TheSonyaBladeJunkie Wrote:
First of all, don’t let my nickname fool you. I’m not as thrilled with this ending as it might imply. I personally think there are few things dumber to do with a reboot of a classic game than retell it, butcher the story, and kill off all your heroes, turn at least one of your legendary villains, and have your hero’s leader act like a psychic who’s weed got spiked with acid. But that’s a different story for a different time.

This is dealing with why Sonya and Johnny were chosen to survive, and the ridiculous, idiotic, and outright infuriating reasons given why they should not have been chosen.

To lay down a little groundwork for you, I am a hardcore, die hard Sonya Blade fan. Have been since the first time I played her. In my humble, or not so humble, opinion, she is the best fighter in the game bar none. She’s my go to, and I kid no one when I say I’m into her story and character in general. In fact, my mantra, when it comes to Mortal Kombat is No Sonya, No Game, period. And I can honestly say the only two games I’ve ever played that didn’t have Sonya were MK Mythologies Sub-Zero and MK Mythologies Special Forces, and still want my money back on Special Forces, but again, another story.

I’m actually glad they chose to let Sonya and Johnny survive. Should they have been the only ones? No. Not even. But that being said Sonya is a strong leader, and it should be intresting to see how they evolve her story from the debacle it is in MK2011, and turn her back into that strong, loyal, and fierce leader and soldier she is by nature. Johnny makes a great comic sidekick, but he also has the ability to lead, buried just beneath all that self conscious bravado.

That being said, I’m going to address the comments that ticked me off enough to actually make an account, stop lurking, and write this mini novel. So, Sonya Blade fans, sit back, get yourself a bag of popcorn, and lets start the show, shall we?

Daryui, this one’s for you:

RE: So why only Sonya and Johnny Cage? (spoilers)

Hopefully none of those two become the main hero. They should be support characters for Kai, just as they were for Liu Kang.
I don't see anything about those two that warrants them having the spotlight Liu Kang has.


Hmmm, support characters for Kai, eh? A little confused, aren’t you? Kai was a character created to basically be a watered down version of Kung Lao who’s sole purpose was to support Liu Kang and Raiden during their battles with Shinnok. At least, according to his story in MK4. In fact, I don’t even think he’s in the line up for the reboot. No, he isn’t. Hmmm, you want Sonya and Johnny to be support characters for a character that is essentially lost and trying to find himself? Yeah, makes perfect sense. Same as Jax locking Kano in the SF mainframe, and not seeing any potential problems. No disrespect intended on my end, simply pointing out facts.



Sonya and Johnny Cage are two characters that I feel, are better suited to other things than attempting to lead a group whereas Liu Kang is truly capable.
Johnny is a comic relief character, who happens to be too ignorant and Sonya's very much a hot-head and will no doubt cause more trouble than it's worth.

Every character in Mortal Kombat, including your Kai, has the potential to be the leader of the group, depending on how it’s written. To call Johnny ignorant is to say the person writing his story is ignorant. And I think they actually did an OK job with him in 2011. Sonya’s too hotheaded? Excuse me? She is a Lieutenant in Special Forces. However impulsive she may be, she fully embraces her training and role and doesn’t follow like a blind sheep to the slaughter, as Liu did by following the piss poor excuse for Raiden in this game. I pose you this question, What kind of a leader blindly follows the Blunder God after clearly seeing the man/God has apparently sipped too much of his own Kool Aid?


Sonya hasn't been shown as a leader, but I doubt she'd make a good one. Let alone, a decent. Cage..is cage. I don't really find his comedy ot be that great aside from one line in the story mode. Other than that, I don't care for him.
I never found Cage or Sonya that interesting, and I still don't. But to each their own.

