Charon and Scarlet Rank the Mortal Kombat Kharacters

Kall me krazy, but Mortal Kombat konsitently kreates kool kharacters that kan stick with you long after you komplete each game. Of kourse, over the storied history of MK, there have been a kouple krappy kharacters that kan't kwite kut the mustard. Still, it's a franchise that both Charon and I adore.

A couple weeks ago, Charon and I decided to face-off in the ultimate battle of ranks - we each ranked all 64 MK kombatants from best to worst. Now, we've kombined our rankings and you'll get to see what each of us thinks about every kontestant in write-ups as we kount 'em down based on an aggregate review score. Kan we survive this duel of write-ups, or will we be able to work out our differences with dual write-ups? Find out as we rank the Mortal Kombat Kharacters!

'''64. Mokap Charon – 63rd Scarlet – 63rd'''

Charon: Mokap might be the most disappointing "secret" in any game I've ever played. When you finish MK:DA's Konquest mode, you are rewarded with a kata animation of Blaze and the game telling you that you've unlocked him, along with "another fighter". That other fighter is Mokap, a waste of space that pays tribute to the motion capture guy for the game. He's covered in motion capture "balls" and a suit typically used by capture artists for games. Carlos Pesina is the guy this is supposed to be, he's the same guy who played Raiden in MK2. Story wise, he's connected to Johnny Cage (unfortunately) but I try to forget about that since it's totally irrelevant and stupid. He only gets a small amount of "unique" moves by the time of Armageddon, but nothing in this game makes him at all interesting. I only didn't personally have him last because of a particularly offensive character, but he is quite near it. The most memorable thing about Mokap is his appearance in MKD's Konquest in Chaosrealm, where if Shujinko punches him he'll exclaim, "Ow, my balls!".

Scarlet: Just for clarification, that form of motion-capture suit went out of style before MK:DA even came out. I just have to point that bit out because it's honestly the best part. Go check out what Andy Serkis was using to film Gollum in Lord of the Rings as an example. The tech had already surpassed the character so he began as an anachronism. Hard to dig yourself out of irrelevancy if that's where you started. Just ask WCW's Disco Inferno.

Charon: The motion capture suit used by Mokap was actually used in production of the game though (they even reference that in his ending). It's not too shocking that the former Midway would be behind the times on tech though. For me, the most disappointing thing with this character was the fact they could have done something a lot better. Blaze wasn't great, but at least he was a nod to truly interesting 'secrets' from MK lore; no reason why perhaps Hornbuckle, the palette swap that was facing Blaze on that bridge in The Pit II, couldn't be in existence instead of Mokap.

Scarlet: Surely you jest. Why would MK ever want to sink so low as to introduce a palette swap as an entirely new character?

'''63. Kobra Scarlet – 61st Charon – 64th'''

Scarlet: When I first got my hands on Ken in Mortal Kombat, I was very disappointed. The thing is, he doesn't belong in the Mortal Kombat series; not that I'm against crossovers, but Ken just doesn't belong here. He's not part of the Mortal Kombat mythos, there's not really necessity for Ken's arrival, and I think he was mishandled from the start. You don't bring in a star from a rival company and then change their entire gimmick that made them successful. Could you imagine, for example, taking a big hulking brutish wrestler and completely removing what makes him great, turning him into some sort of gallavanting, dancing to the point of Tourettes syndome joke? Oh they did that to the One Man Gang at WWE? I digress. The thing is, Ken didn't need to come aboard in Mortal Kombat, and there was definitely no need to change his name. After all, he already fit in the "everything starts with k" motif; why go with a stupider name that actually is a copywritten trademark of DC Comics? It seems utterly pointless. If they wanted a "K" name, they should've gone with "Krap."

Charon: MK Trivia: Kobra's beta name was actually Ben. That's right, BEN. You know you're awful when that's your name. I'm not sure what they were thinking here, besides using Ken Masters in a Mortal Kombat game of course. Deception needlessly brought in new Black Dragon characters, revived Kabal and effectively ruined him by making him quasi-Kano and did nothing to advance the storyline began by Deadly Alliance with the much more interesting Red Dragon organization. Kobra is so thoughtless, so offensive and somehow even worse to me than the joke characters I normally loathe. Everyone should buy Armageddon just to make a Kreate-a-Kharacter Ken Masters to kick Kobra's sorry ass.

Scarlet: It’s an example of diluting the pool; the Black Dragons had a couple really strong characters. Granted you’re right, there was some pointless tinkering, but Kobra was like the Season 2 additions to the cast of LOST. You didn’t want ‘em, you didn’t like ‘em, and you rejoiced when you were finished with them. That’s Kobra. It’s good that video game developers generally have a sense of humor about this sort of thing or we’d be reading about the new MK mode Kreate-a-Kopyright-Infringement.

Charon: Ed Boon actually really pushed for a MK vs SF crossover and basically got ignored/denied by Capcom. Of course, MK has gained SOME respect back since those times I think but yeah. I still somewhat doubt a true crossover ever happening, so in their own twisted way, this was a group of people who were fans of Street Fighter making their own crossover with Mortal Kombat; they just so happened to be the actual MK team.

'''62. Sheeva Scarlet – 60th Charon – 62nd'''

Scarlet: I heard somewhere that Sheeva was the least-played character in each of her appearances, and I dig that immensely. Having Goro is one thing, having Motaro is something else, but Sheeva is to me the epitome of trying to cash in on a franchise. Like, we dig Batman. Batgirl, less so. But eventually when you get Ace the Bat-Hound and Mogo the Bat-Gorilla, you start to realize that there's diminishing returns. And Sheeva is that diminishing return, ya dig? You can't cash in on a character design without giving some motivation for her existence, and I'm not just talking about in-story origins. I'm talking about that quality that inspires players to consistently come back to a character and clamor for more; Sheeva lacks that. She simply exists - she's the filler to end all fillers. Someone should make like her Hindu namesake and destroy her.

Charon: Quite possibly the most boring character ever. Pointless storyline, borrowed moves, complete and utter filler. How pointless is Sheeva? MKD's Konquest mode featured cameo appearances by every formerly playable character sans the K/Chameleons. That includes Mokap and Meat. Sheeva's 'cameo'? Her corpse was found lying in the Netherrealm area face down.

Scarlet: We’re on the same page here. Devoting anymore of our word count to Sheeva would be like asking for an extended edition of Sports Illustrated for Kids.

'''61. Hsu Hao Charon – 58th Scarlet – 64th'''

Charon: A fairly bland filler character who rips of Kano's design a little bit, but instead puts it in his chest. The sole redeeming factor for this character is that he has a good fatality in MK:DA, perhaps one of the best ones. Hsu Hao unfortunately also caused the Red Dragon storyline to be forever marred by his general presence. Storyboard director John Vogel detests the character so much that he said in MK:DA, Hsu Hao's debut, bonus material he would never return and that Jax killed him. Of course, Armageddon happened and Vogel had no choice but to return the character. If you ask a decently versed MK fan who their least fave is, I wager at least 75% of them will say it's this guy right here. His awful village people reject design is probably the biggest reason why.

Scarlet: He looks like he should be driving a communist Thomas the Tank Engine. You know the biggest travesty about Armageddon? We had to put up with this Militant Ming the Merciless stand-in with no personality, the second worst costume in the series, and just lots and lots of nothing. He’s an insult to the franchise in nearly every way. I will give him a little credit that his fatality move was cool but that’s like putting Jake Roberts’ DDT on Stephen Hawking. Charon, I’m disappointed he even breached the 60s on your list. He ****ing sucks, he sucking ****s, he’s a piece of **** character, he deserves utter and complete video game death, get him the **** out of my roster.

