(Warning!: Long post ahead.)
(NOTE!: Do NOT ask for the scans or links to them. It is against the forum rules!)
*makes an Alex the Lion impression from the movie Madagascar*
ROOOOOOOAAAAAARR!!!
I warned you guys. ;P
After having seen the higher quaity scans I can honestly say that Jade looks absolutely gorgous. She has elements from Kitana and Mileena, yet in a way that makes her appear unique from the two.
Like Mileena, Jade wears a leotard which resembles her UMK3 outfit with the black string crossing her chest three times, forming three X's, and she has a loincloth/sash hanging from her waist in front, somewhat like Kitana, however, it appears to be somewhat shorter. It is a bit unclear on the scans as it isn't properly shown. The golden chains add to her costume and the golden lines that run along the black edges along her outfit is a neat touch as well. Her neck appears to be bare which I think is a shame. I would like it if she had gotten a choker of sorts, maybe something alike Tanya's in MKD. The mask looks very cool though, much cooler than Kitana and Mileena's in my opinion. Jade's boots and gloves are mainly black, but with some green and golden design on them. They appear to be made from leather while her mask and leotard is made from cloth/spandex. She appears to have some armbands as well, but like the loincloth, it is unclear how they look like as they aren't properly shown.
Her hair looks absolutely gorgous too! Very sophisticated and sexy. Her hair is all black and runs down over her right eye and is tied into what appears like a low ponytail that ends mid-back. Her skin colour could have been darker, but I've noticed that Jax has a lighter skin tone as well and I think it's because the scenery in most stages is rather dark and therefore they made Jax and Jade's skin colour lighter so they won't melt in with the scenery... though I could see the cool in the fact that Jade would use her dark skin colour to melt in with the shadows, as the assassin she is. ;)
Her Razor-Rang appears to be triple bladed like in MKD unlike her two-bladed boomerang in UMK3, and I prefer it like that. It looks somewhat like an oversized shuriken ala those from the Naruto animé, but that's alright. Also, the Razor-Rang leaves a green trail which I find a bit odd, considering that in UMK3, her conjured weapons (her staff and the boomerangs) left a purple trail and also had a purple glow to them. I realize her Razor-Rang had a green trail in MKD as well, and her staff was just some ordinary bo, however, I think they should have stayed true to the first three games and kept the purple trail.
Jade's colour is green, I know, but too much of one colour can be... well, too much. Ermac's telekinetic power wasn't represented in red in MKD either, though his colour is red. I can't wait to see how her gamplay will be like. I hope she utilizes her staff in her combos and that her fighting stance looks fierce. I would love to see her stand like she does in MK: Shaolin Monks (ala Cammy from SSF4) or like she does in MKT (see my sig).
And of course I hope she's kept all her special moves. From the screenshot scan, it looks like her Razor-Rang goes downwards, so hopefully she can throw it in several directions (straightforward, upwards, downwards) and maybe even have it return to her if it misses, giving her a second chance of hitting her opponent, like in UMK3. I want her Blazing Nitro Kick to look different from Cage's Shadow Kick, but not sure how. Her Dodging Shadows should have a new, cool animation to it instead of her simply flashing or glowing green. And her Vanishing Winds teleport should be fast and I wouldn't mind if she utilizes it like Kitana did in MKvsDCU where she did an Axe Heel Kick after having teleported behind the opponent.
So far, I am pleased with how Jade looks like.
What is your opinion? Do you want anything changed from her current looks? What are your hopes of an alternate costume for her? And how would you like to see her gameplay be like?
Edited update: I've noticed some say that Jade appears just as naked as Kitana and Mileena... I don't think she does. She is just as "naked" as she was in UMK3. And her bust size is very moderate, looking a bit smaller than the twins'.
...
*Update*
Storyline ideas.
I've thought about some kind of story for Jade, inspired from some fanfiction I read ages ago. Since Jade has no confirmed past, she has so much potential. Some of you might think I give Jade too much credit in this storyline, but remember, these are just theories and ideas on how it could be. I've written it in MKD-style bio, so it is supposed to be seen from Jade's point of view.
