1. Tanya
2. new character (Skarlett)
3. Rain

@ Razor

I can see why that would worry you but you may be a little paranoid. Storyline, for me personally, is the second most important part of the game (with gameplay being most important). I have been pleased with the direction they have taken with the storyline (with some complaints about Armageddon).

So far, they are being very secretive with their plans and the storyline so it is hard to say what the final result is going to be like. For example, I am still confused as to whether both Sub-Zero's will be in the game or just the younger one. The elder one is being mentioned several times, but there is no proof that he will either make an appearance in the storyline or be playable in Arcade Mode (to my knowledge). Not to mention that Ed previously confirmed that the Sub-Zero in the game was the elder one and we got a bio (the first one) that matched the elder one more, and he never cleared this up. This makes it hard to make conclusions.

We can speculate, complain, and give feedback but a little faith doesn't hurt, I think. There are several things that are not to my likings either, but that does not necessarily mean it is a bad thing.

6. tanya
5. new character
4. cyber smoke
3. rain
2. shinnok
1. kenshi

seriously though, i cant believe boon would actually give this away now? must be a bluff right?

There is chance for this as nowadays games receive downloadable content rather soon from the release date and it surely would ease their works if they knew who to put in DLC without incoming complaints afterwards. But he is most likely toying with us, less or more.

The story mode starts at MK1, not MK2. Scorpion's bio starts with him having not killed Sub-Zero yet.

That should be all the proof you need that we will witness/play through the older brother's death.

And I don't believe in faith. I believe in evidence. So when I'm looking at what we've got so far and going "Well I think half of this sucks" that's not a good sign.

I've said elsewhere that I'm not bothered by Smoke not being automated for this go-around because I don't think it's too great of a tragedy anyway if we have no idea what kind of personality he had before automation.

Another reason is that for all what they did with it, nothing ever came of it. Smoke sat in a dungeon for a decade and wasn't even mentioned until MKD - and when he did appear, the focus was on the fact that Sub-Zero had found his older brother again. Barely a cursory mention of Sub-Zero and Smoke's old friendship. In the meantime, Sub-Zero had come to terms with Scorpion in MK4, fought Sektor and earned leadership of the Lin Kuei prior to MKDA, Searched for an heir, found a flawed one, and discovered his heritage - none of which he needed Smoke to do. Losing his friend was just one in Sub-Zero's many chapters of life, which never received follow-up.

As much as I love him, Smoke is less of a character than a plot device for Sub-Zero, with little to no personality of his own other than a stated sense of goodness which never received follow-up. I'm ready for that to change, see what he's like, and apply that to the original canon to get a better sense of real tragedy out of his automation.

Did you notice my post there in page four, RazorsEdge701? I intended it for you.

This is meaty.

1) Kenshi
Kenshi, for starters, could fit into the game flawlessly. His story began pre-MK1, he wants Shang Tsung's blood, and nothing tells us he didn't actually enter the tournament to get to Shang only to either be defeated or drop out for some reason. He's easily the most popular character added during the MK:DA - MK:A days so I see no reason at all why he shouldn't get a spot in the game.

2) Tanya
Tanya was terribly underrepresented. For starters, I love how she is Jade's arch-nemesis, both Edenian women that served royalty, but where Jade stuck to her conscience and came to her friend's aid, Tanya betrayed her people and endangered the royal family. I would love to see Jade and Tanya as good friends prior to her betrayal, and then as bitter enemies following her backstabbing behavior.

3) Rain
Rain, despite his goofy reputation, is a power-player. He's a demi-god, brother to Argus and Daegon, an Edenian elite, a general in Kahn's army, and he has ambitions to be ruler of them all, even as he saves his own skin and shows his own cowardly nature. I'd love for him to be in the game proper, to have some sort of past with Kitana, and ultimately falling from grace to become the cowardly traitor he ends up as.

4) Shinnok
THE boss of MK4, you'd think Shinnok would command more respect. He's an Elder God, and yet Shinnok has less respect and invokes less fear than any other boss (or even sub-boss). Moloch is more fearsome than he is. And yet he always had that potential. Give him a proper makeover (and make him look less like a court jester) and fully tap into his dark power. I'd like that for DLC.

5) Robo-Smoke
I'm not too thrilled about Smoke taking up two slots, not when there are so many other characters that could get added to the game, and his robot appearance would still likely play quite similarly to his human one. I love robo-smoke, but in this case, sorry, he's at the bottom of my list.

Now, if I were doing my own list of DLC, or just characters I want in the game, it would be the following.
1) Sareena
2) Sareena
3) Sareena
4) Kenshi
5) Sareena

Yeah...didn't really like it.

For one thing, your whole point of view that "Cyber-Smoke leaves no room for Human Smoke" is wrong, because Human Smoke was in MK2, so during the MK2 part of Story Mode, there's Human Smoke's chance to shine right there. He can have plenty of screentime before he's automated to get to know him, he doesn't need to spend the whole game as a human, that doesn't gain him anything.

For another, no offense, but you just plain need a LOT of work as a writer. For instance, use spaces, man. Press that enter key once in a while and break your stuff up so it's easier to read.

Ed Boon said in an interview that he used to put additional characters to the games just before release. He referred to the secret characters of Mortal Kombat II. There was not enough time to introduce them in the game, similar to the situation of Reptile.But now that he had Smoke introduced in MKII and he was about to introduce cyborg ninjas in MK3, Ed Boon probably thought that he should include in them somebody who's already familiar to have a better approach.(Not that I'm intending to become a writer now though and English isn't my native language anyway. I don't know if that's the case but I'm still getting used to the code text in this forum so at times I may have to edit my posts to make them look clearer. Yet still I'll try to pay attention to that.)

