US gaming magazine Gamepro has obtained information regarding the first batch of Downloadable Content for the upcoming Mortal Kombat. In their May 2011 issue, they claim to have information on the first three characters available. These characters are Kintaro, the Lady in Red and Kenshi. A day following this breaking news, gaming website CVG posted an article with an interview of developer Hans Lo that speaks about the DLC content upcoming for this game [full article here].

Following the break of this story, Netherrealm Studios team members Shaun Himmerick and Hector Sanchez denied the validity of the article's details, with the latter hinting that Kintaro would not be part of any paid DLC package, saying, "#tigerbloodisnotforsale", a hint at Kintaro's tiger-Shokan lineage. With these claims, it seems likely that Gamepro and CVG have partially bad information regarding Kintaro's status as a playable DLC character. Gamepro does however have a render in the upcoming issue, which is very reminiscent of Kintaro's design in MK: Armageddon.

The mysterious Lady in Red, who was possibly partially unveiled by Ed Boon on Twitter back in September during the Gamespot Villain battle has been the subject of much debate for several months, appearing with a variety of other MK females chained in Kahn's Coliseum. Hector Sanchez confirmed on Twitter that this character currently has no official name beyond "Lady in Red". Gamepro specifically mentions the name "Skarlett" and Hans Lo identifies that "Scarlet" is a fan created name. Whether either version of this name sticks remains to be seen. This character's render in Gamepro showcases her blood red attire along with noting that she makes use of throwing knives and wears a mask instead of a veil like Kitana or Mileena (note that the spelling errors below are CVG's).

"Anyone who knows the history of Mortal Kombat will tell you that back in the days of the arcade - when they did just palette swap characters to come up with multiple fighters in the game - there was a glitch in one of the old arcade machines that caused the Jade/Katana/Milena female ninja to glitch and turn red.

"People always thought it was a hidden unlockable character and it wasn't, it was purely a programming glitch. They've always speculated and in fact it was the fans who named her Scarlet to begin with. She's no longer a glitch - she's an actual character, and she'll be coming pretty soon post-launch."

Kenshi is a fighter from Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance that will be making an appearance in this translation due to his popularity. The blind swordsman was tricked by the sorcerer Shang Tsung and began his quest for retribution before the chronological start of the first Mortal Kombat game. He missed the boat the first time, perhaps in this timeline he will locate the sorcerer sooner rather than later. His render is faithful to his original look in Deadly Alliance, with slight changes to his hair and armor.

Hans further notes to CVG that these DLC characters will be treated with the same care that the in game characters have been, complete with everything necessary to be a full, original combatant for the upcoming game.

"They won't be copy and pasted from characters already in the game - they're going to have their own unique fighting styles, moves, fatalities and x-rays - all the good stuff," producer Hans Lo told CVG.

Series co-creator and project lead Ed Boon assures the MK faithful that Mortal Kombat DLC characters are not present on the game disc and will not simply be unlocked with a code. Mortal Kombat Online will continue to provide ongoing updates and the latest information on this developing story as information becomes available. At this time, it appears that the Lady in Red and Kenshi are DLC characters with Kintaro either being an unplayable boss or in the game at launch as a hidden unlockable fighter. The release date of any DLC packages is currently unknown.