Like you, not all of these characters are favourites of mine (Scorpion and Sonya are overrated, imo, hate Liu). But on most of them I do agree that these characters need to stick around for MK's future. Reptile should stay as a lizard, maybe something like his brilliant new MKSM look, which mixes both ninja and monster very well.

The one exception is Liu Kang. He was stale from MK3, and he's stale now. He wasn't very involved in the MKD story, yet his ending suggests he MIGHT be back as a hero. Liu's death was one of MK's best moves, and I don't think we need him anymore. Give his role over to the far better Kung Lao, let him take over as the heroic Shaolin fighter of MK. But everyone else mentioned should be involved, and play a part in MK's future.

red-dragon thanks for you feedback... Ya Liu was in his prime during Mk2... he did become stale but I think that his character was brought back nicely. I do like Kung Lao better too... He's actually my favorite character, so I left him off the list to make sure I wasn't being biased.... BAck to Kang... to me, his ending in Deception made it appear as if he was back, but wouldn't be the spotlight hog anymore. Just having him back makes me and a few others out there happy haha.

People who have a lot of potential and need to be brought back, or the ones lost to the storyline:

Sonya: classic character with enough indeopendence in both design and plotline. We should have her back. She is the epitomy of the realistic tie of MK, ergo the military and the real world what hasn't got a shimmer about Outworld.

J.Cage: became stereotypical to say the least. Even Paul from Tekken was involved with the storyline, but what does Cage do the storyline? He only fights aside his friends. Everyone had more motives than he. But should be kept, but only if there is an interesting twist in his storyline.

Liu Kang- stale. Put him to background. All he ever did was to save Earth. nothing special really. Ermac should substitute him perfectly.

Kung Lao-despite Kangs unconvincing appearance, this ex-shaolin monk should be what MK desires as a main good guy. He has all what Liu had, plus, he is quite different from the rest of the crew. PLus, the hat gives him an uncertain feeling about his alignment.

Scorpion and Sub-Zero - questionable?

Shang Tsung- needles to say that he represents true evil in the game. Plus, with an evolution we saw in MKDa, it is necessary to bring him back somehow.

Quan Chi- the powerfullest sorcerer, but weaker in combat than Tsung. Counterpart to the shapeshifter, so we want him back.

Reptile- i was really neutral on him, but we should bring him back. Unless it is he, to whom Boon was referring as killed off forever.

Others that need to return: Raiden, Kitana, Mavado, Kabal, Kira, Hotaru, Dairou, Noob/Smoke, Ermac (since he takes liu's place), Havik, Shao Kahn, Li Mei, Bo' Rai Cho, Shujinko (two bands of the good guys, fending each other off-what would that make?) and lots of new characters.

People who should remain forgotten: Reiko, Rain, Tanya, either Baraka or Mileena (thanks to the endings), Shinnok, Sheeva,

Sorry for my bluntness, but MK would completely blow if Reptile was gone forever

Totally agreed... Thats why I put him in my list of 10. Glad that you agree!

I agree with most of Rubin's list of essentials (with one exception, explained above). There's a couple more characters I would add to this list, who should have big roles in future MK games.

Kung Lao- I think he should take over where Liu left off. He still has the unresolved family issues with Shang and a now back to evil Goro. Plus Liu's death gives him added reasons to fight. He always had more of a killer instinct than Liu, which I think the "main" hero of this series would need. Plus in MK3/MK4 bios, it tells us that Kung Lao trains younger Shaolin monks, so the potential to give him a student is there too.

My other choice for MK main hero, if not Kung Lao would be Sub Zero, with his new Lin Quei as a force for good.

Goro- I'm not his biggest fan (though I do like him). But, along with Scorpion, Sub Zero and Raiden, this character is an instantly recognisable MK icon, and one of the series's trademarks. The original big bad boss monster. Much as I like Kintaro, he and other monster sub bosses have always seemed second best compared with Goro.

