Hey! We don't know what drove Tremor out of the Lin Kuei.
Maybe he came from a line of great cryomancers but was korimpotent!

King Baraka isn't a hero?... Rargh!

I liked the idea that Goro had become a good guy at the end of MK4/Gold and then got a heroic death. When he survived and flipflopped back to evil in Deception it really pissed me off.

Other than that though, I can't think of any villains I believe have the capacity for good.

Baraka's not smart enough to be anything but a savage and I've never agreed with XD that Mileena could work as a protagonist, because she's got some of that same stupid in her genetics.

Kintaro always struck me as the most ruthless Shokan, likely to disagree with the way Goro was doing things when he was a good guy helping out Kitana.

Reptile I guess has good motives but he's too sad and pathetic to ever rise up.

Rain had hope but has since proven himself too much of a selfish asshole.

I guess Reiko, maybe. He comes off as a pretty honorable guy in his fight with Taven in Armageddon...

They proved this could work with Goro's transformation through MK4-MKDA, but they totally ruined it with Deception unfortunately. I was really starting to find Goro a great character, even if he was dead, but his mindless turn back to evil was awful.

Still, it could work if it was the right character I suppose. I don't think a "savage" character could pull this off though, definitely not Baraka and probably not Reptile, as he's been shown to be too mindless in his actions.

Baraka could be a hero and become his own man more if they gave him a story treatment like Sub-Zero. Maybe some of the MK sorcerers or magicians like Shang or Nightwolf could drain his memory, leaving it with a blank slate. One of the difficult hurdles though to accomplish this is the face. We like our heroes to be visually palatable at least, maybe he could do with a makeover? You don't want him inspiring dread or fear but awe so I think the storyline should go like this: One of the Outworld scientists/sorcerers goes out to Earthrealm to look for humans to experiment on and he chances on this young man. The man is abducted, subjected to extremely sadistic experiments (ala Project Weapon X). The Outworld Eugenicist decides that what he created was good but a side effect of the creation process was that it deforms your teeth into evil proportions. He then proceeds to clone him, giving birth to the Tarkatan race. (I think it's bullshit but I'll think of a better one)

The Tarkatans already have an origin story, man. They're the result of Outworld citizens being being crossbred with demons from the Netherealm.
It's implied Shao Kahn is the one who did it, so he'd have an army 'cause when he took over Outworld, the current soldiers all killed themselves to become the Dragon King's mummies.

I believe Baraka WAS a good guy in the Malibu comics, but I could be wrong.

Anyway, I'd love to see Reptile go good, because he always seems to get the short end of the stick with evil anyway.

Ermac's transition from evl to good was great IMO, the fact he did something important story wise was even better

He was evil, except for in his own one-shot where he helped Noob Saibot protect a baby who was supposed to be the future of Outworld.

...

YEAH.

We've seen it a few times (Goro, Ermac, and to me, Scorpion (the whole Champion of the Elder Gods)), so I think that's enough.

Scorpion and Reptile could be played as Anti-Heroes.
similar to the Punisher they believe what they have just causes and just come off as ruthless..

Scorpion is a lot like The Punisher.

and Reptile reminds me of the Lethal Protector series where Venom became a good guy sort of and protected the innocent and killed bad guys.


I guess I just like Reptile a lot and would like to see him do something besides be a throwaway bodyguard..he really needs a breakaway storyline
to really show his potential.

I mean aside from being the host of Onaga...what has he done?

That comics cover art came rushing back. I felt overwhelmed, and suddenly lol'd


==

No, I don't anymore flip floppers, that kills me.

Instead, I wouldn't mind seeing Shao Kahn or Shang Tsung from the perspective they showed Darth Vader growing up (Anakin? I'm not a fan of that franchise so, idk.). Good guys, good intent for themselves and whoever their associated with, but they gradually and consistently are placed in situations that make them disagree with what's conventionally understood as "good".

I don't need Kahn or Tsung having their evilness
explained away by "SEE THEY DID ALL THIS EVIL STUFF TO SAVE ONE PUPPY" or some crap.

I don't want major villains cheapened by their side of the story painting them like misunderstood monsters.

I always wanted Mileena do be a tragic heroine at some point.

I mean, her entire life sucks. She was created with terribly flaws by evil people to be used and manipulated to manipulate a woman she was told was her twin sister. Only her "twin" was perfect and beautiful and she was ugly and imperfect. She was always treated as second-best, a shadow of Kitana that could never be, nor would ever be, as loved, beautiful, and accepted.

Mileena's entire story has been her longing to be accepted and to replace Kitana and "be" her. I felt at some point she'd have to get past that, come to terms with her creation, and find something else to focus on, be it revenge for the twisted life she was given, the lies she was told, or the abuse she suffered due to her inherent physical and mental flaws.

There's only few characters that could really pull this off, so it would be a bit tough. As Crow said, one of my favorite instances was Goro, but then they ruined it for no real reason. Goro was the perfect candidate, and it would have been nice for a bigger guy like that would have turned hero because it would have led to some interesting situations.

I think Frost would work. She could just learn from her msitakes and realize she was wrong etc.

Smoke could work. It would have to be along the lines of how Cyrax was turned, but use Sub Zero instead.

Cobra could work. He just looks like a good guy, and he hasn't had the worst history connected to him, so it wouldn't be too hard to turn him.

Li Mei could work. She just seems like such an easy character to turn. Though I don't think it's really gonna benefit anything.

