I've never had a problem with Hsu Hao.

Ed Boon said several years ago,that Hsu Hao,Drahmin and Chameleon are unlikely gonna make MK roster.

If they will give other story,that wouldn't be Hsu Hao,that would be different character.Honestly,Hsu Hao is pointless to me since his backstory is completely given to Kano and he was killed in the same game he was introduced.(Jax's MKDA ending) That can tell us how the developers "love" him.

If you're gonna start over from scratch anyway, just make a new character.

But why make a whole new character when you got a bucketload of characters to work with already? In my opinion, Mortal Kombat doesn't need more characters. Instead NRS should elaborate on the characters they already have. If they are uninteresting and boring, make them interesting.

So many characters seem like unfinished projects, like the MK team started making something, then just left it and then started on a new project. I think it would be better if they finished their unfinished projects, build up the characters that are half-assed to make them complete.

If they keep on making new characters, they will end up with a pile of non-interesting characters, because they didn't care to make them interesting. They already have a little pile left in the dark corner.

He said Chameleon wasn't going to be in MK9 and that Drahmnin and Hsu Hao had slim chances to return again.

Hsu Hao was pretty much a plot device for a short rivalry in MKDA.

I agree just to some extent! NRS proved that they can surprise with overhauling not-that-special characters to decent (Rain) or just excellent (Kenshi, Noob Saibot). It's a good decision to create a lot of characters with minor details and background information, picking someone of them and make them a protagonist for instance. Rockstar Games has realized its upsides - Johnny Klebitz made a cameo in GTA IV and in its expansion he became the protagonist.
However, if you build that minor character too much without a distinct plan, you might ruin the character whom you should develop later in the future - unless you retcon at the expense of the series. It is more likely that NRS will create better new characters than Hsu Hao because he is one of the worst. Putting a lot of effort to Hsu Hao or Kira doesn't sound sensible to me. But this doesn't mean that they couldn't be in minor roles because we players have a connection to them already.
Mortal Kombat (2011) has learned from its predecessors and now NRS has actually created some interesting characters with potential; Ruutuu, the enhanced Kabal, the shimmering woman (Jade), beast Smoke, Drathon (Goro) and not to mention Jerrod and Great Kung Lao's involvement and the recently revealed Haokah tribe. I would surely want to see more of those characters in the future.

What you're suggesting isn't "working with" Hsu Hao at all. It's creating something entirely new and putting an old name and face on it - a name and face no one likes.
Hsu Hao's entire story is predicated on something he can't do because Kano does it instead now. Repackaging him with a new gimmick is essentially the same thing as creating a new character so if you're going to create a new character, then do it whole-assed and don't handicap it by making it look like an ugly Mongolian member of the Village People just to get some mileage out of a name that didn't get over with the fans the first time you tried it.
Here's another thought: Anything Hsu Hao can do that doesn't involve being Jax's Bizarro/Venom-style evil opposite (which would be a wasted role in MK10 since Jax would need to be freed from mind controlled zombie-dom before he'd be capable of making enemies with and fighting a personal nemesis), MAVADO can do even better, so just bring Mavado back and give him the only Red Dragon role instead of splitting Red Dragon plot points between two characters and thus giving each one half as much to do.

To not see potential in everything is to not have a wide enough imagination.

I would rather see Hsu Hao return with an updated and better look, and a new storyline, than another new character which role could be filled by Hsu Hao.

Hsu Hao is a powerhouse of a character, big massive mongolian wrestler, a member of the Red Dragon and he seems to be rather techy as well. What he needs is a new approach. As said, Kano has gotten his approach to the MK series, so he needs a new one.

And as I stated above, the possibilities are endless. You just got to have the imagination for it.

If I continue having this conversation, it's going to start going in circles where I repeatedly try to explain that a reimagining as drastic as the one Hsu Hao requires with his Deadly Alliance backstory completely gone is the SAME THING as creating a new character while you keep coming up with reasons to disagree because "generic comment about imagination is limitless blah blah blah".

Either way, I know this: the point where I start rubbing the bridge of my nose is the point where I need to stop having a conversation on the internet, and that point's just been reached.
To be frank, I don't even know why I post in threads about stuff that could happen after MK9 since I have no desire to follow the new timeline anyway. Probably just boredom since it's not like anyone wants to talk about MK1 thru Armageddon anymore and there are no other decent threads on the board these days.