Charon: Well, the fatality helps him out a fair bit. The bottom 10 are pretty interchangeable for me generally, Hsu Hao just came out on a decent end of it today. Me not ranking him last also probably comes from working on a fansite for 10 years; if it's one thing I know, it's that the community's hate for Hsu Hao is so vocal that somewhere along the way I began to feel a little sorry for him. MK trivia of the day: Hsu Hao was known as Kublai Khan in the beta.

Scarlet: I would say most of the bottom is pretty interchangeable, too. However, my bottom two are definitely unflinchingly rigid. They’re the crusty sweat and ****stains on the taint of Mortal Kombat. You’re a big softie, char.

'''60. Kintaro Scarlet – 59th Charon – 60th'''

Scarlet: Kintaro was supposed to be Goro 2.0, but I think he was just a furry’s S&M fantasy character. With a teleport stomp that really freaking sucked; probably one of the cheapest boss moves in the history of fighting games. Anyways, I never really appreciated the character; he was Khajiit with extra arms and a major case of Hogan steroids. Kintaro’s story relevance seemed really slight in the series. He died off in what, four different games? I remember pretty clearly his death in MKII was alluded to in a guide somewhere, and I definitely remember that Liu Kang and Kung Lao trounced his ass in Shaolin Monks. It seems that every chance they get, the folks at Midway try to eliminate this moron, but like most cats he seems to have nine utterly regrettable, detestable lives.

Charon: ROOOOAR!

I'm really tempted to say nothing more than that, because that's about all the thought the MK team have ever put into this character. "Goro, but bigger and with stripes!". Any better yet? Kintaro has indeed died in various ways throughout the lore, the initial death you are thinking of canonically is by Raiden's hands. I know you're a comic fan and if you ever have seen Malibu's MK comics, the writing here is just about as thrilling. Instead of Kintaro though, they created Grum. And instead of "bigger Goro with stripes", Grum was "he has SIX arms now!". I guess someone thought this was cool and good enough for a character.

Scarlet: Yeah I vaguely remember those trashy Malibu comics; it’s been, gosh, at LEAST six or seven years since I picked one up. But I do remember that Kintaro never appeared (or if he did it was only for a second or two). I wanna say the comic started right around the time MKII came out. *goes to look to look it up*  Looks like that’s right. So why wouldn’t you include a primary and relevant antagonist in a fledgling comic? After all, the comic is all about brand promotion. I mean, I think it speaks volumes that they tried to go with another villain instead. Too bad there’s not much info on reaction to Grum out there, I wonder if they ever considered pushing into an MK title.

'''59. Kira Scarlet – 58th Charon – 61st'''

Scarlet: I really want to like Kira; she was a mash-up of Mulan and Alicia Silverstone in The Crush. Frankly, you could totally make her the psycho stalker Harley Quinn of Mortal Kombat and it would kill, I mean completely and totally kill. I really loved her sick obsession with Kano. Plus I remember quite well that she completely ditched Kobra’s ass in Armageddon, so she gets points there, but she is just so utterly irrelevant. I blame that on a boring moveset and a really bland costume. And the fact that the Black Dragons have sunk to terrible lows since the introduction of Deception. If only they would hire me at Midway – I could totally turn this D-list reject around.

Charon: I too wanted to like Kira. Sadly, the Black Dragon vs Special Forces storyline is so wholly uninteresting that it's nearly impossible to like ANY of these characters since of them, a grand total of maybe one ever interacts with any other character outside their self-contained storyline. Like I mentioned for Kobra, they decided to exchange a bad Red Dragon agent (Hsu Hao) for a just as bad and even less original Black Dragon agent. The reason I put Kira sub-60 was her moveset however, which was a combination of Kano and Sonya (who were not in Deception). Here's a tip guys: It isn't original or cool to mix two different characters and call that a new character. That's called lazy. What possible reason did she have for fighting like Sonya? Presumably she never even MET Sonya. Design wise, she isn't bad... but I really wanted a lot more out of this character.

Scarlet: I wonder why they didn’t try to remedy some of the storyline problems between the Dragons in later titles. Granted they wanted to ditch a lot of those characters, but aside from Ken, I think you could have salvaged the rest of the bunch. It’s not like it’s impossible to do repair work on a series and get the fans to commit to it. TV shows like Arrow have turned a show around after a rocky front half of a season and really juiced out an uptick in quality; I don’t see why Boon and Co. couldn’t attempt the same thing. But then again, I think Mortal Kombat creatives see it as easier to just bring in a new character than resuscitate an old one.

'''58. Taven Charon – 52nd Scarlet – 62nd'''

Charon: For whatever reason, they decided to go in a different direction with Armageddon than I had hoped. Deadly Alliance and Deception had crafted new, interesting characters (for the most part) and tied up older storylines successfully (somewhat...). Instead of continuing on this path, they instead elected to create MKTrilogy part 2. I'm not a fan of the Armageddon storyline at all, mostly due to the fact all the characters had to return for it. Taven was created as the lead character and "hero" of the story. In fact, in beta his name WAS "Hero". It was also for a time "Bob". The MK team thankfully changed this since Bob is a terrible name for a fighting game character (someone forgot to give the memo to Tekken). Taven is just so... uninteresting. His design is extremely vanilla, his personality is somewhat unlikable and not in any sort of redeemable way. I guess Taven is this far down not because he's specifically bad, but because I identify him with the beginning of the end of what I considered to be MK's best times plot wise.

Scarlet: Armageddon could have been amazing, but introducing new characters was what brought it all down. We should’ve had an all-out tournament instead of… whatever that was. Limitless potential, infinite failure. It’s embodied in a bland, boring lead protagonist that is more forgettable than wherever I put my car keys. There’s nothing interesting about this guy. And hey – he’s not the beginning of the end of good plots because I’d say that aside from jerking us around a little bit at the end MK 2011 had a pretty solid storyline.

 

'''57. Kai Charon – 56th Scarlet – 57th'''

Charon: He's from Detroit and likes ribs. According to the MK4 strategy guide anyway. I never really understood the point of Kai... it seemed like they wanted to replace Kung Lao with some new monk character and add more racial diversity to the cast. However, then Kung Lao returned in MK Gold. I really liked Kai's concept art pieces you can find in the MK:DA Krypt, which features him with a more arabic style look with flowing kilt and curved machete. His markings were also changed around in this design... which by the way I never really understood either. Kai is a character who was just sort of created for no reason at all, and in his Armegeddon ending it states he gained the power of foresight and looked into the future and saw nothing. Yep, that's about right.

Scarlet: I feel like Kai was created to be a Chris Tucker to Liu Kang’s Jackie Chan. He’s better than Tucker at least, but aside from that he’s pretty boring. Great ending in Armageddon; literally had nothing for the guy and they just flatout said it. I like that both of us have completely different takes on what he’s supposed to be; that’s half the problem– he’s not anything when people think he might be just about everything.

'''56. Motaro Charon – 54th Scarlet – 54th'''

Charon: Motaro is cool in design and even in storyline, the war between the Shokan and the Centaurs has appeal to it. Unfortunately, Motaro is the ONLY time centaurs are even mentioned in Mortal Kombat and subsequent games struggled to create Motaro in 3D. This shown through in Armageddon where they forever ruined the character by making him a minotaur by way of some ridiculous curse. Due to the limits of technology, or the laziness of the MK team, Motaro will probably never be seen again and the perhaps interesting power struggle for Kahn's favor between the two races will never get the flesh it probably deserved.

Scarlet: Worst part of this guy is they gave him the dubious honor of killing Johnny Cage. Because, you know, it was important to set up the Centaurs as a major credible threat given how important they ended up being in the fran- oh, what? They’re completely useless and never contribute to the story again? So this Motaro guy knocks off one of the best characters in the series so we can put him over as a big bad, and at the end of the day we’re just going to toss his entire schtick aside and sort of pretend it never happened? Nice. Way to go, Boon.

