ok i wouldnt say 5 times but still more people would recognize reptile or johnny cage than kitana

When you think of the faces of MK, Reptile & Johnny Cage do not
come to mind at all. Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Raiden, Kitana, Mileena,
are pretty much the core representatives of Mortal Kombat IMO.

I don't even understand what "more people would recognize _____" even means in this context. We're all Mortal Kombat fans, we recognize EVERY character.

If you're talking about casual gamers who aren't very familiar with MK then the truth of the matter is the most well known games are MK2 and UMK3. Johnny Cage wasn't even IN 3, and Kitana was in the SAME games Reptile was in. And all THREE of them were in the movie, and Kitana and Johnny were BOTH main characters, while Reptile was a background character.
So no matter what angle you look at it from, you're completely full of shit.

QED.

no need for insults i'm not saying your full of it for complaining about kitana im saying be glad she's in the game

Well you shouldn't have tried to push a "my favorites are more popular" agenda. That's a real quick way to offend someone and start an argument, especially when the facts don't even back up your claim.

Just a disclaimer: I did not say that having both characters is redundant. For the most part, they have different stories with a different objective. But if you can't see how having two red-wearing, telekinesis-using protagonists causes a little thunder to be stolen, then there's no real point discussing the matter. We'll never see eye-to-eye on it.

As for Reptile using the same move as Sub-Zero? That's an entirely different concept. The moves are not the point. What is the point is the story behind the move. Reptile's Slide and Sub-Zero's come from different origins, I assume. Ermac and Kenshi both use the same root power to toss their opponents around.



Can't disagree here, at all. I'm sorry to say it, but there is no fucking way Reptile is more recogniseable to the casual gamer than Kitana is. I could see how a case could be made for Johnny Cage, as he was presented very strongly in the movie. Reptile, however? Nahhhhh.

It would take me two hands to count all the characters who have flame powers. Do they steal each other's thunder?
Hell, look at Shang Tsung, not only is he one of those many, many fire wielders, but he ALSO has sorcery in common with Quan Chi and soul stealing AND hosting tournaments in common with Shao Kahn and still manages to be unique, compelling, and worth playing as in every game he's in.
The cyberninjas have also never really diminished each other when appearing in the same games and they have almost everything in common.
So clearly there can be more than one psychic in Mortal Kombat without them stepping on each other's toes, especially since Kenshi and Ermac are definitiely very different figures. One is basically a "wise old sage" archetype from a world that resembles ancient China/Japan, and the other is a "wandering ronin" archetype, a front lines warrior, and a crimefighter from modern day Earth.

I think Kitana's (implied) story in MKvDC was pretty good, suits her, and is not insulting to her character in any way.

Spoilers:


The only thing lacking in her story IMO is that we didn't see it first-hand. It would have been good to see.

I like your perspective, especially because I hadn't stopped to properly analyze Kitana's portrayil in the game (at least not as well as you seem to have).

I don't think she was portrayed as the "dark, courageous MKII assassin" from the old days, but it seems like the problem here isn't that she was made to be a damsel in distress yet again, but rather (like I said before) that the MK Team isn't using Kitana the way her biggest fans would like her to be used.

Either way, it all goes back to what I mentioned before. I strongly believe that the MK Team is simply using Kitana as the character she's supposed be. She's still courageous, still determined, still an asset; what she isn't is MKII Kitana. She's not this feared, skilled combatant who every villain must quiver at the sight of because she used to be the big bad personal assassin of Khan. That, obviously, just isn't who Kitana was created to be! She's fufilling her role, which isn't as bad as people are making it out to be. The thing that is pissing so many people off is simply that she didn't keep the MKII persona, and that her creators want it to be like this and have wanted it to be like this from back in day. That's all there is to it when you think about it: Kitana's big fans and Kitana's creators don't share the same opinions, and that's evidently a sore subject.

Every character has a role in the MK Universe, and they fuffill that role in all of their appearences. It's what creators do with a large cast in order to avoid "clones". Kitana's big fans (or some of them, because I honeslty haven't seen that many Kitana complaints since the game came out) have to realize that she's serving her purpose and being the character her creators want her to be. They're not doing anything wrong, or "raping" her or anything like that.

When you said "wise old sage," I honestly had to read the second description to work out which character you were referring to. Again, the same moves are not important, what is important is the story behind the moves. That Liu Kang and Kobra both use a fireball move (for example) has little bearing on either's story. Kenshi and Ermac as telekinetic warriors seems a lot more crucial to each of their make-up.

