One of the things I've noticed is there's a few changes already like when yuo see Li Mei and Kira chainded up in the arena. Wasn't Kira skulking around caves somewhere over seas or somethin'? I could be wrong since it was around Deception when that was mentioned about how Kabal found her
At this point I wouldn't really rule anyone out just yet. I could see the dark pope wanna be returnin' even at least as a background character

Hmm..."dark pope"...I like that description of him. If they put a lot more emphasis on his religious ties as a fallen god and how the Brotherhood of the Shadow is a doomsday cult that follows him fanatically and wants to see him swallow the universe in darkness and bring the end of days and whatnot, his character could be a LOT more interesting.

Like the way he was in Mythologies. He should be more like that. Standing straight and tall in long robes and whatnot. That was far more impressive and arch-villainous than he comes off as in MK4 and Armageddon.

In fact, I'd say the number one problem with every villain in the 3D era is everybody's fighting stance looks hunched over. The guys who are supposed to be really, hugely tall never look it anymore because of that, and that ain't right.

Darkstalkers rocked at this.

Y'know what Darkstalkers didn't rock at?

Makin' sequels.

Reused ancient Morrigan sprites in MvC = awful.
That's not really relevant to anything, it's just the first thing I think of whenever Darkstalkers is mentioned 'cause it drives me nuts.

lol, I agree. I still used her, but yes, she looked disgusting.

But a new Darkstalkers game is all but confirmed at this point, so this will change soon enough.

I like Shinnok a lot. To me, he was the highlight of MKA's Konquest. I like his design too, especially his alternate costume in Armageddon. Overall, he and Quan Chi look the creepiest of all the main vilians in MK. Though he sucked gameplay-wise in MK4, at least his fatalities were awesome. Then in MKA they gave him some nice special moves and improved the character overall very nicely.

I don't think he'll be playbable in the next game, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him in some of the cutscenes (maybe Sindel's resurrection). I like that idea someone posted earlier how this next game should finish by hinting that the next threat coming is going to be Shinnok.

Shinnok is fantastic.

While his debut might have been sort of poor in MK4, the team took really good care of him and brought him back with intense incredible glory in MKA.

I was really disappointed and sad that we didn't get more of him during Konquest mode, but, thanks to the bios we got more than enough to appreciate his great potential.

That being said: I HOPE HE IS NOT in the game.

I understand that things from the original storyline are going to change in this game, but I do not want such drastic stupid changes to happen. This cannot be taken lightly.

Shinnok had nothing to do with the first 3 games, his return came during the time of MK4. He and Quan Chi could be mentioned or make cameos of some sort, but, nothing stupid that makes us say: "OMG, so, that contradicts everything that happened in MK4!!!!".

Maybe if they'll show us Sub-Zero Sr. transformation into Noob-Saibot in the NetherRealm, then Shinnok and Quan Chi have chance to appear onscreen.

Anyway I think Shinnok appearance in MKA was awesome. He had awesome costumes and decent role in the Konquest. What I really liked about him there, that instead of evil brute villain he was more like Emperor from Star Wars - a creepy manipulator.

Well with Shinnok he was def overshadowed by Quan Chi in MK4.
He def also needs to be revamped.

That's not true.

In the original canon, he made Scorpion a spectre, he made Sub 1 into Noob Saibot, he assisted with Sindel's resurrection, he brought Mileena back to life, and I HAVE to imagine he'd have some choice words to say to Kahn in UMK3 about him trying to steal souls from Hell and accidentally freeing Scorp.