Charon: He did get briefly mentioned in MK:DA, as being the one that carried Kano back to be revived after Sonya threw him off the skyscraper in MK3. Outside of that, yeah he's basically a non-entity after that until MKA.

'''55. Chameleon Scarlet – 48th Charon – 59th'''

Scarlet: Chameleon confuses me more than anything else. Is he one of Reptile’s race? I don’t know if they ever actually address that or not. Apparently in his ending he became the greatest Mortal Kombat champion ever, which is something Liu Kang will never be, so there is that. I don’t know. I just don’t care that much about this character. I liked his design, didn’t like his move set, and didn’t understand why he existed aside from being an undeveloped character in Trilogy that people always talked about as one of those game legends until they actually introduced him. Kinda pointless.

Charon: This guy is just so bland and I was monumentally disappointed when he returned in Armageddon and Khameleon did NOT until the Wii version, after the community launched complaints at the MK team. Khameleon is the actual character, with actual storylines and history. Chameleon is just... nothing and no one. Even his one moment of character, his Armageddon ending, he's basically said to be nothing and faded into obscurity after his victory. He was one of the first characters mentioned by the team as definitely not returning in MKX, so I think it's safe to say this guy was a product of the palette swap days and is gone for good.

'''54. Reiko Charon – 53rd Scarlet – 53rd'''

Charon: The most interesting thing about this nearly non-existent character was for a time people believing for no good reason that he was Shao Kahn. Nevermind the fact he is much shorter and thinner than Kahn or any of the other obvious clues. While Reiko has the "looks pretty cool" thing down somewhat, that's about all he has down. His entire existence after MK4 was basically a joke, as in Deception's Konquest mode it's revealed he likes to sneak into Kahn's bedchambers and wear his helmet. Being mysterious for the sake of being mysterious is often not a good thing, but too often Mortal Kombat seems to think this is okay.

Scarlet: What an irritating costume; it’s Shao Kahn with Spawn facepaint. I’m not sure what else to say; his story never struck a chord with me and I never really got in on the conspiracy theory about him being Shao Kahn. It was debunked pretty quickly anyways. Sorry, there’s not much to say about this guy. He exists.

'''53. Meat Scarlet – 49th Charon – 55th'''

Scarlet: Meat isn’t a good character by any stretch of the imagination, but I kind of have a soft spot for the guy. Er, thing. I kind of think of him as the R-Rated version of playing as a Wire Frame in Smash Bros.; obviously there’s a few characters that started out of nothing but a playable skin or an unused sprite and turned into something great. Meat is certainly no Reptile or Smoke or what-have-you, however. A lot of people really detest this character, but much like Charade in Soulcalibur II, I don’t find anything particularly awful about the guy. He does fit in well with the world of Mortal Kombat and its overly gratuitous entertaining style of battle. I hope that his cousin Skelly shows up someday.

Charon: Steve Beran actually commented once that Meat does have a cousin named Skully, but that he never made it to the game. This character moved up for my list, ever so slightly, since in Armageddon he became a bit more of a true character (before this, 'Meat' was not even an official character that ever showed up, since he was actually an alternate skin for the character). His movement was mostly due to his moveset, which included some interesting moves which included rolling his own head at opponents and pulling his eye out of socket to regenerate his health (granted, this was stolen from Havik in concept). Fun facts: He has a British accent in Deception! Also, his story status as "a fun character who assists Shinnok" became a sort of running joke in the MK community when his inclusion in Armageddon was revealed. I don't find Meat offensive, and he scores a little better than other barely there character based on a fun design.

'''52. Tanya Scarlet – 47th Charon – 51st'''

Scarlet: Another character that has a fair amount of potential. What needs to happen with Tanya to make her work? She needs to do a heel flip. I hardly thought she was villainous when I first saw her in MK4, and her design just doesn’t lend herself to the type of evil that’s common in Mortal Kombat. I honestly think she would be an awesome defector-type character and if you gave her that slight wrinkle, all of the sudden she would be much more interesting. I actually did like that she called herself an ambassador when she was anything but, and it made her role in Deception the most interesting of the batch; giving characters the opportunity to be looked at in different perspectives can breathe new life into them, and with a moveset that honestly isn’t that bad and a design that isn’t terrible, just a little bit of adjustment could go a long way to turning her into one of the better MK characters.

Charon: Tanya was once my least favorite character. I can't really tell you why, exactly. She just was. Tanya starts off on the wrong foot in MK4 because her and, Kai and Jarek are quite obviously stand-ins for Kitana, Kung Lao and Kano (the former two who were later added in MK Gold anyway). She actually IS that defector-type character, as initially her storyline is that she is supposedly not an evil character but actually is. Unfortunately her return in MKD seemed to just be "for the hell of it" and "we need more females now". Her role as this stock filler makes her pretty boring personality wise, and even though her design and moveset seem to be that of an interesting character, the actual character behind all that simply is not.

Scarlet: I don’t really consider it a true defection – it would require her to be on one side for more than part of one game. Build her up a bit with the baddies and then flip her script. She’d probably start being more interesting at that point.

'''51. Blaze Charon – 48th Scarlet –  51st'''

Charon: Part of the fun of Mortal Kombat was always looking for the hidden secrets, at least in the early games. The team was famous for hiding oddities and sometimes dead ends. The "Hornbuckle who?" messages caused fans to name the two characters in the background of The Pit II, the green pants Liu Kang character becoming Hornbuckle and the man on fire was nicknamed Torch. For obvious reasons, when this 'Torch' was made into an official character he became known as Blaze instead. Blaze initially showed a lot of promise, even though his ultimate design in MKDA was really not that good and poorly executed. However, his connection to the coming Dragon King was something I was interested in, as well as the events that led to him being captured. Unfortunately, for reasons I have NEVER understood at all, they decided to make him the final boss of Armageddon and change his role from egg keeper to being that will end the world. Like most plot points in Armageddon, I found this repulsive. Not only that, they radically changed his design to some sort of cross between Deathwing, Bane and The Thing.

Scarlet: I think a more apt description for his new design is “rip-off of Soulcalibur’s Inferno design” in Armageddon. You’re right; he was much cooler in the days of yore when his story was first introduced. Honestly, they should’ve gone with a design similar to Ignus in Planescape: Torment for Blaze. I think that while there’s not a lot of potential there as a character, his design could be really spectacular. And let’s face it, he could very well be a good villain despite what we ended up with in Armageddon.

'''50. Jarek Charon – 46th Scarlet – 56th'''

Charon: To be honest, maybe Jarek deserves to have me place him lower. A lot lower. However, I will explain this 'high' ranking of him. To begin with, Jarek starts out in MK4 as supposedly the last of the Black Dragon clan (if only...) and ends up forming an uneasy alliance with Sonya and Jax against Shinnok. I found this to be a good thing because often times, evil characters in MK are simply evil. There aren't a lot of truly neutral characters out there until MK:DA happens, so Jarek was really sort of the first MK character, other than the obvious Scorpion, that was definitely not a good guy but would not support the big bad of the game simply to get back at the good guys. Jarek ends up betraying the Special Forces, survives his bad ending and returns in Armageddon to have a really stupid storyline about mastering fatalities. The reason I have a sort of soft spot for him stems from my own ideas for him as a character, which came from (apparently) a programming error that misnamed one of his combos as "Red Dragon" instead of Black. This made me imagine an interesting character that was perhaps an ultimate triple agent, betraying all the groups whom thought he was on their side. Alas, I simply read too much into a programming error so that's as high as I can really put this guy!