You do have a point with Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, but they were part of separate stories, as Kenshi and Ermac initially were. My problem isn't with Kenshi using telekinesis, it's just having two telekinesis users on the same side in the same story. Why have two when one would do?

Sorry about the double post, but I have to address this post, because I believe it is a very good one:

I agree with what you are saying...to a point. It's very likely the MK Team is using Kitana to this purpose they have in mind for her, but what I have to (again) ask is "Does the MK Team realise how counter-productive it is forcing this character off into a direction that fans of the series don't want to see her go in?

From a business and marketing standpoint, they are taking one of their more successful characters, and turning her into something watery and not worth caring about, or investing any money in. Keeping the fans happy with Kitana's portrayal increases the chance of selling Kitana toys, games with her in it, etc.

How exactly do you think Kitana's top fans wish to see her portrayed? It seems like you're one of them, so at this point, I'm kind of wondering exactly which "Kitana" you want to see. I'd like to consider an answer to this question before I actually state anything further.

Well, I'm actually not that much of a Kitana fan, believe it or not. You're best asking Xia, or someone like that.

What I've gathered is that people liked the strength of the original character. Her ability to make earth-shattering decisions. When you really look at Kitana's choice to help the Earthrealm warriors against her adoptive father, she had no way of knowing how things would turn out. She threw away her life as Outworld's assumed princess, I guess, and became a traitor. She was willing to go against friends like Jade and Rain to fight for this land she had never really experienced, just because she felt it was right.

Kitana sat patiently under the gaze of Shao Kahn, waiting to strike and take Edenia back. That takes a calm and calculating character. Showing Kitana as someone easily rattled goes against that, regardless of whether or not it's what the MK Team wants her to be now.

I think Kitana fans also like the seductive lethality of the character -- beautiful, mysterious, veiled, with exotic weapons. Having her serve as a "damsel in distress" goes against that very description.

Being that I do consider myself one those "top fans" I guess its safe
for me to answer this. What I personally would like see the MK team
do with Kitana is bring back the killers edge she had. Kitana was once
a mysterious, deadly warrior who quite possibly (along with Mileena &
Jade) was one of Kahn's most feared and proficient assassins. She
spent practically ALL her life, all 10,000 years of it, under his rule as
his daughter & loyal servant. Since joining the good guys, no one can
deny that Kitana has become as soft as a peach. When I look at her
images from MK2 & UMK3, I see someone that I wouldn't want to cross
paths with, someone I wouldn't want to piss off. Now, when I look at
an image of Kitana, I feel nothing. She does not even give off the same
vibe or appeal. She's practically become a fairytale Princess, all she's
missing is a ball gown and a fairy godmother.

So basically, if the MK team gives a damn about what fans have to
say, I say lead Kitana down a darker path. Armageddon is the perfect
set up for this. Its already been officially stated that Kitana is tired of the fighting, and combating some new evil. I say make Kitana turn her back
on it all, give her a I don't give a crap attitude. I'd even go as far as to have her become an assassin again, freelance of course and place her on the neutral playing field. Oh, not to mention give her outer image an overhaul.
If I see Kitana in one more one piece bodysuit I am going to scream.
Cut her hair, there's nothing bad ass about it. Ugh, I'm ranting now, but
basically I want to see a deadlier Kitana. As it stands she's nothing more
than as Shang so put it in MK vs DC storymode "Liu Kang's Woman"

I think you're pretty much correct in these assumptions. However, these are qualities and traits that Kitana was only able to show because of the scenario in which she was involved in the past. During the times of MKII and MK3, it was all about Shao Khan and his invasion of Earth. This gave Kitana the chance to be the character that makes earth-shattering decisions, that fights strongly for her awe-inspiring belief despite the consequences.

The problem is that this is a "been there, done that" situation. Kitana made the choice to turn on Shao Khan, on everything she knew, and instead aid in Earthrealm's fight. Everyone goes "Ooooh, aaahhh", including me (like I said, I used to be a solid Kitana fan), and we all love the character for the exact reasons you stated: she makes an earth-shattering decision, shows to have an impressive persona, to be a strong-minded warrior. Then what?

The transition is what made her so awesome, but that element of surprise wore off. From that point on, Kitana established herself as "one of the good guys". There was no longer a proper scenario where she could show off all of the qualities and traits that her fans loved so much. So what does the MK Team do? They try to make her as different from the other "good guys" as possible, which is all they COULD do from that point on and can continue doing now.