Mavado- Please excuse me if I'm biased on this one, as he's my favourite after Johnny. But he has so much involvement in the MKDA storyline, and connections to many other characters(Quan Chi, Sub Zero, Kenshi etc), so there's a lot of cool stuff they could do with him. I was surprised he didn't make MKD. The fact that Boon has said he likes him increases Mavado's comeback chances greatly. Where Kano (much as I love him) was really a thug, Mavado is more like a mafia godfather.

Ermac- He has a big role in MKD, and seems to do most of the work in rescuing the main heroes. It's great to see that what started as a cheap pallete swap has evolved into arguably MK's most improved character. Ermac has real potential to become a central part in the fight against evil, maybe as some kind of guide/mentor to the others while Raiden's away going crazy and blowing up stupid old Shujinko.

Li Mei- Another character who has evolved a lot since we first saw her. In MKDA, she was a kind of innocent character, caught up in it all, cool but without much depth. Her near death experience has toughened her up, and given her more of a killer edge. But still manages to mix it in with that young, inexperienced outlook that we don't see much in MK. Plus she's one of MK's best female fighters, imo, and different enough from the "ninja women".

Shao Kahn- Probably MK's greatest boss and villain. Shinnok sucked, and Onaga seems better as a sub boss rather than final boss. Kahn's everything an evil overlord should be, brutal, cunning, and arrogant all in one big, scary, armoured package.

I also expect big things out of Ermac and Mavado in the future MK's... I could care less for either character in terms of gameplay, but both of them seem to have great stories that can be built upon. Mavado was arguably the best new character next to Kenshi from DA because he had a cool story, look and name. I just couldn't stand how he fought. He will almost certainly be back in the next game to fight Kabal and other black dragon members. Ya, I agree too that Kung Lao rules... He's my favorite of all time.

Ermac: With the wisdom out an untold thousand dead, And the power to defeat Earth's mightiest warriors with but a whim. What role would this noble enigma play since the falling of Raiden?

Havik: Good or evil, Savior or destroyer of every realm, Depending of which his guide through existance sees fit. He is a wildcard taped to a time-bomb.

Kabal: The psychosis of the madman has worn thin. Absented by the life he chose to live by the guidance from the Priest of Chaos. What will he do with the Black Dragon?

Mileena: With her fanstasy, Her soul desire achieved, What will will she do? She has previously went to any length to ensure her place in Edenia... What lengths will she go through now to secure it?

Noob-Smoke: What are Smoke's true loyalties? His story has yet to be told, And Noob Saibot's rise to power has just started. They could be great instruments in the future of Mortal Kombat. Whether as allies, Or enemies...

Raiden: He has gone insane out of fraustration, And possibly anger. His own destructive compulsions are obviously going to lead to serious disaster, Causing powerful beings to intervine, Such as Fujin among others.

Rain: His place in the realms in unknown. He could be a very important ace in the hole for either Edenia or Outworld. Only time will tell where his confused heart belongs.

Reptile: After his possession by Onaga, May have something happened to his mind... Or power? Will he continue to be but a puppet, Or will he come to control his own life?

Scorpion: Champion of the Elder Gods, And Enforcer of their will. He has come to finally know a calling in his afterlife now that his lust for vengeance has been burned asunder. What will the anti-hero do in the coming struggle for all existance?

Sub-Zero: His clan has gained re-newed fortitude, As enemies of his clan yearn to see it crumble. Not only from Sektor's Tekunin and the Red Dragon, But also from his own brother's black heart. What has he discovered in the cave of his ancient blood-line? What can the young warrior do to save everything he has ever known?