Scarlet: I think I’m racist against black Mortal Kombat characters. I mean, Black Dragon Mortal Kombat characters. Obviously Charon is drunk on mislabeled moves and think there’s a Transformer Jarek out there with more than meets the eye. Anyways, this guy is utterly forgettable. I literally read his bio because I couldn’t remember much about him, and at the end of the bio I’d already forgotten what it said. I honestly don’t even remember who we’re talking about right. Mokap, right?

Charon: Well, I still think his MK4 storyline is "decent" enough to not consider him that bad of a character. Yeah he was a stand-in for Kano, but the bad guy allies with the good guys to fight the even more evil guy is "okay" in terms of a MK story.

'''49. Jax Scarlet – 46th Charon – 47th'''

Scarlet: Jax sucks, but at least he’s relevant. I really don’t like the cyborg-type character who’s equal parts machine and man, and to me Jax is just a bad rip-off of the bland superhero Cyborg of Teen Titans fame. His rivalry with Kano was actually pretty great, but just about everything else involving Jax is pretty boring. The army-based Special Forces characters just don’t have a lot of personality, and while I think Midway believes there’s some key component in Jax that makes him indispensible, I kind of wonder if people would actually give a crap if Jax showed up in the next game or not. And who knows? We get lucky and have Quan Chi’s zombie minion storyline carry on. I’d be okay with Jax being a mindless drone for a few games. He’d still be more interesting than Taven.

Charon: Jax could be really cool. A strong, black man in a serious role. Unfortunately, that's not what Jax is anymore. Granted they have attempted to move away from the MK:DA portrayal of the character, but for me it will forever be a stain upon his record. The overt racist portrayal of this character has really turned me off completely, probably forever. So because he's a black man, he has to be a gangster and talk in slurs and wear gold chains? It's so offensive no one at Midway at the time could look at this and figure out how really, really awful this is. I can only guess no black people worked on this game in any major creative role. His character never really has developed though, even before MK:DA, outside of the metal arms thing. There are a lot of interesting routes they can go with for this character, but it will have to be very well done to even begin to erase the blemish that is Jax in the Hood.

Scarlet: All I see is racism, char. For shame!

'''48. Baraka Charon – 44th Scarlet – 45th'''

Charon: I know people love Baraka, believe me. Why else was Baraka the original posterchild for Deception? Why people find this guy very interesting is something I'll never understand. He has a good design and moveset, and he does well as his role of low tier evil henchman but that's all he ever has been. I was a bigger fan of Baraka's voice in MK4 than in Deception and later games, because I felt the MK4 version made him sound a little more intelligent and conniving but in Deception the style was changed to brutish and barbaric. And unfortunately for Baraka, his entire race of mutants storyline is that they are Wasteland dwellers who pretty much live a tribal lifestyle and are just evil servants of whoever is ruling Outworld. It's hard to see much potential for development in his character, so he pretty much just exists as a non-offensive, but rather typical inclusion in future games.

Scarlet: I’m actually on the opposite end of why I don’t like Baraka; aesthetically, this is just the sort of character I subjectively dislike. The further you move away from humans in Mortal Kombat, the less I tend to like the character (with an occasional exception). I feel like Baraka has become more and more animalistic over time, and that just lessens my interest in him. There more primal he becomes, the less nuance there is to him, and he already was sorely lacking in that department. While there is something intriguing about that piranha-like kisser of his, ultimately this is a matter of the mileage varying specifically in regards to my taste.

Charon: Emphasis on the "Mortal" part of the game, eh? Well, Baraka is still 'mortal' technically, I personally enjoy the various races of MK, and it's one of the biggest reasons I liked Deception because you got to see the various lore realms plus they added in some of the previously comic-only realms of Chaos and Order. I guess you might be saying you don't enjoy characters whose character is just that of an animal though, not necessarily what sort of race they might be.

Scarlet: Don’t get me wrong, lore and the interactions and hostilities between all of the races are a big factor in what makes me enjoy these games. But Baraka is kind of like Killer Croc to me; the more brutish and stupid a character gets, the less interesting they are.

'''47. Ashrah Scarlet – 44th Charon – 45th'''

Scarlet: A case of a character kind of ruined by Armageddon, Ashrah had a lot of promise on her debut. I liked her Blade-styled origin – she was a demon demon-hunter, a nice wrinkle that clashed in a positive way with her design. I like the old-fashioned tradition that it exudes, the purity of white really at odds with the Mortal Kombat universe. However, I feel that her entire point of being was completely lost in Armageddon. Of course, that seemed to be a recurring theme for a lot of characters in MKA, so maybe I’m being a little but harsh. I think it’s tougher to overlook MKA damage when you really only have one appearance under your belt than eight. One little thing I liked in Mortal Kombat vs. DCU was Wonder Woman’s ending where she obtains Ashrah’s sword; I wish that game had been better and more expansive – Ashrah and Wonder Woman could’ve been a great fit.

Charon: Ashrah is an interesting concept for sure... something just never quite struck me with her though. Her connections storyline wise are fairly limited and not fleshed out enough. More interaction with Ermac in Deception would have been a positive, or perhaps with the Oni. The connection to Nitara seemed fairly natural, as what can a demon-hunter hunt if not demons? Vampires, of course. Ashrah's storyline in MKD painted her as a protagonist, a demon seeking redemption from her crimes by in turn slaying her own kind. However, in Armageddon she seems to undergo a transformation of sorts and instead now seems to be blindly slaying things that seem to be evil. Somewhere along the way, I feel they forgot who Ashrah was or forgot to create a plot point to connect the redemptive demon-slaying heroine to the crazed zealot.

'''46. Jade Scarlet – 40th Charon – 46th'''

Scarlet: Hey, in looks I give Jade a nearly perfect score. I guess she just suffers from palette swap factor for me – I much prefer Kitana and Mileena, so Jade just sort of sinks down the lost. Honestly, at 40th place, she’s where I start to like all of the characters somewhat. It’s just tough to care a whole lot for her when there’s just the same thing done elsewhere in the series and better. Also, the Shaolin Monks ending with her is just very muddled and confusing and it makes me irritated when I think about it. Probably an irrational detractor for her, but it irks me.

Charon: So hot.

I have to say more about Jade? Uh... she's Kitana's buddy, she's so hot. Really though, Jade just never does much and the only thing she has going for her is being one of the most, if not the most, attractive MK character. There was story created for her in Deception but I didn't find it particularly interesting, since it basically just dealt with more female Edenian stuff which became a little trite I think. She still has potential due to her design and looks, but this is a character who really needs to get out of Kitana's shadow immediately.

'''45. Moloch Charon – 37th Scarlet – 52nd'''

'''Charon: '''I found MK:DA's sub-boss to be refreshing from the normal sub-bosses this game has had. Yes, he's a big monster type, but he's also not simply some upper tier henchman for the bad guys. He's more of a mindless guardian, one eventually used by Shang Tsung as insurance against Quan Chi. I think what I liked most is that Moloch is actually rather frightening to me, at least in Deadly Alliance. For me he is the most ominous character to actually do battle with in any game, which I guess is assisted by that he is the heaviest, tallest MK character in existence. While he lacks the storyline interest of his oni counterpart, I still really like the concept of this character.

Scarlet: I’m a guy that doesn’t see bigger as necessarily better, so the fact that he’s literally a blue Despero really doesn’t go over for me. Seriously, tell me they aren’t the same guy:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b1/Despero.JPG/250px-Despero.JPG

vs.

http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130714140842/mk_/images/0/0b/Mkdamolochrendercompleto.png

Sorry just uncouth unhygienic moronic Despero wannabe, you don’t rate for me.

Charon: Despero doesn't have a giant metal ball! Moloch has an extra toe on his foot! Really, all characters are inspired from something but the design of both characters could have easily been imagined by anyone asked to envision a monster. I guess I can understand the lack of care about Moloch though, he just felt like he brought an element of horror and fright to MK, a world sometimes full of over-the-gore to the point where it's no longer scary.