If Kitana was a character who, after MK3, stuck around with Raiden and Co., defended Earthrealm as she did before, etc., etc., guess what? She'd turn into a Sonya. We already have a female who fights the big fights for Earthrealm, and something tells me Kitana's big fans wouldn't like her being a Sonya clone just as much as they don't like her being a damsel in distress. The way I see it, the MK Team analyzed who Kitana had turned into and found that the one thing that differentiated her from the other good guys is that she was an Edenian princess. And of course, cue the damsel in distress role of MK4, the "fight against Outworld's forces for Edenia" in MKDA, and the "Go after Dark Khan before he can harm Edenia (even though it fucked her up)" in MKDC. I mean, if she had stuck around with Liu Kang in Earthrealm and started going around beating up superheroes until it came time to face Dark Khan, she'd be a boring Sonya clone.

To put it in simpler words, Kitana established herself as a good guy in Mk3, and it's useless to wish for the same "wow factor" she possessed BECAUSE OF THE MK2/3 TRANSITION to return. The Mk Team is doing what they can to keep her "Edenian princess" identity intact, because it's the identity that makes her unique, that stops her from turning into a second Sonya, or a female Liu Kang.



Well, the first traits that you wish for Kitana COULD be implemented into the character even as she stands now (one of the "good guys"), but then she becomes a female Sub-Zero. I mean, Subby already fits the description of "mysterious, deadly warrior who's still a good guy", and making Kitana into the same thing would be a hazard or, at the least, a huge risk when they have the unique identity of "Edenian Princess" always ripe for the picking.

You also mention leading Kitana into a darker path, making her a neutral character who turns her back on the "good" side but doesn't fall entirely into the "evil" one. Well, then you'd have a female Scorpion wandering around.

See, this is what I'm saying. The MK Team is doing what they have planned for Kitana which, in turn, is what makes Kitana different from the other fighters. Ridding Kitana of her "princess" vibe is a huge risk, because the roles available to her from thereon have already been taken. Make Kitana a strong, active warrior who fights for Earthrealm and you have a Sonya clone, make Kitana a deadly, mysterious warrior who fights for Earthrealm and you've got a Subby clone, make her dark and neutral and you've got a Scorpion clone or, at best, Sareena's long-lost cousin.



Well, it's like I said in my edit up there for WarriorPrincess's post. When you think about it, the choices that would return Kitana to her MKII roots are huge risks that put her in danger of losing her unique identity and becoming too much like the other characters of the diverse MK roster.

True, her role as a foreign princess makes her unique. But that's just one aspect of the Kitana character, and quite frankly the most boring one to explore. The MK Team isn't just limited to boxing their characters into Sonya clones or Liu Kang clones (at least, I hope not). There's far more to Kitana's character worth exploring, and though the events of MKII/MK3 are over, I shouldn't think the scars or the repercussions of those events are anywhere near close to over. Kitana has a lot of baggage, and people don't change over night, especially after 10,000 years of assassinations for the most vile emperor of Outworld. Why not throw the fans a bone, not write Kitana as an archetypal 'damsel in distress' (the easy way out), and come up with something fresh?

I'm not a Kitana fan at all...really. I just hate wasted potential. Even in an icon game.

The magic thing almost gave me an aneurysm. lol

Y'know, I don't agree that she WAS a damsel-in-distress in this game.

The plot of MK vs DCU, by it's very nature as a non-canon crossover, had to be plot driven rather than character driven, and that plot required someone from Outworld to travel there and encounter Dark Kahn face to face and as a result, be overcome with a massive dose of the Rage.

Now, who all in this game is from Outworld? Kitana, because this is the MK3 version where Edenia is still a part of Outworld, and Baraka. (You could also have said Shang, but no, in this game Shang lives on his island)

And if Baraka met Dark Kahn, he's so dumb he wouldn't be able to properly explain what he saw to anyone. Hell, he'd probably JOIN Dark Kahn's side. I'm fairly certain the only reason he's on the good guys' side in this game is that the Tarkatans appear to answer to Shang. Plus, there's not much difference between Baraka in a rage and normal Baraka. One of his primary character traits is he's a berserker.

So that just leaves Kitana. She has a reason to go home and her home is where the rage comes from, so she faces the consequences and has to be restored as a function of the next important plot point, which is Quan Chi has to earn the trust of the heroes so they'll listen to what he has to say.