Again, I point back to her military background. She is, in fact, a leader by profession. I’m curious as to why you think she wouldn’t make a great leader. In my opinion, she should’ve been the leader a long time ago. And, out of curiousity, if Kai can’t even find himself, how’s he going to lead a blind man to a seeing eye dog? I can respect the fact you find their stories boring. To each their own. For instance, I think Liu’s ‘It’s my destiny’ stuff is boring to being borderline annoying. And your Kai puts me to sleep better than sominex, so I feel you. I really do. But don’t besmirch my character, and I won’t besmirch yours, K?

The only thing I can think of for leaving just those two is some lame romance...
Hopefully, that will never happen.

Oh, you mean like Liu and Kitana? *Grin* Sorry, couldn’t resist the cheap shot.

Zero symbolic
My point being without Kano, Sonya never gets involved with MK at all.

I tend to disagree with that statement simply because it wasn’t be accident she ended up on the island. If it hadn’t been Kano, it would’ve been another reason. Although, like with any story, your heros are only as good as your villains. By that same tone, Scorpion would never be involved without Sub-Zero. That’s what is so great about Mortal Kombat, and something Netherrealm Studios and Boon himself forgot. Each character has their own storyline and reason for being there, the tournament is just the backdrop for the story. But that’s just my opinon.

Daryui, again. Sorry, dude, but your comments grate my last working nerve:

Reasons why I picked Kai over Sonya and Johnny:

1. My Opinion.
2. My Opinion.
3. I feel Sonya and Johnny aren't really suited to leading, but it could work and it could give Kai a chance to show us his true potential. Sonya and Johnny will always be here, for better and worse, so we have plenty of time to develop them further. Kai is one of those characters whose relevancy fades after his debut game, but if he was given something more to work with, who knows?
4. Also, I feel Sonya and Cage should take their own paths instead of trying to become the main hero[es]...
5. Refer to reasons 1 and 2.

What true potential? Dude went walkabout and never came back. Kai was so faded, I had to look him up. Well, that’s not exactly true. I just hate MK4 more than I hate this new crapfest. To say he deserves more screen time for that reason, let’s make Mokap and Reptile the two heros of the next game. I mean, really. Because Sonya and Johnny will be in the next game anyway they shouldn’t be the heros? Really? Really? Really? Come on, dude. I respect your dedication to Kai, though. Guess who I have the sane dedication to. Bet you can’t guess.

Bottom line, I’m not thrilled with MK2011 at all, especially what they tried to do with Sonya. And as for the reason they survived, I don’t know. My guess is because Sonya’s the best female warrior in the game bar none, and Johnny’s charismatic, entertaining, and not bad to look at. It could also be because of the incredible following both characters have. Or it could be because Ed Boon baught the netherealm studio writers a quart of Patrone to celebrate, and they rewrote the debacle under the influence of drinks and mary jane.

TheSonyaBladeJunkie Wrote:
And I can honestly say the only two games I’ve ever played that didn’t have Sonya were MK Mythologies Sub-Zero and MK Mythologies Special Forces

TheSonyaBladeJunkie Wrote:
Daryui: Sorry for being harsh, dude. I’m just a rabid Sonya fan.

superbn0va Wrote:
kinda funny, for years has game-play been an issue and now that that has been improved they fail in the story-line

daryui Wrote:


Such an understatement.

LeoBrZ81 Wrote:
Sonya survived cuz dat ass. End of thread.


I'll try to be as quick and to-the-point with my theory as possible. When thinking about why this duo survived over all other heroes, I apply my own logic to it as a writer more so than "just another Sonya fan". That may mean my outlook is more detailed and optimistic than that of the actual writers, but I like the logic behind it.

I believe there are a few essential things that make a protagonist interesting. A great hero will be flawed, and thrown into a situation that he or she is not used to. By pushing through that situation toward potential success, the hero mends his or her flaws, and grows from and past them. That's the beauty of watching a single person go through a 2-hour journey on film, or many more hours through the pages of a book.