And this one is a bit of a stretch, and probably the least likely out of the ones I am am mentioning, but Kano could work. I don't think I would like to see it though. Kano essentially cares about his life in the end, in fact, that's probably the only thing he really cares about deep down. So if threatened, and in a scenario where it would be better for him to go good, I could see it happening. He would be one of those guys that works for the good side, but doesn't really change his selfish ways.

Those who named Shang Tsung to switch, I think it'd be much more believable if Shinnok switched instead. Sure he's evil as hell, but he could try and change his ways and reestablish his role as an elder god etc.

That's about all I can think of.

Mavado might be willing to help to save Earthrealm, because its his own 'turf' and power base or to help Sonya take down the last of the Black Dragons (kinda like what Kabal did in MK3). But after his 'good deed' was done, he would go back to his old evil self.

Nitara never really seemed truly evil to me...true she drank blood and used trickery to get her way. Drinking blood was the way her people fed. Asking a Vampire to stop drinking blood would be like asking humans to do without eating or drinking. She only used trickery to restore her people's homeland and to be honest in the early days of MK I could see Princess Kitana doing the exact same thing if it meant freeing Edenia.

....ok I'll be honest...one of my least favorite characters Li Mei might return back to a good gal if some of her true/original soul remained.

Of the pre-MK4 characters Kabal, I could see Reptile changing sides if he ever got a brain and/or backbone. Smoke, if he ever regain his mind but I seriously doubt that the original Smoke if even in that shell.

I would say Kabal, but he never should have been evil in the first place. He WAS good as far as the MK3 ending is concerned.

Beyond that, all the characters that I wanted to turn good did so already. I wouldn't choose Rain, since I think the spoiled prince theme works well for him. Everyone else has covered the Goro issue, so I'll leave him alone.

I know Kobra would work as a good character, but that doesn't necessarily mean they should do it. Then again, he wasn't the most motivated of villains, and he has more potential for hilarity as a good guy. Kira has moral potential, but her situation would take much more finesse since she's actually a serious character.

Wow...that wasn't the point.

The point is to let the lead antagonists be seen for why they happen to be SO evil. If I used a bad analogy, my fault. But to play through what makes them tick only solidifies why they're the bad guys on the roster. The only thing I think that may be truly "explained away", is why the groups around them, stick around them instead of say..one of the protagonists on the roster. Who would no doubt take better care of their best interest.

I don't want "warm fuzzies" from Shao Kahn or Shang Tsung either. But they both do have triumph and failure in their stories on different occasions. Not only that, you could probably get away with making the good guys look like bad guys at the same time. THAT....is a game I would play.

It's not about gaining compassion for them, it's about having different motives and objectives for once. Instead of always "Def3at teh evilz!"

"The Tarkatans already have an origin story, man. They're the result of Outworld citizens being being crossbred with demons from the Netherealm.

It's implied Shao Kahn is the one who did it, so he'd have an army 'cause when he took over Outworld, the current soldiers all killed themselves to become the Dragon King's mummies."

Well, I was just tinkering with an alt story of his origin trying to see how he could be turned from heel to hero but I guess it's best that they keep him as he is. The 3d look where I found him truly bad-ass was in the opening video for Armageddon, the one where he and Kung Lao duke it out. I think that should be his primary if they bring him back in MK9 either as a bad guy or as a good guy.

"I don't need Kahn or Tsung having their evilness
explained away by "SEE THEY DID ALL THIS EVIL STUFF TO SAVE ONE PUPPY" or some crap.

I don't want major villains cheapened by their side of the story painting them like misunderstood monsters."

Could never agree more on this. This is the reason why I hated the Hannibal movie and the book. They tried to justify Lecter's killings of people because either the victims deserve it or he kills people who are bad and some shit. I don't want villains apologizing for their actions.

"I don't want "warm fuzzies" from Shao Kahn or Shang Tsung either. But they both do have triumph and failure in their stories on different occasions. Not only that, you could probably get away with making the good guys look like bad guys at the same time. THAT....is a game I would play.

It's not about gaining compassion for them, it's about having different motives and objectives for once. Instead of always "Def3at teh evilz!"

Agree on this also. Kinda reminds me of those Image Comics Crossovers between Brigade and Bloodstrike. It's intriguing to see that the ones you thought of as good are actually dicks when you get the "villains" point of view. The fact is that some villains are effective if in their own twisted way of thinking, what they're doing is actually not wrong but right.

Honestly, it worked with Goro while it lasted, it really worked with Ermac, so I think the MK team should probably quit doing the face turn thing while they're ahead. Stick with what you wrote initially, guys.

Reptile

I kind of laughed at this topic; there are people here who desperately want Sub-Zero, Kitana, Cyrax and other characters to be evil again....yet I've never heard ANYONE want to see a character become Good.

While there aren't a lot of characters who I'd want to see changing alignments, I am sick of one character who isn't evil being mistakenly identified as evil:

Scorpion is not a god damned villain.

Even when he's neutral and only out for himself, his agenda is usually righteous. In MK1, the bad guy in their story was Sub-Zero, not him. The Older Sub-Zero was a self-centered douchebag with nearly the same personality as Kano. Sure, Scorp briefly worked for the badguys in MK3 and 4, but he was more or less manipulated into that position and always figures out he's being played or the villains are in the wrong and switches sides at the end.

That's why I liked him as Champion of the Elder Gods in Deception. The way Shaolin Monks and Armageddon portrayed him, in contrast, was utter bullshit.

Kano. It's always bothered me that Kano is a mercenary and that the heroes never thought to pay him to fight with them.

I imagine Sonya would have a problem with that, their rivalry supposedly being personal and all.