I pretty much agree with the list, rubin. Especially on Liu Kang. Killing him off in DA, IMO, was just messed up. Didn't feel right at all. Liu Kang's the character that got me into playing MK, and, to me, it doesn't feel like MK unless I am using Liu Kang. He's just too cool to leave out! But I say this because he is my favorate character... Let me put my favortism aside for a moment... Liu Kang is essential to future MK games for reasons mentioned in rubin's post. He's just too invovled in MK to be left out. The only reason they killed him off in DA was for shock value, to give the fans something they would not have expected. However, I was already afriad of this happening when Tobias left and the story fell into someone else's hands. I feared Liu was in danger because he was the main hero, and would become a potential victim to the new storyteller's idea of where to take MK. But I think even Vogel and the other guys involved with the story realize Liu's importance in the storyline, which is why they brought him back (thankfully) in MKD. Though I think they already knew they'd bring him back, as all characters eventually come back at some point. Though I personally hate the zombie idea for Liu, and am glad I have the option of his alternate outfit. I'm glad to have Liu Kang back in MK, and I for one hope he is here to stay!

~Jason Rainwater
Once again, defending the defender of Earthrealm.

Ya, Jason, I'm glad you agree with me on the Liu Kang thing.... Again, this is not based on my favorite characters, but purely on whom I think is essential to the game at this point. Others I would include simply from looking at Deception (besides the 10) I mentioned would be the following....

1. Kabal- I think Kano is done for a while, and Kabal is the new guy for the Black Dragon.

2. Mavado- Although I can't stand him, he has a great story and the rival to both the Special Forces and Black Dragon. Probably still alligned with Quan Chi somehow or possibly will allign with Shao Kahn.

3. Ermac- Great possibilities with his character to go in any direction.

4. Sindel- I was impressed by the way they brought her back. Her ending was arguably the best in Deception.

5. Kung Lao- Ok, he's my favorite.... This is a little biased.. But maybe there could be an angle where he is jealous of Liu Kang being back and saving the day again.... Kung Lao was defeated by the Deadly Alliance, so he could become bitter and turn more evil like Raiden.

6. Shao Kahn- I never thought I would say this, but it appears as if Shao Kahn is back for good! I never even thought he was a worthy boss because of his stupid taunting during matches, but he looks awesome IMO in Deception!

In my oppinion there are only a few chcaracters that Must be in the next game. The rest are good additions, but I will let them surprise me. I do have a wish list obviously :

1) Scorpion - for obvious resons
2) Noob Saibot as the classic sub zero - I wish they return the good old brute without mercy, or somehow make a hybrid of noob and classic sub zero. And yes I do hope they kill the yunger sub zero.
3) Dark Raiden - not the goodie version, but the mean bad ass who doesn't like to fail.
4) Reptile - in his MK2/3 form...
5) Kitana - I just like the character
6) Sektor - My fav cyborg, need I say more?

There are a few characters who I think need to get a life and get out of the MK saga, and in some cases stay dead. J.Cage, Kintaro, Mocap, Modavo, Kai, Bo rai cho and a few others I can't remember...

Ermac seems to be an essential character for the future Mortal Kombats. In Ermac's ending he sensed the one being after Liu Kang and him rescued the Earth warriors who were under Onaga's control. I can picture Ermac as a guru to the Earth warriors in the future Mortal Kombats.

Liu Kang seems more important in this recent Mortal Kombat than he ever was. As a spirit Liu Kang is very calm, he is not rushed and he is like a guardian to Earth's warriors. Now that Raiden has changed for the worse, I think Liu Kang will take Raiden's place as guide to Earth's warriors. Perhaps he might not yet be restored to his original form, but Liu Kang is a very integral character in the Mortal Kombat universe.

Raiden - Raiden seems to be a new menace to the realms. Now that Raiden has become more ruthless, Raiden could pose as a threat to everyone around him. In Raiden's ending you can see the cruelty that Raiden has in him. Only the future could tell where this new twist in his story will take him.

Sub-Zero has become much stronger than he ever was in the past Mortal Kombat game, and he was the most recognized Earthrealm warrior by Onaga. Sub-Zero has alot of new enemies now due to his strength and power that he was granted with his new armor, and the dragon medallion. Sub-Zero is now the leader of the Lin Kuei and he now could be very well involved in a myriad number of other character's stories such as Noob Saibot's and Scorpion's.