"This is the truth about my realm. When I was but a child, we heard rumours about the Dragon King's fall. The throne of Outworld had been taken by his once trusted advisor, Shao Kahn, a powerful sorcerer who started a conquest on merging lesser realms to Outworld to make it even greater. Edenia and Outworld were once allies, but Shao Kahn was determined on conquering our realm as well. At first he attempted to invade our lands by pure force, but the Edenian army were able to push Kahn's forces back. Shao Kahn did not give up though and quickly regained strength and struck yet another time. We lost many men in the first war and were not able to withstand yet another attack, so our king went to the Elder Gods for guidance. They offered King Jerrod a way to prevent Shao Kahn merging Edenia with Outworld: the Mortal Kombat tournament.
If Shao Kahn's forces would win ten Mortal Kombat tournaments against Edenia, he would be allowed passage to our realm and be able to merge it with his own. However, should we win, we would be free from Kahn's tyranny... forever. Though Edenia had some fine knights, our strength lied in the excel of magic and sorcery, so our greatest sorcerers prepared for the tournament and entered with the goal of stopping Kahn's regime. However, Kahn's warriors were too strong and brutal, murdering our representants one by one.
The first few tournaments were won by Shao Kahn's forces, and so many Edenians sought help outside. A man of Outworld known as Bo'Rai Cho was against Kahn's tyranny and thus offered King Jerrod to train his men in martial arts, an offer our king could not refuse. I was one of the fighters who was trained by him, along with the queen herself who wanted a chance to defend her people. And at the next tournament, we surprised Shao Kahn and were now able to beat some of his warriors in the arena, however, it was not enough.
At the tenth tournament, I was now old enough and had enough training to join in and fight against the Outworld warriors. Queen Sindel fought as well and we were able to defeat many of Kahn's combatants. My queen faced Shao Kahn himself, but he was too much for her. King Jerrod interrupted the tournament before Kahn could finish off the queen and attacked him out of desperation. Shao Kahn ended the king's life in a brutal manner. Finding himself the winner of the tournament, Shao Kahn started the merging.
Instead of ending Queen Sindel's life as well, Kahn forcibly made her marry him and he then adopted the infant princess as his own. Impressed with my skills, Shao Kahn offered me to join his side or die by his hand. I chose to join him in order to protect the princess. Shortly after, Queen Sindel comitted suicide, having been driven into madness from the events. And thus Edenia was no more...
Princess Kitana and I were raised and trained as personal assassins for the emperor. However, when Kitana was old enough, I told her of Edenia and her true origins. It was a dangerous task, as spies lurked around every corner, keeping an eye on us at all times. She soon enough found out more on her own which convinced her I was telling the truth. Since then she was determined to find a way to free Edenia from Outworld, though I saw it as a lost cause.
A few millenia after, Shao Kahn had set his eyes on a new realm to conquer... the Earthrealm. The Elder Gods had made the rules of Mortal Kombat for that realm as well, and thus we fought and won. Kitana wanted to seek aid in the Earthrealm fighters to free Edenia, but her suspicious acts caught the emperors eye. Amongst the warriors of the first tournament, Shao Kahn found a potential sorcerer known as Shang Tsung who offered to aid the emperor in taking over Earthrealm. The emperor was intruiged and made the sorcerer his personal advisor and taught him to expand his magics.
For this betrayal, the Elder Gods cursed the sorcerer, having him age significantly faster than others from Earthrealm, however, the emperor taught him to steal the souls of others to maintain his youth and grant him immortal life. In return, Shang Tsung first made Mileena, a failed experiment in cloning Kitana, who was then introduced to others as Kitana's twin sister, though we knew better. He also made sure that if Kahn should fail in winning the tournaments, Queen Sindel would awake from the dead on Earthrealm grounds, allowing Kahn to merge the realms so he could claim his bride once again.
And as predicted, Shao Kahn failed at winning the tenth tournament. Queen Sindel was resurrected and Kahn started the merging. That was when Kitana told me she had gotten contact with one of the Earthrealm warriors who was determined to aid her in freeing Edenia. Mileena overheard our conversation, always having a watchful eye over Kitana, and striked at us. Kitana ended up killing her 'sister' and fled. Back then I had little trust in the Earthrealm warriors, so I found it right to report to the emperor. I along with the saurian warrior, Reptile, were ordered to have Kitana return to us. I now face an important decision. Should I defy the emperor and aid Kitana in following an almost impossible dream in freeing Edenia, or should I betray my best friend and force her to return home..."
What I want to do with this story is to give Jade more depth. I find the idea of Jade knowing about Edenia from before Kahn's conquest quite interesting, and it gives Kitana a plausible explanation on how she learns about her heritage.
What do you think of it?
