Easily Liu Kang. He should've stayed dead. The "dark" Raiden story has actual potential and can go somewhere if they do it right.

I'd "fix" it by having Kitana or Kung Lao behead Kang's zombified corpse and his spirit moves on to the Heavens, where he stays. The end.

I agree that Liu Kangs is worse and getting rid of Liu would be cool so they could have a new Champion of Mortal Kombat but I think they wouldn't get rid of him.

Ditto.



And I'd fix it by making Liu Kang a probe for Raiden. "Bait", if you will.

1.) Raiden uses ZLiu Kang like bait for the bad-guys>>>

2.) Bad guys take the bait, recognizing Liu Kang and think he's still alive>>>

3.) They try attacking the corpse>>Raiden shows up = *ZAP!*>>>

4.) Raiden and ZLiu Kang disappear again having accomplished ousting another "threat to EarthRealm." ///

They do this a number of times, and soon enough the corpse just falls apart from overuse & rigor mortis. Flesh deteriorates, muscle falls off the bones, and bones break in fights, or fall off due to the absence of stuff like cartilage...ect.

R.I.P. Liu Kang. Raiden moves forward.

I've never been a big Raiden fan, to be honest. I do think he is bad-ass and all, but I dunno. He's evil now? A lot of people expect that to be an ongoing storyline, and while it could work (anything can work, in theory, really), I don't see why they cannot just have Raiden defeated, and then punished by the Elder Gods, or whatever.

Liu Kang is actually growing on me as time goes on. Perhaps it is because he gets a lot of criticism from hardcore MK fans, and I just want to rebuke that? I used to agree that he should have stayed dead, and I truthfully still believe this; but that's not what happened. I think just dropping Liu Kang now would be a mistake. I'd combine the stories of Deception and Armageddon a bit, and have Raiden re-unite Liu Kang's spirit and body, which allows Kang to once again fight for Earthrealm. But because Raiden is a bit warped, and Liu Kang doesn't realise it, he's actually doing more harm than good to his home realm.

Basically, I think the most interesting way to take this Raiden/Liu Kang stuff is to have Raiden corrupted, Liu Kang naive to his fall, and perhaps Fujin and Kai trying to wake up their respective counterparts to this.

Bringing Liu Kang back from the dead can work because anything is possible in MK. Combine his body and spirit - Liu Kang is alive and has had an experience like no other mortal. Kang Tang all over the threat of Earthrealm!

I'd rather something new for a change.

Yeah, but the fact that every character that has somewhat "died" in Mortal Kombat, comes back as a useless character. Look at Cage. My god, every time they bring him back it's the same old story line and nothing changes.

What I don't understand is this. He died in MK... so did other characters, why is Liu the only character that had a dramatic appearance change? Cage died how many times and look at him, he's fine... Li Mei was killed in her ending in Deadly Alliance, though they had no intentions on making her look like one of the statues her soul was placed in. So what, that makes her ending non-cannon correct? Well, that was a waste of an ending if they weren't going to make her look like the soldier her soul was put in. And don't tell me that her appearance in Deception looks somewhat of the soldier she was placed in. No, her soul was placed into a totally different body, therefore, Li Mei shouldn't have been herself if they really wanted her to be a soldier.

Meh.

Li Mei didn't die and her ending only partially happened. Shang Tsung was transferring her soul into the soldier, but Bo' Rai Cho interfered and saved her before it could be complete. So her soul stayed in her own body.
I wouldn't call it a wasted ending because, even though she wasn't turned into an undead soldier the incident still affected her character and story.

To me, I feel that having a soul put into another body is technically killing... what happens to her old body then? Nothing it's just useless there.

And I still believe that it was a wasteful ending because suddenly it just got scrapped in Deception that Bo'Rai Cho suddenly interfered? Seems pretty wasteful to me.

Actually, Cage has not died but once.

The endings and bios of MK3-4 are rebuked. Cage lived on since MK1 through Deadly Alliance, where he was infact slain by the Deadly Alliance and it's tarkatan henchmen. And I agree, this is how it should be. A continuously reviving movie actor is as paradoxical as it is.


There is nothing worth reconceptualizing about Liu Kang. He is a Bruce Lee equivalent, the only thing differing is that he has red in his costume.

I Agree The Dark Raiden Has So Much Potential Such As Raiden Would Probably Now Kill Any One Who Got In The Way Of The Protection Of Earth Realm Even If They Were His Friends Allies Example( Raiden Is Chasing Unknown Person Who Is Future Threat To Earthrealm Lets Say In The Next MK He Eventually Catches Up With The Unknown They Fight Raiden Is About To Deliver The Killing Blow When Johnny Cage Says "I Wont Let You Do This" And Dark Raiden Says "Your Emotion Will Not Get In The Way Of Earthrealm`s Protection" And Just Zaps Him To Dust Then Turns To Unknown And Kills Him To

I kind of liked it how Johnny Cage died prior to MK3. It sort of made an impact and showed that characters can die. I just wish they had kept him dead. Bring back perhaps Stryker or Kabal as a new supporting Earthrealm warrior in MK4, seeing things through normal eyes, with a more serious tinge to them.