Scarlet: I thought that’s why we brought Freddy Krueger in.

'''44. Onaga Scarlet – 39th Charon – 48th'''

Scarlet: Onaga impressed me on a story level because I felt like he actually upped the ante. Here was a character whose introduction added another layer to the Russian babushka doll that is Mortal Kombat lore, raising the stakes by taking things back to an earlier primal evil. I liked that he was the former leader prior to Shao Kahn, and I thought his design was a little bit prehistoric which made that work. He also was one of the few characters whose story was actually improved through Armageddon. I think he just needs more time to grow and develop; I’d like to see some real interaction with Shao Kahn in the new timeline that was created. As it is, he’s still a decent character reminiscent of a Morgoth or a Darkseid.

Charon: Looking back, I most likely underrated Onaga at least a little bit. I did enjoy his introduction in Deception and found his rouse as Damashi very well orchestrated. Design wise he's also quite good; he's dragon enough to still pass as a true dragon. The thing that holds Onaga down for me is again not being a huge fan of the bridge between Deception and Armageddon. Very few characters received biographies for Armageddon, which rendered a lot of the storylines broken and incomplete. Crucial characters connected to Onaga failed to be given a bio, and thus for me it made his defeat and new purpose seem rather weak. I was no big fan of Armageddon's "legion of doom" type of villainy because it didn't seem all that interesting, even though they attempted to give the villains their own causes underneath that alliance. Onaga was sort of built up to be "the one"; the biggest, baddest boss in MK history but at the end of the day he felt like another stepping stone. Maybe if he's reintroduced in the new timeline, something better can happen, but MKX does not seem to be following the storyline beyond MK3 at all. It's hard to know if this guy will even get another chance at a stronger representation.

Scarlet: Hey, sometimes you have to really shake things up to make things stick. Given he did have a cameo in MK9 I think it’s fair to see he isn’t being forsaken. Bring back the Dragon Lord!

'''43. Daegon Charon – 32nd Scarlet – 55th'''

Charon: I felt Daegon had a lot of potential to be a very interesting character, if they had continued the original timeline. Unlike Taven, Daegon was awoken early from his slumber and made contact with several established MK characters, such as Shinnok and in forming the Red Dragon clan, which of course would later splinter into the Black Dragon and cause other storylines to occur. I felt they did a decent job tying this character into the history of old storylines, but like many villains, if a character fails the wrong way they become a little hampered by it. A defeat to Taven, a pretty boring character, really hurt Daegon's stock a bit moving forward. While I doubt we will see these characters again, for me Daegon was a positive plot character for Shinnok, which makes him quite good all by itself. The future actions of this character would be what would make him more than just decent.

Scarlet: For me, his ties to Taven just kill my interest in him. I don’t care how awesome Sawyer is on LOST; I hated him when he was stuck with that moronic **** Kate. Unlike Daegon though, Sawyer had actual moments on the show that built him positively while Daegon has almost nothing else to go on. I didn’t like his moveset or design that much, and again – Taven was a kiss of death for him, so like most other things in Armageddon, I’d prefer Midway make like Zatanna and mindwipe them from us.

Charon: I think it's safe to say we'll never see them again. Their purpose is solely about Armageddon, though Daegon DID cameo in MK9 as well so there's always the chance. Technically, Daegon is alive (presumably anyway) in the storyline because he awoke centuries before Taven did, and Taven will only reappear in the story if Armageddon happens again. So hey, maybe Daegon CAN develop without the taint you hate so much touching him!

Scarlet: Ha. You called Taven a taint.

'''42. Dairou Scarlet – 42nd Charon – 43rd'''

Scarlet: Is it bad to say that this ranking is based entirely on his forehead? Because it is; it’s freakin’ huge. Like fivehead huge. Like I could land the lunar rover on it huge. Like there are entire civilizations discovering new continents and learning the world is round on it. Like to see it is to know that there is a God for nothing is that incomprehensibly large huge. It’s bigger than Pokewars’ ego huge. And given that he has very little storyline worth talking about, I have no qualms with basing my ranking of Dairou solely on that gargantuan sheer plateau of hairlessness. At least he had the decency to die in Armageddon.

Charon: I always thought Dairou was wearing a mask, but then I figured out the MK team during this generation's days were really not that great at making faces for characters. If you were a member of the Deception community, you know Dairou is pretty much the bane of existence for people, so much so people tried to have him banned from tournament play. His tombstone drop move, specifically, is very broken and can lead to all sorts of bad things. For me though, I put Dairou fairly low because he simply doesn't DO anything. He reminds me of an attempt to create a new age Scorpion, a badass type of samurai sort with no master and no real allegiance beyond himself, but he never does anything particularly interesting and the characters he's connected to are not as good as the ones Scorpion is connected to.

Scarlet: I don’t see the Scorpion-like qualities, but maybe that’s simply because from a superficial perspective he’s far from a Scorpion. If he comes back, maybe a redesign is what he needs.

'''41. Sindel Scarlet – 26th Charon – 57th'''

Charon: For me, until MK9 I just found Sindel a little overrated. After MK9, I would love to never hear the name Sindel again. In about 30 seconds, Sindel managed to create what is sure to be a gaping hole in the future storylines of Mortal Kombat. While it is interesting Raiden attempted to avoid Johnny Cage being killed by killing Motaro himself, it ended up having Sindel be appointed to Motaro's position and instead of just Cage dead, Raiden had everyone BUT Cage and Sonya dead instead. Smart! While that wrinkle is interesting, I still really hate Sindel for taking out so many great characters and never letting us see them develop, instead giving up mindless Quan Chi drones for MKX and possibly beyond.

Scarlet: She’s hot, she’s evil, she kicks ass, she’s what I look for in a Mortal Kombat character. I also give her mad props for helping to eliminate freakin’ Liu Kang for a while – the less of him at this point, the better. But this is a Sindel’s write-up, so let’s get back to the conversation. I much preferred Sindel in Motaro’s role because frankly she’s flat-out better in any respect. I’m not saying being better than Motaro is a badge of honor or anything, but an improvement is still an improvement and Sindel has been around long enough to make that role change feel monumental. I like her, what can I say? Other than that a terrible placement, char.

Charon: The problem with Sindel is that her original existence in MK3 was to be reborn so Shao Kahn could cheat and cross through the realms. It wasn't to be a general of the army, it was to be Kahn's bride. Something about that change felt wrong to me, as an original MK storyline purist.

Scarlet: I can respect that; your point of view kind of reminds me of the older Star Trek fans who dislike the new timeline in Abrams’ films. I think creatively you have to give some leeway to allow creators to develop their stories, but I get it.

'''40. Kabal Scarlet – 32nd Charon – 50th'''

Scarlet: Kabal has a lot of things going for him that I really like, and one main thing going for him that I hate. First off, his swords are such a cool design, man. They look like sharpened crowbars and just scream painful no matter how you come into contact with them. I love his helmet too as it’s reminiscent of a Dwemer helmet from Morrowind. I think overall he’s a unique and cool character that isn’t duplicated in the series like most others. Now the bad? Black. Dragon. That’s such a kiss of death for characters in this game. Man, they should’ve just kept him as a former partner as Kurtis Stryker who has fallen to corruption. I could totally see him as a Boba Fett-like mercenary. Still, he’s pretty cool as is.

Charon: While I like Kabal in MK3 and MK2011, his Deception portrayal is really quite bad. It really sours the character but making him a thoughtless Kano stand-in during Kano's latest "death" or "disappearance". I really get annoyed with characters like this; if you MUST have this storyline in every single game just let Kano do it. Anyway, this may be a bit too low because Kabal does indeed have a good look and decent set of moves, even though they are sort of unorthodox and unexplainable (Flash in a respirator?). He could have been better in MK2011 if the previously mentioned character hadn't killed him, which just made him as expendable as every other character from that scene and renders the future of this character as virtually nothing.