Just because there's not a place in that particular story for Kitana to act like an assassin doesn't mean she's Princess fucking Peach.

In fact, the only two games where she's ever been a hostage were MK4 and Deception. In 4, the rescue FAILS and she ends up getting free on her own (albeit with implied help from Mileena, but the point remains that she was not a D-i-D being saved by a hero) and in Deception, she's ALSO Onaga's lead personal bodyguard. Why is she the one always by Onaga's side and not any of the others, especially Kung Lao? Gee, could it be that he considers her the best warrior of the five?
Hell, in Deadly Alliance she was depicted as the head General of an army and an equal of Goro, for God's sake.
NONE of that says Peach or Zelda to me.

I don't think the problem with Kitana is that she is the Princess, or that she is a good guy and no longer an assassin. I think what people are upset about most is that departure the character took. Her assassin training would have a lot of use in any of the stories she appears in. Instead, she seems to be a General or a face-to-face warrior now.

Kitana ultimately decided that Edenia was worth everything to her. Even though she didn't remember it, nor did she really know restoring it was possible. Hell, a case could be made that her helping Earthrealm against Shao Kahn could have been revenge, more than anything. That being said, it's very impressive that despite what seemed like could have originally been the intended death of her mother in MK4 when Shinnok took over, and the ongoing war against Shao Kahn, that she holds on and doesn't seem to show any "fuck, this is not worth it" tendencies.

For that reason, it could be argued that the new Kitana is just as strong-willed as the last one (playing devil's advocate here). Just some things don't quite connect through. Kitana went from being a weed to being a flower in full-bloom. It'd be nice if her rose had some thorns on it, though.

Leo, you're way off.

The desire for Kitana to return to something closer to her MK2 self has nothing to do with her role in the story. What I want, as far as making Kitana more like she was in MK2, is a return of that charisma. As WarriorPrincess said, a return to the feeling that this was a fighter to be feared and someone who was fully capable of taking care of herself. The vibe Kitana is giving off now is this soft-hearted pushover who desperately needs her hero Liu Kang to hold her hand every step of the way.

As for role, you're wrong. Leo, you keep saying this isn't how Kitana was meant to be...the creators never meant for Kitana to be this....if that were true, why did they give her such an important role in UMK3? Why was she escaping Outworld...on her own...eluding the assassins sent after her...on her own... and freeing Sindel from Kahn...on her own? And the conflict with Sindel was a important part of the story because, as we know, it was established that Sindel was a key part of MK3's plot. So if Kitana was only ever meant to be the secondary heroine of the series...they sure had a funny way of showing it.

Now MK4, true, Kitana was taken prisoner...which was most likely a last minute decision because, as we know, she was supposed to be in that game. But you see a key thing most Kitana detractors tend to forget about MK4's story is that....while Liu Kang did try to rescue Kitana...he failed and she ened up escaping. Although Mileena secretly made it easy for her to escape, the fact remains: Kitana got out of the dungeons, not because her knight in shining armor went in and got her. This goes back to what I said earlier, the difference between a hero and a victim is self-reliance. Self-reliance doesn't mean the character can do everything by him/herself and doesn't need any help whatsoever. Kitana may have been taken prisoner in MK4, but she really wasn't a damsel in distress.
EDIT: RazorsEdge already pointed this out.

Now MK:DA, where they have Kitana wiping out Shao Kahn's forces. Then when the Deadly Alliance emerges, she goes off with Kung Lao (her choice, not his) to get trained by Bo' Rai Cho and she ends up fighting Quan Chi one-on-one. Once again, if the MK team never intended Kitana to be anything more than the secondary heroine...what the fuck are they doing?

Since MK:DA, we've seen Kitana being downgraded and thrown into the background. I'm sorry ]{ombat, but your assessment doesn't sway me nor make her portrayal any better. So she was important by proxy and indirection. All due respect, but saying "if not for Kitana, Quan Chi wouldn't have been able to prove his allegience" is just...no. All that does is reduce Kitana to an object. It's a step above Quan Chi proving he could be trusted by giving everyone free candy.