I have a thought on that matter.
We never got an explanation what Li Mei was doing in the Netherealm, attacking Shinnok in Armageddon's story mode. We found out she was an illusion, used to win Taven's loyalty, but why an illusion of Li Mei? How does Shinnok know who she is? She's not really an important person and he's never personally encountered before...or has he?

My personal theory is that the only way Shinnok would know who Li Mei is, is if she was dead and thus, her tainted soul was in his realm. Perhaps her Deception ending came partially true? Maybe she actually did turn on the heroes and attempt to join Onaga, but was defeated with him?
Think about it. Everyone else who appears in the Netherealm stage is dead or rumored to be so: Drahmin, Motaro, Sheeva, Kintaro...Li Mei is the only one who doesn't fit.
There is a flaw in this theory, of course - the fact that she's on the heroes' side during the opening cinema battle. But still...if she had gotten a bio, it could have made something very interesting out of it where she's like "I let the taint in my soul get the better of me and it got me killed, and hey guess what? Hell's a pretty shitty place to be. So when Shinnok resurrected all the dead vilains for the big battle at the pyramid, I betrayed him and took off for the other side to atone for my mistakes."

That's not a bad theory about Li Mei. I mean, I think it is better if she stays alive and tries to fight the darkness inside her, as it makes her a rather interesting protagonist.

There's the possibility that not much thought went into Armageddon, and that the opening of Armageddon was just a vision Delia had of how things could have gone. I mean, if that intro was canon, things do not look very good for her anyway, as she is almost instantly impaled by Hotaru.

I think Vogel keeps close track of what the characters are up to, so even when he's given lemons, he's able to make SOME lemonade out of it.

If you look at Armageddon, even though the very idea of the "let's forget about this whole Dragon King epic we've been doing, bring ALL our dead back to life and pit the entire 60-some roster in a massive war over a macguffin we've never mentioned before" plot was a mistake and they saw no point in even trying on the endings, the actual Konquest mode storyline is surprisingly solid. Especially when you add to that the few bios they were able to release online before being forced to quit and focus on the next game, all of which are intelligently plotted out and tie up a HUGE number of loose ends, turning the game from an almost unusable continuity nightmare into a genuinely valid part of the fiction.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, sure, It's possible Li Mei was just chosen randomly...but I think how elaborate and complex the plots he's written have been ever since Deadly Alliance prove that John's the kind of guy who loves little details and when he looks at the script, would go "Okay, this chapter is about Shinnok and takes place in Hell, someone's gotta be fighting him...who's already dead or has another good reason to be down there?"

That is true, and I am not trying to argue, but I hope you are not being too optimistic about the direction of Mortal Kombat. Li Mei being explained as being in there would be a handy thing, no doubt.

Is it possible that Shinnok is aware of Li Mei because of her prowess as a fighter? Although she is a young character, and still growing, she is training with Bo' Rai Cho which should hypothetically put her in the same league as fighters like Liu Kang, Kung Lao and Shujinko one day. Maybe BRC sent her to the Netherealm to train her somehow -- or even deal with the darkness inside her? Maybe BRC is just secretly a devil-worshipper, and has been feeding Shinnok some of his students for years?

I wouldn't use the word "optimistic". I'm just saying I think Vogel is a writer with great attention to detail.

The fact is, though, that JV still has to work with what he's given. Look at Scorpion. Ed goes "He's gotta be a level boss, you'll have to give him an army of minions and make him evil so he has a reason to fight Taven." Scorpion's always been a guy with semi-heroic goals and a loner. And he'd JUST become an agent of the greater good. Of course doing a complete 180 on his entire character was gonna suck.
It would be great if the next game actually picks up from MKA and fills in blanks, the way Deadly Alliance explained all kinds of unanswered MK3 and 4 questions, but if it doesn't, I'll understand why.
Armageddon was supposed to be sort of an ending to the current continuity, probably because Ed felt things had gotten too complicated or they had too many characters now, so if the new games screw something up, I'll just call upon my experience as a reader of superhero comics and go "Oh well, this is Post-Crisis Mortal Kombat. There was a huge battle that tore the fabric of reality asunder, and things were left different than the way they were before."

And if that is what they do, they choose to revise continuity or not address how the last game ended at all, I'm fine with that, because it means we can all make up our own stories to fill in the blanks.
Sure, letting the audience decide things for themselves results in a lot more arguing on forums, but if we're lucky, it'll also result in friendly, creative discussions like this one and XD's Storyline Analysis topic, and we should be so lucky as to have more of that on the boards.

I agree completely. Personally, being a junkie for character development, I'd have loved to have seen a true sequel to Deception. It may not have been original, but if Shao Kahn and Goro's appearances in Deception were just treated as a non-canon gimmick, Havik's ending where he revived Shao Kahn could have come true. Yeah, it's a return to form, but it'd have a classic feel to it.