Scarlet: There’s always a backdoor to that type of ending, though. I think we’ll have a game where we let a bunch of new characters stretch their legs by themselves – then the big guns will be back in the game after that.

'''39. Hotaru Charon – 31st Scarlet – 51st'''

Charon: - I'll admit I'm a big fan of the Chaos and Order storyline introduced in MKD. I feel almost all the characters introduced here were very welcome, fresh faces to the franchise. I get the feeling the community was a bit of a split on most of these characters. Hotaru's design and storyline make him a pretty unique character to me. Hotaru pledges his allegiance to Onaga, because he feels the Dragon King can restore a sense of order to the universe. This is in contrast to his feelings on Shao Kahn, whom he was against due to the fact he ruled in a very chaotic way. I guess I sort have a soft spot for characters who are neutral in ways like this. Also his insect-like armor was a precursor to the truly insect-like character D'Vorah.

Scarlet: I freakin’ love his armor, but aside from that, I got nothing to say about Hotaru. He’s a body that gets thrown at things – he’s an expendable extra of the highest order. All of his relevance to the story is utterly forgettable, and there’s nothing else worth saying about him. He killed Li Mei or something, right? I just didn’t get the point of the character or care about him whatsoever. He’s a Charlotte from Season 4 of lost.

Charon: I thought he had plenty of purpose, even outside of the Chaos/Order storyline. He jailed Shujinko in Konquest mode, remember. He was initially Shujinko's ally. Granted, you have to be into the MKD storyline between those two realms and ideas to really care all that much about this character, but as I said, I was.

'''38. Kurtis Stryker Scarlet – 38th Charon – 41st'''

Scarlet: In the Mortal Kombat universe of ninjas, wizards, cyborgs, monsters and shapeshifters, Kurtis Stryker is... a regular cop, who fights with guns. Nothing magical or paranormal about him, just your average Office Krupke who somehow managed to get firearms into an alternative universe fighting tournament and dishes out grenades where others shoot fireballs. One of NYPD's finest, even his Fatalities aren't out of this world, using tasers and explosives to dispatch enemies. I don't know about you, but I can't throw fireballs or become invisible - though I can certainly get my hands on some pistols and a nightstick, which is apparently enough to enter the MK tournament. Stryker is utterly bizarre because he's totally normal - and completely out of place... except that he can occasionally turn into a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Hey, it happens to me sometimes.

Charon: What's Uncle Joey doing in the Kombat Zone?! Stryker was Hsu Hao long before Hsu Hao as Hsu Hao. Meaning, he was pretty much everyone's stock choice as their least favorite character in the 2D era. However, something odd happened after 3 games of being absent: People began to miss Stryker, began to request Stryker's return and began to appreciate Stryker. By the time he finally returned, it was with a complete redesign where he sported riot gear and reminded me a lot of Doctrine Dark. Much like most characters in MK9 though, he died a pretty useless death and since his importance is not that great, it might take another 3 games of people missing Stryker for this guy to return.

'''37. Khameleon Charon – 33rd Scarlet – 43rd'''

 

Charon: For some reason, the MK team decided not to originally put this character in Armageddon and it was met with backlash by the fanbase, resulting in her inclusion in the Wii version of the game and one of the few Armageddon characters with a full-fledged bio. Khameleon has always interested me, because Reptile was always portrayed as a character that was alone in the world. While Reptile degenerated as the original timeline went on, slowly losing his mind, Khameleon became the sane survivor of her race and in general inherited a lot of traits I sort of wished for Reptile before the change to his character in MK:DA. I also really loved her design in Armageddon, one of the few female characters who is pretty without showing off her body much at all.

Scarlet: I’m pretty much in agreement with Charon on Khameleon, although I don’t find her very attractive physically. Her design reminds me of a female ninja Silver Surfer for some reason, and I see fewer similarities between Khameleon and Reptile than Khameleon and Chameleon. Which, you know, is as it should be… and at the same time in-story makes very little sense. You can blame that on Chameleon being so underdeveloped, but you also have to been a little blame on Khameleon, which I do.

Charon: I think the blame is squarely on Chameleon's lack of a storyline. Yeah she's reminiscent in design of Chameleon, but from a NAME standpoint Chameleon SHOULD be a Raptor too. However, I think he was not made into one because it would likely dilute the purpose of Khameleon's storyline as well as Reptile's.

'''36. Skarlet Scarlet – 35th Charon – 38th'''

Scarlet: I’m very particular about characters who use me as inspiration, and Skarlet had a strike against her from the outside because of her terrible sense of spelling. If you’re going to use my name, get it right people. In all seriousness, I don’t have a lot to say about Skarlet… yet. Her introduction was solid and I found her to be a very enjoyable character even if she was from the land of the palette swaps; design was, I found her moveset strong and I was impressed with Skarlet’s speed. Okay, okay, I’ll stop. Skarlet honestly was a pretty solid character who has the potential to go far in the series should Midway maintain consistency with her. The only problem is… Midway doesn’t like to maintain consistency with their newer characters. Can Skarlet exist without being forced into a hole Boon and Co. think needs filling? That’s a question for another game I guess.

Charon: This was only a mediocre character for me, but I will agree that I would at least like to see more. I always thought maybe the MK team didn't even know about Skarlet, which was the name typically given to her by the fanbase, who was basically Ermac in MK2 but with the female ninja. I think what I found most underwhelming with Skarlet was her choice of attire, which was just too similar looking to Kitana and Mileena, the characters she's based off of. I was hoping for a REAL female ninja, ala Kunimitsu or Ayame, but instead we got this. She's not BAD by any stretch of the imagination, she's just not what I personally wanted so I was a little let down by her, though she did get a natural "element" that the MK series hadn't really used a lot from outside of Meat.

'''35. Sonya Blade Scarlet – 30th Charon – 42nd'''

Scarlet: I’ll admit it; game-wise, Sonya is a fairly bland character. I’ve seen the military tough chick with an edge before, and done much better. Go see Aliens or Starship Troopers or Suicide Squad or Mass Effect for more details. Sonya just seems to lack personality in most of the MK titles, a judgment that I think is compounded by the fact that the more humanistic non-ninja characters all seem to be in a similar spot. Partially this is a design issue – the designs of some the earlier characters just don’t lend themselves as well to flavor and atmosphere. Even so, I have a bit of a soft spot for Sonya thanks to Jeri Ryan’s portrayal of her in Legacy. I’ll admit, I’m influenced by Mortal Kombat’s non-video game properties! But c’mon, it’s Jeri Ryan. How can you not love Seven of Nine?

Charon: Yeah, she's bland, that's why I low-balled her a bit. I have been forever and ever bored with her storylines, her lack of development and recently, her godawful designs. Have you seen her in MK:DA onward? So very, very manish! ESPECIALLY in MKvsDCU... wow what a grotesque design. And with the rock hard nipples too. She's just a disgrace to me. For me, it's actually her earlier designs and portrayals that have her even this high for me. Kerri Hoskins was pretty hot.

Scarlet: I don't get how Sonya is the only one nipping out of all the girls in the series. Like, she's the one without a bra and the ninja chicks are rocking one? I can't believe that.

'''34. Darrius Charon – 28th Scarlet – 41st'''

Charon: Hey, it's Wesley Snipes! I'm not sure what the general opinion on this character is but coming from my background, I would say it's fairly bad. But as I said before, I thought the introduction of the new realms in Deception was positive. Darrius is a revolutionary leader in a world that might be akin to a dictatorship. His storyline is very self-contained, and won't interest you much unless you like the additions the game made. However, I really like his style. I love his gauntlet weapon style, it makes him feel quick, powerful and just a lot of fun to play as.