But anyway, as I said, it's after MK:DA Kitana's self-reliance gets chipped away and her original charisma lost. Now Leo, here's where maybe you can say the MK team is trying to establish Kitana as a secondary heroine. Well, if it's just a simple matter of they feel Kitana's run her course as a lead heroine and they want to make way for another one....okay fine. Hey Liu Kang's act as the hero got tiresome by MK3...if they want to pass the torch, by all means.
But then I would have to ask, either retire Kitana and give her a good ending...or, if she comes back, while she doesn't have to be a major important character in the plot, she can still be a charismatic, self-reliant, individual protagonist. Stop trying to re-write history and downgrading her please.

See, it's no secret the MK team doesn't think that far ahead on their storyline. I thnk we all figured out a long time ago they, for the most part, make it up as they go along. Now when I analyze the story and look at the characters, I don't try to speculate what the MK team intended...I look at what's there. And if they never meant or wanted Kitana to emerge as a compelling character and lead heroine of the MK series....they A) had a real funny way of establishing it; and B) failed. Because she did. And she is.

Look at the storyline. Kitana grew up serving Shao Kahn, but chose to turn against him. Since then, she's been eluding assassins, saving her mother, fighting for her realm. Even without embellishment, even without filling in blanks and reading between the lines...looking at purely plot points A to B to C...she still has a stronger story and concept than quite a few others..
If you had to single out a character as the lead heroine...it's Kitana. I know Sonya fans yell and scream at the thought. But I'm sorry, evidence...whether it was meant to or not...supports Kitana.
EDIT:
By the way, before people get worried about this turning into a Kitana vs. Sonya flame war over that comment....let me just point out: that is not an attack on Sonya Blade.

Which is one of the points I wanted to make with my letter. Because of, or in spite of themselves, they've stumbled onto this genuinely good character. The only reasons she's not more than what she currently is, is because the MK team hasn't run with it to it's fullest...not just in storyline, but in gameplay and aesthetics. And this brings me to another point of my letter: either shit or get off the pot. I would rather see her gone than continue to see her treated as an afterthought.


Oh, by the way Leo, your claim that they're simply trying to keep what makes Kitana unique because if they have her be a heroine, she'd be Sonya or if they had her be a mysterious loner, she'd be Sub-Zero, and so on.......WOW, that is a small minded assessment. So by that logic, there's no need for both Quan Chi AND SHang Tsung because they're both sorcerers? You seriously believe that making Kitana into a heroine makes her just another Sonya? So the fact that their personalities are not alike, they don't look alike, they don't play alike, and they both have completely different storylines is all meaningless. They're both "good guys" and that's all that matters?

I agree with you, to a point. I've only seen the cut scenes where Wonder Woman, Scorpion, and then Quan Chi beat/capture/control her. I mean, god, it was like one humiliation after the other. I especially enjoyed watching Kitana writhe against Scorpion when he had her in a mere arm lock [/sarcasm].

This post may bring in more feminist theory than I'd like, but as Kitana's a pretty pro-woman woman in a fairly pro-man man's game, some things probably should be pointed out.

True, the given storyline of MK vs. DCU dictates that Kitana in all likelihood should witness the merger of the realms and turn cuckoo-pants. I call into question why the story dictated this necessity in the first place. There are four female characters in the game. Please correct me if I'm wrong: Two are playable in story mode (WW and Sonya), the other two get beat around for the entire game (Kitana and Catwoman) and one has no significance to the plot whatsoever (Catwoman). With so few female characters to play as, and with only two playable in story mode, did Kitana really have to be the one who was beat up (twice), fail to master the Rage, and revert to a writhing, grunting eroticized object in the clutches of a simple arm lock?

I know this post won't be all that well received. I'm just trying to point out that with the gender ratio as skewed as it is, it's a shame that the MK Team still felt the need to display one of their strongest female characters in such an unflattering light. In this game, Kitana is both punching bag, marionette, and she makes googly-eyes at Liu Kang. Gaaaaaaah.

Someone needed to tell the rest of the group who Dark Kahn is. Quan Chi didn't actually know the enemy's name or face.

The Freudian sexism you're adding to the scenario is your own take. I didn't see it that way and I'm certain it wasn't the creators' intent. Again, the simple fact is no one else in the game is from Outworld except Baraka and he wouldn't have worked in that role.

She was exposed point blank to it's source and she's nowhere near as powerful as Raiden and Superman, so yes, she absolutely did need to succumb to the Rage.

Writhing eroticized object? Yeah, I didn't see it like that at all. It's just a person stuck in a wrestling hold to prevent them from attacking further. You're reading too much into it.