I think that almost covers it!

Noob Saibot- Now that we know who he really is they can't not bring him back.

Scorpion- Besides the obvious reasons, how we he react when he discovers Noob's true identity?

Sub-Zero- See Scorpion.

Quan Chi- Even if he is dead, he's too involved with the storyline and other characters to stay gone.

Sareena- I see Sareena being stuck in the middle of the whole Sub-Zero/Noob Saibot situation. She liked the original Sub-Zero, but hated the Brotherhood of the Shadow. Will he try to get her to join? Will she stay with the current Sub-Zero? Not to mention she's connected to Quan Chi and most likely connected to Ashrah.

Shao Kahn- Still playable. I don't want Kahn to be the boss again, at least not for a while. I think they should keep him trying to regain his power and his throne.

Ermac- I see Ermac eventually becoming one of the main heroes, sort of like Sub-Zero.

Kitana- She's currently evil again, which holds much potential. After she breaks free, how will she deal with the aftermath? Not to mention Goro is alive and has betryayed her, and Shao Kahn and Mileena are still around.

Mileena- She's finally trying to take her own power which makes her a potential enemy of Onaga, Shao Kahn, Tanya, and Baraka. I'd like to see how far Mileena's going to go to keep her newfound power.


And characters that aren't essential, but I'd like back anyway:
Raiden, Sindel, Jade, Tanya, Smoke, Kung Lao, Sektor, Frost, Kabal, Kira, Nitara, and Reptile if Onaga's gone.

I think people who say Liu Kang is boring for the most part just follow what others say(similar to those who said Nightwolf sucks). His story is VERY cool in my opinion, especially after mediocre/sub-par stories in MK3/4. In MK1 his story was very cool, and in MK2 it was just a continuation of the first one's. I like what they did with MKD for him. Yes, I do believe it was neccessary to kill him in MKDA just to make other characters more relevant, but I like the idea of him being back in MKD. The whole two kang's thing is really cool, and I love the idea of body posession, and im hoping it's havik or shang tsung that did it. I think he's a lot more interesting than Kano,Hsu Hao,etc. Sure he's no Scorpion,Sub-Zero,Reptile or anything like that, but I truly do feel MK doesn't feel right without him.

By the way, most people don't know this, but Liu Kang was John Tobias' favorite character, and from what I've heard, the death of Liu Kang was basically a big "FUCK YOU" from Ed Boon and company to their former development partner for leaving.

Well I think Ed Boon likes Liu Kang too. Believe they didn't Liu Kang off for the people who hate him. In anything Deadly Alliance showed how important Liu Kang is to the Earthrealm Warriors as they were killed by the Deadly Alliance without him. Believe Liu Kang is essentially the main hero of MK whether you like it or not. He'll be here as long as MK is going. And even though he wasn't playable in Deadly Alliance, he still had a most important role in the story. Anyway to put in other terms, Liu Kang is the 'Mario', the 'Link', the 'Sonic' of the MK series.

characters that need to be back for MK 7:

1. Lui Kang (odvious hes back. plus earth is gunna need him)
2. Kung Lao (has a lot of potential, he will also be needed)
3. Raiden (he is really taking a new direction. could be a sub-boss/ boss)
4. Fujin (Earth realm needs a new leader)
5. Jax (hes the man)
6. Kitana (she will allways have her spot in mk, even tho i hate her)
7. Kai (need more white lotus. him lui and lao need to be a team)
8. Ermac (very powerful, new good guy, has a higher understanding of the one being, freed earth realm fighters)
9. Scorpion (will allways be there)
10. Noob Siabot (the sub-zero replacement, ruler of neather realm)
11. Smoke (hes a great character, and his story could go good or evil)
12. Sektor (hes plotting something, plus hes the last real cyborg)
13. Shao Kahn (hes gunna have to fight his way back to power)
14. Goro (goro and kahn = the Deadlier Alliance)
15. Quan Chi (face it, hes still alive and wont quit plotting his sceams)
16. Kabal (he got the heart, he will resurect Kano, Hes got a strong clan)
17. Kira (Odviously killed Kobra for her spot on the black dragon)
18. Kano (Cant have Black Dragon without Kano)
19. Hotaru (Order isnt going away that easily)
20. Havik (either is Chaos)
21. Cyrax (left off in tact and a good guy)
22. Reptile (i want him back despritly)
23. Jade (she will return)
24. Baraka (he might have got his ass kicked in deption, but he killed mileena)
25. Blaze (his story has just begun)