6.Tanya
5.Rain
4.Shinnok
3.Kenshi
2.New Character
1.Robo Smoke.

1. Robo Smoke
2. Shinnok
3. Tanya
4. Rain
5. Kenshi
6. New Character

i'd also really like to see Reiko and Fujin from MK4
one thing is for sure, if Ed is already thinking about DLC chances are the game is wrapped up or just about there and ready to go gold!!

1. Shinnok

2. Rain

3. Kenshi

4. Cyber Smoke

5. Tanya

6. New Character

Been a long while since I've posted, been sitting back watching all of the characters and new unfolding until the game came out, figured it would make the time go by faster till release, but hasn't exactly been working that way. But this bit of news I just have to comment on. If I had to rate them, the only one's I'd be more-or-less thrilled with seeing as DLC out of that list is...

- Kenshi (obviously)
- Rain
- Tanya

Shinnok is a character that deserves his own game. What happened to him story and gameplay wise in MK4 terribly affected the character and so much potential went to waste. I forget which poster(s) said it, but this is a fallen Elder God. He deserves to be a complete badass, one that you struggle to defeat, one that would take multiple times to conquer, if at all, in one sitting.

A new character, however, needs to wait. We already have countless other characters that could be done better or that could be completely reinvented (cough Bo Rai Cho cough) but I'll get to that in a second.

Robo-Smoke, however, there is no need for. If Smoke (Human) is indeed the version in the main build of the game, let it stay that way (and after listening to the sound bites again, he does indeed sound somewhat human instead of robotic). No need for multiple characters with similar movesets anymore, let alone different versions of characters already in. That spot could go to someone else, someone more deserving.

Now, depending on if they do multiple DLC's, Bo Rai Cho needs to be in there, and done RIGHT this time. No more farting, no more vomiting. Make him the true martial arts master he is. The drunken fighting style can stay, and would still make him stand out, but leave behind the jokes. He could be amazing in combat, especially with combos, if finally given justice. Besides Bo Rai Cho, I could see....

- Fujin
- Mavado (with new, original moveset)
- Kira (with new, original moveset)
- Sareena

I think, in the end, they'll obviously pick the fanboy favorites that also fit in with the timeline and story so Kenshi, Rain and later on Bo Rai Cho and Sareena I can see. But the others I remain hopeful for....

1. Shinnok

2. Robo-Smoke ( but I dont understand how Robo Smoke can be DLC!?!?!? If the Smoke that's in the game is Human why cant Robo Smoke be the ALT Costume!?!?

3. Rain

4. New Character

5. Kenshi

But yeah guys I dont get it. If Human Smoke is in Robo Smoke should be the ALT. And If all "Classic" characters are gonna have Classic Kostumes than what other Costume is there for Human Smoke to have other than his Cyborg form!?!?

the problem, i would think, is that cyber smoke has a different move set. so i would not think having cyber as an alt costume would work for people that only like using human smoke moves.

As much as I love Smoke and I wouldn't mind if he is human in this game.

But making him a DLC as Cyborg even if he isn't canon is shit. I don't like taking him 2 spots if one of them is only canon.

We have plenty of other potential DLC character as Rain to make it and be canon. So no need to have 2 Smokes...

I dont think that there is anything Human Smoke can do that Cyber Smoke can't perform in a believable way. Cyber should be the Alt and shouldn't have to take up another Character Slot. But who knows..

1. Kenshi - Since he got tricked by Shang Tsung before MK1 and was said to miss the boat for the first tournament, he definitely existed during the MK1-MK3 time period. And since it's before he met Ermac, we could see him with different types of attacks that may involve his sword. Definitely would like to see him get DLC. It'd be cool to see what he's like and how his story would change to fit the time era.

2. Rain - Since he isn't in when he actually was in these games, he should also be DLC. I guess he was that 1% of the MK3 cast that didn't make it.

3. Tanya - The backstabber of MK and she could have a whole storyline with Jade. There's some potential for her character for the new MK.

4. Cyborg Smoke - It'd be nice to see the cyborg version of Smoke since its moves can be different from Human Smoke's. Makes me wonder how Human Smoke will be handled for this game but I guess we'll see what goes down with him.

5. Shinnok - My last choice, only because I think he doesn't need to be in this game as much as the others. He could wait until the next one imo.

human smoke rules

As much as I love Smoke and I wouldn't mind if he is human in this game.

But making him a DLC as Cyborg even if he isn't canon is shit. I don't like taking him 2 spots if one of them is only canon.

We have plenty of other potential DLC character as Rain to make it and be canon. So no need to have 2 Smokes...

1. Kenshi
2. Rain
3. Shinnok
4. Robo-Smoke
5. New Character
6. Tanya

Ayo, you need to chill out. Like honestly, only having Human Smoke does not 'RUIN 4 KHARACTERZ OMGAH!", it just means that they FINALLY put some real effort into this game's storyline.

I don't really care for Smoke either way, but I think he looks better as a ninja because honestly the cyborgs are ridiculous. (P.S. Story lines are also built on spell/grammar check, so you might want to check that out. Just sayin'...)

Smoke's transformation is NOT the reason why he's interesting, it's actually why he's a dull and poor character. He'll always be another character's little bi-I mean buddy and tied to the Subs regardless if he's "human" or cyborg. The other two cyborgs at least has a persona of their own to make them interesting, Smoke never felt like anything other than a tool.

I agree with you that Cyborg Smoke would be left behind again like the last time. Instead, if everything didn't go this time as supposed to, it would raise a lot more attention and be more interesting.You couldn't expect what to happen next if the automation was avoided. As I responded to RazorEdge701's message in page four, it would be wiser from NRS to give an opportunity for Human Smoke now.

Not pointing fingers here, but a mod might want to check this guy's I.P. address.