I know Kitana has been portrayed like a delicate flower or someone who's weaker than she should be, but this hasn't always been the case and, whenever it's prominent, if you look closely at how the story plays out, it can always be argued otherwise, just as Kombat did with the MKDC story. I only think that Kitana isn't constantly given a role of "feared fighter" because they like her current identity of Edenian Princess because it differentiates her, as I said, and also keeps them taking a risk that could result in Kitana losing that which makes her unique and becoming too similar to other fighters. Trust me, we have a lot of "feared fighters" already, in one way or another.



Like I said, this was MK3! I do think Kitana was very, very prominent in MK3 - I mean, I was a big fan of her back then. What you have to understand is that, again, this is a 'been there, done that' situation. MK3 presented Kitana with a wonderful role. Why? Because it was her time to shine! Why? Because the main storyline GAVE her the chance to shine. Why her? Because her creators wanted her to have that transition from evil to good. I loved that transition, everyone loved that transition, great, but it's gone now! From MK3 onward, Kitana was a "good guy" and that's it! No chance to make more impressive decisions, no chance to "wow" everyone with her actions. There was no way out of taking Kitana back out of the "good guy persona", so the MK Team decided to just go ahead and reinforce the one thing about her that most evidently differentiates her and keeps her unique among the other "good guys", and that's her title of Edenian Princess.

If you ask me, no, I don't think Kitana was ever meant to keep her importance from MK3. I think some of her fans just love her MK3 role so much that they're strongly disappointed and angry that its "wow factor" never returns. There is absolutely nothing that implies Kitana was meant to always be as important as she was in MK3 - so much that it hasn't been the case SINCE MK3. Some of you guys seem to have a very tough time understanding that it was Mk2's and MK3's intertwining storylines that presented Kitana with a chance to be so prominent, so important, so vital and intriguing. From that point on, she turned into another good guy, and as much as we all love her importance from back in the day, there's just nothing existent to give anyone the idea or certainty that that's how it was supposed to be forevermore. Again, Kitana fulfilled her role back then (which was great) and she's fulfilling her role now (which you guys don't like). Sure, it may be counter-productive as You-Know-Who stated, but I guess the MK Team would rather have that than take the huge risks you want them to take.



I don't consider myself a Kitana detractor just because I lost my interest in her and am making solid statements against a few things. But no big deal, moving on...

I don't think I've talked about her MK4 role, especially not in a negative way. But it seems like you're okay with and defend that particular storyline of hers which, to my understanding, is the one least-liked by fans, so this makes me confused as to why you're so angry over her current portrayal. For you to hate how Kitana's been portrayed from MK3-onward, wouldn't you have to be unhappy with MK4 as well and especially?



How is this a sudden sign that Kitana was and is meant to be as important as she used to be years and years and years and years ago?

One of my biggest problems with the MKDA storyline was how it unified the characters and made them all a little too similar for my taste. I'm not a fan of the black-and-white good-versus-evil storyline. I like different characters reacting to the situation at hand in different ways, showing their personalities, showing their vision and frame of mind, and showing their uniqueness and differences. MKDA gathered Kung Lao, Kitana, Sub-Zero, Sonya, Johnny, Jax and who knows who else and said "you're all good guys!" Then they take all the villains and go "you're the bad guys! Fight!" And THAT'S MKDA's storyline for you. The fact that Kitana CHOSE to accompany them into battle doesn't say anything major about her, it just says she's one of the good guys.

The same can be said for her fighting Quan Chi. You may choose to interpret that as another sudden sign that she's supposed to always be MK3 Kitana, but I don't, and it seems the Mk Team don't either. Sure, I think it does her character good that she encountered Quan-Chi one-on-one but, the way I see it, she was worthy of this encounter because of Liu Kang's death. I think Kitana was chosen to fight one of the bosses because, come on, she HAD to: he killed the character she was closest to. She was obviously devastated because of his action. I (and again, the MK Team as well) would have it no other way! Kitana deserved that encounter, regardless of whether or not she would win. That's why "you killed my ______" is such a common motivation for heroes in movies when they face off against the main villain. They HAVE to, because they deserve to. I'm sure the MK Team would've had Sonya fight a boss if they had established a close relationship between her and Cage and they killed Cage. I'm sure Liu Kang would be fighting the boss if Kitana had gotten killed, not just because he's always gotta be the main hero, but because he would deserve and HAVE to have that fight.