I could imagine Kabal freaking the hell out when Shao Kahn was back, still blaiming him for his wounds. Kira retreats with Kabal, and she has killed Kobra by this point, but Havik sees promise in Kobra, and revives him to hunt down the Black Dragon members.

Hotaru is in the interesting position where his beliefs cause him to swap sides in the war against chaos. He could find an ally in Raiden, who is taking a more "orderly" approach with things. After their failures to stop the Deadly Alliance, he punishes Kung Lao, Kitana, Sonya, Jax and Johnny Cage the same way he does Shujinko -- burning them to a crisp. He does, however, fuse together Liu Kang's body and spirit, and Kang finds himself fighting loyally to Raiden once more.

Raiden could also appear to Kai, and demand he take up a stance and fight for Earth again -- or he too will face the wrath of The Thunder God. Kai senses danger in Raiden's new forceful attitude, and perhaps looks for a way to "fix" Raiden. Perhaps Scorpion could be key to that, fighting against the Elder Gods after they ignore their promise to him when he is not the one to defeat Onaga?

Ashrah can achieve her purification, and perhaps take her purifying ways to cleansing the realms of the living. Li Mei could have lost Master Bo' Rai Cho during Deception, but continues to heed his lessons, and fight her corruption by ridding Outworld of Shao Kahn once and for all -- even if most of her fellow soldiers have been wiped out after Mileena led them into an ambush from Kahn's forces.

Sub-Zero now knows the truth about Noob Saibot, and that story can continue. You'd also have Kenshi back with his trusty sword, fighting for Earth. His psychic powers could be helpful in determining just who can be trusted, and who has impure intentions.

I'll stop there, but I just pulled a hypothetical sequel to Deception out of thin air, with fourteen returning characters right there. But alas, we never got it. I would have at least liked Armageddon to have more of a story, but as you said -- we can at least fill in our own blanks.

I like Liu Kang but I think the time for a new chief protagonist has come. OR make him a spirit/ghost. Nothing wrong with transforming him into a higher-level being, if you ask me. After all, wasn't the same thing done with Scorpion all along from MK Mythologies?


Raiden is now angry with earthrealm champions, now with Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, now with DC villains... Sorry, not liking it. And stop ignoring Fujin for the sake of Raiden's long-past glory days! The wind god has less appeal than the thunder god? Why so? Because of the hay hat, funny things he says when he does the torpedo, and all?

I'll make that short!

Killing Lui Kang: Good idea! Even if I like that White Lotus fighter, it was time for new champion! *(A female fighter? Maybe it would be interresting!)

Bring Back Lui Kang as a Zombie: Hmm... it's an okay surprise for people like me who love the MK games and play with people who stopped to play at MKII. They see the new Lui kang and say: Ho... what the hell happenned?
But stil... I always take the alternate outfit when I play Lui.

Evil Raiden: Ah... I can understand... but I still have difficulty with that. Raiden was one of my favorite character... before that transformation. *(Why is alternate outfit is not the MK:DA model?!?! for the nostalgic like me!)*

So, my fan idea of continuity:

*Lui Kang: gain back the control of it's body but he's to weak (and old) to stay the MK Champion. He train a new recruit and thats it!

*Raiden: is punish by the elder gods, return ((good looking)) but, with less power, he is no more the protector of Earth. Fujin take's is place!

Amen

People often forget it because Midway idiotically keeps leaving him out of games, but Fujin already IS Protector of Earth and has been since the ending of MK4. Raiden is a god with no rank now.

I'v seen this MK4 ending (Fujin take's the place of Raiden and the thunder god finaly goes Elder) but I think the midway team just let that scenario down. We never see Fujin again and in Deadly Alliance, it's Raiden that rally up the Earth warrior. So i tought that the MK4 ending was ((not the good ending)) like many other one.

Still, Fujin seems nice (looks terribly strong in Sub-Zero mythologie!).

See, the thing about Deadly Alliance and Deception is neither game takes place on Earth.

What Raiden did is, he went and gathered his buddies and basically they invaded Outworld because he wanted to stop the Deadly Alliance BEFORE they could attack Earth.

That's not something the official protector is supposed to do, so Fujin had to stay behind. Earth is his domain, it's the only place he has authority. Remember how in MK1, 2, and 3, Raiden was always having to take a mortal form in order to compete? Well he doesn't have that problem anymore because he's not the protector of Earth anymore. He's freelance now, he's as much of a god in Outworld as he is on Earth.
So that's the in-story reason Fujin isn't in DA and Deception. Raiden leads the heroes into Outworld, Fujin stays behind to protect Earthrealm because that's his job.

But Fujin IS in Armageddon, doing the protector job, as seen briefly in Konquest mode, and gone into more detail in his bio which isn't in the game, but was posted on the game's website.

A zombie Liu Kang is just laughable and that's what the series is right now.