Sonya and Johnny fit the mold better than any other MK character. They are the most human. They have flaws to overcome, particularly in their personality. They have been thrown into a situation they are not used to, unlike Liu Kang, or Kung Lao, or such a large chunk of the MK cast. But, we know they can handle it if they keep fighting, it's just a matter of will they, and if so, how? By having Sonya and Johnny as the protagonists, we would not be treated to a second-rate story whose sole appeal are strung-together action sequences incited by a hero who is so "above and beyond" everyone and everything else around him. I see little to no potential for growth in any of the characters whose names have been mentioned as so-called "superior protagonists" to Sonya and Johnny.

Hopefully the MK writing team somewhat shares my theory, and this wasn't all because they wanted to keep Sonya's cleavage healthy and flesh-colored as opposed to zombified.

queve Wrote:


Well, at least this wasn't MKSM..........

I still can't believe they did that. Such awesome fun game.....worst story ever.



^^



LOL.



Leo, I love you, I miss you, and I agree with everything you said.

Sonya and Johnny are perfect choices. Hopefully they will go further and grow in the sequel...if they just end up being killed after staying stuck in the same thing I'll loose all faith in NRS.

I hope to see you post more often and check Garlador's Sonya Discussion thread. You'll find some of the most glorious Sonya render edits in that thread + tons of fun discussion!

ProudNintendofan Wrote:

Honestly, Leo brings up good points, but after this story. I highly doubt NRS is that good at storytelling anymore. If they knew good storytelling, they would've known Cyber Sub-Zero and the Sindel were atrocious ideas.

Shadaloo Wrote:


I don't think Vogel even pens the plots himself nowadays, I think he just supervises. I've been intending to go back to the credits sections for the last few games and taking down some names, because it isn't just him anymore. Pretty sure quality took a hit as a result of this, at least partially.

CyberDemon13 Wrote:
Because they're both there of their own will.

EDIT: Haha, I just realized that I used all three forms of "there."

ProudNintendofan Wrote:
Well, queve was happy, but pretty much everyone else I know wasn't happy that everyone died. So why? Why were Sonya and Johnny Cage spared? Is Vogel showing favoritism. (Which I suspect since he stated he disliked Cage's MKT death only for him to do it to 10 other characters thus proving him a hypocrite.)

Honestly, I'm still mad. As far as I can tell, there is NO REASON. None whatsoever. If Stryker and Cybernetic Abomination can die from their blows then as far as I'm concerned, Sonya and Cage should've died too. Hell, Sindel kicked Sonya hard enough that I thought they would say her neck snapped. Why was that not fatal and yet Stryker and Sub-Zero's blows were? It's bullshit is what it is.

So anyway, what was the reason? Quite frankly, I'm not happy that far more deserving characters now have to be rescued from service to Shinnok so Cage and Sonya can get spotlight time when there was NOTHING in the story that made me think these two were so important to spare. Nothing at all. It's like they just pulled two random names out of a hat and said: "Who won't we kill? ..Johnny Cage and Sonya. Okay."

Not that I dislike them, I just find it unfair.

Riyakou Wrote:


Characters die all the time.

Let's just be happy that this time there's actually a reason for it. Yeah, I was pretty pissed when I saw Nightwolf and Kitana die, but I was satisfied that it was canon. I'd rather have 10 characters die and stay dead than 4 characters die and come back every game. We finally have some good continuity! Let's embrace it.

ProudNintendofan Wrote:


There was no reason for it other than to make Liu Kang fight Raiden and even that just led to Liu Kang dying, all of it was done for shock value. Theyr'e coming back and no I'm afraid the continuity is gone. They messed it up.

Riyakou Wrote:
I'd rather have 10 characters die and stay dead than 4 characters die and come back every game. We finally have some good continuity!

RazorsEdge701 Wrote:


"Stay dead"? "Good continuity"?! I--buh...did you...why would...Are you HIGH?!

They came back as zombies before the game was even over! They'll be the main villain's army in the next one!

Riyakou Wrote:


Quan Chi's not going to just throw out souls into combat like that.

The only reason he did so with Raiden was to emphasize the fact that the souls belong to him. Those characters will not return as zombies. Besides, why would anyone want them to? They should all stay deceased.