Scarlet: I guess I just put less stock in his design; he’s wearing the costume of the DC superhero Vibe, which makes me hate him a little bit. Time for another photo comparison in place of a write-up!

http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20081217054310/mortalkombat/es/images/6/68/Darrius11.jpg

vs.

http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140723205046/marvel_dc/images/1/19/Justice_League_of_America%27s_Vibe_Vol_1_1_Textless.jpg

And Vibe is probably the worst major member of the Justice League, so the design of Darrius alone drops major points. Combine that with a nonexistent story post-Deception and he’s just become utterly forgettable.

Charon: I think he was probably more influenced by Blade and perhaps Raven from Tekken, granted I see the slight similarities. The PS2 era game designers really loved to use that quilted pattern you see on Darrius's pants and Vibe's jacket, it wasn't really exclusive to Darrius at all. Hell, Scorpion has that pattern too.

Scarlet: Oh, I’m not saying it influenced them, I’m just saying anyone with a costume reminiscent of a superhero whose named after something women shove in their ****** s is going to go down and go down hard. I should rephrase that.

'''33. Goro Scarlet – 33rd Charon – 34th'''

Scarlet: So here’s the deal with these multi-armed Claymation stop-motion boss battle stars in MK – they irritate the living bejeezus out of me. And it’s not the design but rather the integration that really bothers me. That said, Goro is the best of the bunch because quite simply the first of the bunch. It was new and therefore felt much more monumental. It’s like when you first see Darth Vader – his presence alone accounts for a great deal of that first impression. Of course by Episode III everything frightening about Vader has been washed away by that kid from Jumper, but even so the similarity rings true with Goro. Time wasn’t kind to Goro and diluting the pool with more characters of Goro’s character type took away something special from him. On the flip side, I liked that we got more diversity in the races so it’s a double-edged sword at worst. Don’t get me wrong; I like the guy, just not as much as I did in the days of yore.

Charon: The problem I've always had with Goro is the team doesn't seem to know what he is. As portrayed in the first MK movie, he's basically a lumbering oaf who defeats opponents with his brute strength. In the original timeline, after his appearance in MK4, Goro was presented an intelligent, noble warrior who died on the battlefield while making peace with his old enemies. Unfortunately, this was not to be as Goro's undying popularity forced his return in an additional to Deception as once again Shao Kahn's evil enforcer. The new timeline again gives Goro a more noble, intelligent design but until MKX is out I can't be sure where THIS iteration of Goro is going. For once in his existence, I would like to see Goro represented as a noble, yet proud former Mortal Kombat champion seeking to regain the honor he lost to Liu Kang. With perhaps no Shao Kahn, it could be the chance Goro needs to become a better character. Until then, I have respect for him as the first sub-boss of the game but otherwise his storyline is too conflicting for me to deem him all that good beyond that.

Scarlet: Wouldn’t it be cool to see a story where Goro tries to go for a power grab against Onaga? I don’t know why, but it feels like those two would be natural antagonists if Shao Kahn were to vacate the premises. Then Shang Tsung would come in and eff everyone up.

'''32. Mavado Charon – 29th Scarlet – 36th'''

Charon: Somehow this character has fallen into Boon's much maligned category of characters that may never return. This could be due to the fact idiot MK fans were mad he killed Kabal and adopted his weapons, but the fact is the Red Dragon ran by Mavado was simply more interesting than anything the Black Dragon had ever done. Rather than simply feuding with Sonya and Jax, Mavado actually interacted with Shang Tsung and Quan Chi on a higher plane of thinking than petty crime. I also liked Mavado's design and the appeal his character has as the criminal antithesis to Kano; the calculated, cunning criminal compared to the brute force and dirty tactics of Kano.

Scarlet: You pretty much said everything I was going to say. Mavado’s run with the Red Dragons was really interesting; I could really see a chesslike game between the Red and Black Dragons that involved Mavado playing outside of his weight class in order to glean more power. While Kabal is decent, I wasn’t terribly sad he was killed – it was a Game of Thrones death. Sure, it sucked to see a character go, but the story’s the thing, and Mavado was changing up the story in a positive way. He was as close to a certain calculating DC supervillain as we were going to get from Mortal Kombat.

'''31. Li Mei Scarlet – 29th Charon – 36th'''

Scarlet: An underrated character to be sure. We’ve entered the Otherrealm at this point of characters I consider out-and-out good characters, my midcarders I’ll mark out to. Li Mei had a couple stories I thought were really strong. I really liked her origin because it was a pretty awesome rags-to-riches Cinderella story of her going from slave to champion, but it yanked the preconceived notions of happy endings out from under you by screwing her over for her troubles. Then in Deception they upped her ante pretty well, and I found myself intrigued by what was going to come next. Of course, what came next was the travesty of Armageddon (although if the entire game had been as good as the opening cutscene, imagine how these rankings might have changed). Anyways, she’s hot, she’s got a cool personality, she’s got a decent story and I’d like to see more of her. Take that however you want to.

Charon: I didn't initially enjoy Li Mei that much, though I did like the idea of a female champion of something and her progression in Deception was a pretty surprising improvement for her character. The idea of a character touched by the soul of a long dead character is interesting, and the split personality within Li Mei could definitely be interesting to explore. Design wise, she seemed to be sort of the team's answer to the more typical asian girl designs used by Dead or Alive or Tekken, and it really worked for her I think. Though it wasn't quite perfect to me, I do think there is room for this character to return again.

Scarlet: I feel like I would rerank her higher now looking back.

'''30. Shujinko Charon – 19th Scarlet – 36th'''

Charon: While I thought the series would continue with Kung Lao as the protagonist, surprisingly enough they again allowed the Deadly Alliance to prevail against Earthrealm. I was skeptical of this character at first, but playing through the Konquest mode many hours (this is actually the only time I ever wrote a FAQ for a game) endeared me to this character. Clearly he's inspired by Pai Mei in design, and his moveset is a combination of the most signature MK movies and they actually created a storyline for him to have these abilities rather than just throw them on him ala Kira. I don't think most people were that pleased with Shujinko, but I thought he was an interesting and tragic character capable of being a star in the series.

Scarlet: He reminded me a hell of a lot of Master Li from Jade Empire; not that that’s a bad thing or anything, and neither is derivative of the other. Just an interesting observation. I’m in the camp that did see Shujinko as quit the worthy protagonist, but it certainly isn’t due to his age. I see a lot of people make old man jokes about him, but hell! Boston Legal is one of my favorite shows and it’s all about the old folks. That said, I felt design-wise he was a little bit bland and his story felt a little too overhashed in other franchises and tales.

'''29. Drahmin Charon – 20th Scarlet – 34th'''

Charon: A critically underrated addition to MK:DA was this character. His design is basically a more interesting Meat, and it was great to see a true demon in the game after the rumor of Belokk (a demonic sub-boss planned for MK4) fell through. What I found the most fascinating about Drahmin was all the little things that went into his character; his backstory as a former warlord whose soul had been damned and twisted by the realm he inhabited for so long, the artifact he wore on his face to temporarily control his demonic rage and the fact that in MK:DA, he was intentionally designed without "dial-up" combos, meaning he could not perform honed in combos and relied on brutal strikes and pop up abilities. He was such a fresh, different character and it's sad the team loathes him for some reason. I can't understand what isn't interesting about this character, I'd love to see more about his mask and perhaps an inner battle between his oni self and his former self.