It sure is silent here nowadays... Have you thought about the chance of NRS developing the One Being they once revealed further in MK10 and MK11? Mortal Kombat (2011) is still - in a way - a sequel though it retconned some things that didn't scream for a retcon anyway. I have been thinking that seeing how Shinnok and Quan Chi were already shown during the Story Mode of MK2011, of which Quan Chi was on rather high emphasis, that MK10 will again have a greater threat as usual to Mortal Kombat in its other half of the Story Mode.
While time traveling or sending mental messages through time doesn't sound convincing to me, I have tried to accept it because Raiden is the god of thunder and according Einstein's studies; going over the speed of light should make you travel in time. Raiden if anyone is capable to do that. (Note: This theory might crack however if your have read about the recent CERN inquiries.)
Raiden is known to fight against Shao Kahn and the forces of evil in any means possible, giving out his principles, becoming dark or even sending mental messages through time. Now that Raiden gained the Elder Gods' attention in the end of MK2011, one can expect the Elder Gods to follow Raiden in the future as well. Once they realize Raiden has 'cheated' destiny and left the former universe, it might result in a domino effect sending the original time line's One Being to the new universe.
The One Being is a universe after all, so now that we are going in another universe we might just see The One Being of the original time line and to me that'd work as a nice consolation to us Mortal Kombat fans as long as it will be carefully executed.

We're just discussing about Hsu Hao, wether or not it would be better to just replace him with a new character or not. No need to be all uptight and rude about it. We could just agree to disagree, you know.

I agree though. With that attitude of yours, you shouldn't post stuff on the internet. Get down from that piedestal of yours before it's reached through your butthole.

I suppose it's always a future possibility, but Vogel has said on his Twitter that the One Being was never intended to be a character, but rather an explanation for how the MK universe works.

In short, he's saying "retcons happen because the universe is someone's dream and dreams don't make sense."

I think that the intention is clear that they do not want to remake MKDA and onwards in the new continuity. Kano has absorbed Hsu Hao's background relevance, and I think they were serious about killing off Kahn (thankfully) and Tsung for real.



And for what? X rate trah like the MK4 cast and ditching the last remaining, mildly historically inspired characters?

Oh, it is going to be fun watching the next installment do the same thing as MK9, only this time it will be unjustified as it will not be a defibrillator shock to the series...

Though the acting might be good, MK9 managed to make me apparently forget how abridged the game was.

I don't see why they need to justify their actions. I think NRS did well with the storyline of this MK, with of course a few exceptions, but overall it was rather enjoyable and I can't wait to see the next chapter of the story.

I still consider this MK the best of them all, by far. Especially gameplay wise.

Oh there is no question wether the story mode was enjoyable or not. It was. The acting sold it.

Those picky about the missing pieces of the plot coherence tend to say otherwise, but that is because they will do this with every other movie/game. It is their God-given preference.

The same way the 1989 Batman is a bloody fucking good movie, despite the fact that it's plot is swiss ementali cheese. Style and atmosphere over plot. I don't care about gameplay as I do not PLAY MK, but from what I get, this is the best MK so far not counting the very first.

... Are you being serious or are you just fucking with me?
Are we actually agreeing on something? Or am I just imagining things?

Man, I don't even like the "style and atmosphere" in Batman '89. The only Tim Burton movie I can watch and enjoy as an adult is Big Fish and even that one's a little weird for me.

Quite stylish
(Frasier voice)

My favorite Batman movies are Batman'89 and Returns (especially the latter) - practically the only two movies that I like about Batman. I'm not big fan of "campy" or "realistic" approach to this character.

'89 is not only my personal favorite depiction of Batman's world, it's my favorite movie. Sure, Burton's Batman kills, but I got over that a while ago.

What,you mean this?



Eh,I suppose you could interpret it as Smoke being one of Raiden's chosen,but personally,I always saw it as more of a "Smoke simply breaking free of his programming and regaining his sentience" thing. Not to mention that the entire purpose of this image right here was to establish exactly who Raiden's forces are composed of:



Besides,the only reason why the cyborgs were all up and running during the invasion was because at the time,they were de facto soulless. Smoke wouldn't have to have his soul protected from Kahn's dark magics because at the time,there was nothing there to protect.


He never encountered Smoke before either.


Well,that's not exactly true - one of Raiden's earlier premonitions was his old memory of Liu Kang taking down Shang Tsung with a Dragon Kick. There is nothing inherently bad about that. Except maybe the fact that Liu spared Shang's life,which had the result of ultimately kicking off the second tournament,but that's a hell of a fucking stretch.

Still,nice try. :3

There are probably better examples, but that one is basically the foremost example. Same way Picasso isn't anatomically correct, or Manet/Monet were impressionists by way of not portraying reality photorealistically.

I meant that Raiden usually had visions concerning certain characters, when he encountered them personally. He encountered Smoke surrounded by cyborgs, saw him being transformed into cyborg and acted.
He saw Sub-Zero, but since Kuai Liang never was transformed into cyborg, he didn't had any visions.


On contrary - given that Liu's victory over Shang, set up a chain reaction that lead to the End of the World, then it's entirely plausiable that Raiden received vision about this event as a warning.
Still, nice try. =)