Bottom line, there's no evidence in the MKDA storyline that concretizes this out-of-nowhere certainty that Kitana was and still is meant to be her MK2/3 self.



If anything, this is a sign of what I've been saying in this post: that there's no big evidence for Kitana's top fans to cling onto for hope that she was or is meant to be her old self again. If she was never supposed to play the role she's playing now, if she was always supposed to be her old self, why are they giving her this role in this new storyline, a role that isn't as horrible as some people are making it, but that still is minor compared to the others? THAT'S redundant, because it's something that's staring right at our faces; it isn't being drawn out of nowhere or from a minor event. It's being drawn out of continuous, ongoing, one-after-the-other sequence of events and storylines.



Self-reliance is something Kitana always has and STILL HAS even in MKDC's storyline. She went after Dark Khan, didn't she? She overflows with self-reliances, but again, I don't see how this is a trait only a prominent character has. Plenty (in fact, almost all) MK fighters are self-reliant, act on impulse, follow their personal goals from time to time despite the big threat. Again, Kitana was a very prominent character when she was introduced and had the awesome transition going on, but that ended in MK3, people! From thereon, Kitana = heroine who differentiates herself by being an Edenian-born princess.

Why is everyone constantly referring to Kitana as "the princess", especially in this new storyline? It's all around you: that's what differentiates her the most! That's how she's known! You can't deny this when it's made evident so many times. MKII's "dark assassin" and MK3's "strong-willed, prominent female" was left behind because it was TEMPORARY, and all that stuck from thereon is... well, I'm just repeating myself all over again.

If by "charisma" you mean all the factors that made her so intriguing in the old days, then she lost her charisma right after MK3, not after MKDA.



Again, they never showed anything that could be interpreted as a sign that Kitana was and is meant to be as prominent as she used to be. On the contrary, there's only been signs that prove otherwise, which, if I'm not mistaken, is the reason her top fans are displeased. Come on, you guys aren't angry that Kitana isn't prominent in MKDC! You're angry that she isn't prominent, period.

Now, as a big fan of hers, you guys have the right to see random events in the storylines as signs that she's supposed to be as great as in the old days. I'm not gonna repeat myself constantly, everything else I said up there applies here, too.



Same thing I said before applies here, too. You're seeings signs that aren't signs at all, but rather, are events that have been part of Kitana's storylines. You're reading too much into them, giving way too much power to single, temporary events in a storyline and turning your back on the big picture, the whole of the storylines, which, from MK3 onward, always showed Kitana as standing far from and possessing much less of her MK2/3 greatness.

I'm definitely not gonna kick and scream, but rather, try to point out WHY I feel like I do and why so many others feel like I do, and why the MK Team obviously feels like I do.



Let's do try to keep this from turning into some dumb war.

I accept that you're not trying to attack Sonya, just as I hope you accept that I'm not setting out to attack Kitana. I'm just trying to show you guys something that, in my honest opinion, is staring you and everyone directly, and has been since MK3 ended. I don't think Sonya is prominent because she's my favorite. You could say she's my favorite partially BECAUSE she's prominent. I just honestly never have drawn these dramatic conclusions you have drawn for Kitana out of events that don't hold that much meaning. On the flip side, I've always seen Sonya teaming up with the male lead and fight for Earthrealm, and that's always ringed "lead" role for me, or female lead role.

If her biggest fans dislike what she's become since Mk3, then maybe it really is best to kill Kitana off and letting her go out with a bang that at least returns her temporarily to her former glory.



I'm not being small-minded, you're just being very specific where it doesn't call for it.

MK games, and any game in general, can't appeal only to its hardcore fans. They have reviewers to think about, and casual gamers to win over. Reviewers aren't going to spend loads of time analyzing a character to their most profound of depths, and neither are people who aren't into MK. They're going to see two characters who act alike or fight alike or look alike or whatever the case may be, and they're gonna bash the game for lack of creativity. So I ask again: why would the mk team take this huge risk by ridding Kitana of the only thing that concretely makes her unique, when they can just run with the Edenian Princess identity and keep her safe and sound?

And there IS no reason to have Shang Tsung and Quan Chi together in the same game. Quan Chi came into the picture MK4, so they discarded Tsung. They came together in MKDA because it worked for the plot - hell, it WAS the plot. But you can bet everything you have that they're never gonna wanna include the two in the same game again for no solid, big reason. It's like I said ^.

Wow, I totally agree.

I do think she should look regal though, but in a tough way. No dresses or anything like that.