Character who need to die off for good:
1. Johnny Cage (need some earth realm casualties, I hate him)
2. Sonya (thats enuf of that bitch)
3. Mileena (baraka killed her, katana and jade are enuf)
5. Sub-Zero Jr. (would be a good twist to make scorpion the champ of the elder gods (a good guy) and kill off this sub zero, but giving noob sub zeros freeze and an alt costume with blue ninja suit and black skin. this would change the whole subs the good guy and scorp is the bad one)
6. Stryker (whent no where, will never go anywhere)
7. Movado (Red dragon is dead)
8. Hsu Hao (Red dragon is dead)
9. Jarrek (Red dragon is dead)
10. Darrius (sucks)

i dont care how much you guys love sonya, johnny cage, mileena and sub-zero jr. They need to be dead for good. get over it.

wow that's one of the weirdest post i've ever read. you want Jax back, but you want the younger sub-zero to be dead, and when you stated the reason why you want jax back you simply said "he's the man"...wow.

Btw buddy..Jarek was a part of the BLACK dragon.

Ya, judging from the last post above Versatile, it appears that people are starting to simply state their personal favorite characters. This post is for people whom everyone thinks are vital and critical to the MK story! Remember, I can't stand Sonya and could care less about Cage and Quan Chi in terms of fighting, but they belong in MK games because they are staples! Stick to the topic please

I won't deny that Liu Kang was a cool character in MK1 and MK2. MK1 had him as the kinda plucky underdog triumphing, and MK2 finally gave him the boost in moves and style that a hero should have.

But I disagree about bringing him back into MKD. He seems to be there just for the sake of it, Ermac seems to do most of the work in saving the other heroes from Onaga. Yet Liu's ending (if canon) suggests that he will be back as THE main hero again. After MK2, Liu basically became the Ryu of MK, a dull "main" character portrayed as the hero despite not really evolving. If we HAVE to have Liu back, I don't want him as the number one good guy, and certainly not winning MK all the time again. Keeping him in a big role is holding back, imo, far more deserving heroes like Sub Zero (surely his time is coming, look at all the build up), or my personal choice, Kung Lao.

People who say Liu kang "won" over and over again are mistaken. MK was the only actual tournament. In MK4 I am pretty sure Quan Chi killed Shinnok, in MKDA there was no real victory and technically Kang didn't win MK2 or MK3 since they were not tournaments(MK2 being a trap).

How is him being in MKD just bringing him back to be bringing him back? I can see if his story was really stupid like "i came back alive because my soul couldnt rest in such turmoil" or some stupid shit like that, but his story had a nice little twist and I didn't have a problem with it. All negativity IMO towards MKD's story and characters should be towards the new ones. With the exception of Ashrah and Havik, they all sucked IMO.

all forums are is opinion, and it is my opinion that those are vital characters. if you ask me sonya and johnny cage have never done anything to contribute to the mk story but fight kano or die and come back.

and you if ask me, Jarek was nothing but a Kano rip off with a shitty storyline who's dead and should stay dead for the rest of the Mortal Kombat Series existence.

Ya you are entitled to your opinion, but usually when people make a list of essential characters, they do a few things....
Keep it in low numbers because it is an elite class or category...
Not put personal favorites in there
Characters should have some F'n story... Sorry bud but Jarek was in 1 Mk. How you have him essential is unbelievable. but again... your opinion.