Scarlet: I’m with you on this one. There’s a lot of great potential in Drahmin; he played bizarrely, but in a good way, and his design and story were pretty awesome. Honestly, he’s one of the most original characters to come out of the MK franchise. That said, I don’t feel too strongly for him simply because he was cast aside way too quickly, but I do recognize the potential in him.

Charon: It's a shame the MK team see no potential in this character for some reason. They're so hung up on their old ways, it's like time has forgotten them and they rarely like anything new they produce.

'''28. Nitara Charon – 25th Scarlet – 28th'''

Charon: I like a vampire, surprised? Nitara was a nice addition to the series and created a new race to draw lore from. Vampires are a natural fit to Mortal Kombat in my opinion, and the storyline of her realm being absorbed into Outworld is interesting. Outworld actually being a composition of many realms was for the first time really elaborated upon, and we got to see what could have happened to Earth if Shao Kahn had taken it over. As another neutral character, she helped create more complex and interesting storylines that weaved in and out of others while still adding a lot new to the lore of MK. The fear of the MK team's general dislike of all things MK:DA outside of Kenshi makes me nervous we'll have to settle for new races and characters, like D'Vorah, rather than see more characterization for Nitara.

Scarlet: Nitara was like a sexy pirate vampire, so I totally see why you like her. Frankly, I don’t know how she isn’t your, like, #5. But anyways, I dug Nitara, too. The expansion of the races and lore just constantly makes Mortal Kombat more interesting. But herein lies the problem with MK lore – there’s a lot of breadth but not a lot of depth. Midway doesn’t seem interesting in building existing concepts so much as creating new ones, and that leaves so much of the series as shallow and hollow. If only we didn’t have to be so quickly dismissive of ideas that are slow to take hold. It’s not like people are going not buy Mortal Kombat if you put Nitara in the next iteration, so why not take the opportunity to expand on things?

Charon: Nitara could be a lot higher, I'm not sure about top 5, but easily top 20 with more expansion of her character. Like you said though, for some reason they feel it is necessary to include the same characters over and over again or create totally new ones rather than flesh out characters like these. This little pack of characters (Li Mei/Shujinko/Drahmin/Nitara) all share in the unfortunate predicament of being thrown aside like nothings. Armageddon not only painted them into a corner storywise, it was also an excuse for them to get out of the new storylines they had created that they, for whatever reason, did not like. Few characters from these days have emerged, and isn't it funny now that in MKX the time between MK3 and MK4, and especially after that, has suddenly vanished? Now they have the free reign to do what they love to do; make up new crap that they will inevitably hate after the game comes out. Good job guys!

'''27. Cyrax Scarlet – 18th Charon – 35th'''

Scarlet: Well, now we’ve reached the characters I love. His combos kick ass and he just comes across as a true and utter killing machine. Plus he’s got that great yellow design. He’s like the cybernetic killer bee of Mortal Kombat. If Cyrax was in Pokemon, he’d be the most badass Beedrill ever. I think the only thing that drags him down for me is his storyline which just never really captivated me. Personality-wise he’s as good as you can get with a machine man ninja master, but I think the MK team let him down with the plot. Even so, Cyrax is still a beast.

Charon: I feel a little resentment towards Cyrax for stealing Smoke's story. Smoke was initially the robot who had a shred of his humanity left, not Cyrax. Remember that initially Cyrax was given the same storyline as Sektor, and it was Smoke that was being led down the path to redemption. However, they instead gave this storyline to Cyrax after MK4 and even in the rebirth of the series, Cyrax again assumes the role as a more unwilling, honorable fighter that is unwillingly evil. I do like Cyrax's special moves; his nets, his bombs, the helicopter blade. I rank him the least interesting of the (original) cyborgs not only because he stole his storyline partially from Smoke, but also because he became entangled in the Special Forces's terrible storylines.

Scarlet: I feel like I should add more to this but, eh. Valid reasons all.

'''26. Nightwolf Scarlet – 22nd Charon – 30th'''

Charon: Sort of like Stryker, Nightwolf was not initially that popular. I sort of always liked Nightwolf though, even if his early design seemed to paint him as somewhat of a native geek than a badass warrior, which he does a better job with. While I find the Nightwolf character to have been a bit misused in the new timeline, in the original timeline he becomes a more important character in his Deception return. I found this interesting since before that game, Nightwolf is not a character I'd have even expected to see again. There's something about a shamanistic, spectral-infused native american warrior that I really, really just like. Nightwolf does a better job of being the Native American character than just about any other character in any other franchise.

Scarlet: Ho, white man. Stay your horse for a moment and share with me this peace pipe as I tell you the legend of He-Who-Tries-To-Use-Ranged-Weapon-In-Melee-Fighting. Many moons ago when buffalo roamed the AFC championship games, noble warrior Nightwolf was brought upon this franchise by the great Ed Boon and Co.  Nightwolf was garbed as Marvel superhero Warpath and given the dubious unique ability to be the one guy who brings a bow to a knifefight. That might be the only thing I dislike about Nightwolf, however, as I really dig Native American characters when they’re done right. And outside of Manitou Raven and Little Big Man, there really aren’t any other good Native Americans in modern media, so Nightwolf is special in that regard. Good on him, too; apparently he’s so good that Charon considers him better than Johnny Depp in the Lone Ranger!

Charon: Now now, I wouldn't go THAT far... his bow makes him cool though. I mean, let's be honest most MK characters worth their salt have a projectile weapon, Nightwolf's just happens to be an arrow he conjures up from a conjured bow. He does have a hatchet, too! Nightwolf is a man for all situations.

'''25. Sareena Scarlet – 24th Charon – 27th'''

Scarlet: Poor Sareena. She never got a decent shot even though she was a long time coming. Created for the abysmal spin-off game Mortal Kombat Mythologies- Sub-Zero, she was originally slated for MK4 but was removed from that game when the team opted for to take Fujin in addition to Quan-Chi and Shinnok from that game and pushed Sareena back. She was then cut from both Deadly Alliance and Deception fairly late in development. Though she did debut in the handheld game Mortal Kombat Tournament Edition, and while it was one of the better recieved handheld MKs, it wasn't exactly a game that the majority of fans had played. Sareena would finally make her debut proper in Armageddon, and what a debut it was. Sareena's arsenal of special moves featured a nice selection and the fastest special move in the game in her throwing knife. In a series where most females end up being non-descript Sareena was a stark contrast with her darker look and (for a fighting game character) a surprisingly deep back-story. The only problem with Sareena in Armageddon? Her god damn mouth never closes...seriously what's up with that?

Charon: I personally really enjoyed MK Mythologies, even if the gameplay and such made me believe I was playing a game made in the early 90's. Sareena's a great character, and her connection to other great characters like Noob Saibot, Sub-Zero and Quan Chi really give her story some legs. I would love to see her fleshed out even more though, since yeah it was a long time coming to actually get her in a game. Wouldn't a storyline with her and Asharh make really good sense? Both are demons, both don't really WANT to be demons, but their personalities seem so different. I do fear for Sareena though going forward due to the direction of Sub-Zero's character and the unknown aspect of Noob Saibot, and Quan Chi will have more than enough assistants... still I'm hopeful, I have a feeling they really like Sareena since a lot of care was given to her storyline initially.

Scarlet: I highly doubt Ashrah is going to ever get another push, but that actually sounds pretty good.

'''24. Bo’ Rai Cho Scarlet – 10th Charon – 39th'''

Scarlet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GPxkpjCvWI

Confession time: Bo’ Rai Cho probably could’ve gone even higher on my list. I freakin’ love this guy. He’s the drunken master of the gang, a really slothful dirty old slacker that reminds me of a drunk panda that occasionally gets out of bed to beat some asses before stumbling back into a stupor. I mean, I really should hate the character. He’s that bad lowbrow Dreamworks kiddie humor that I naturally detest and yet somehow in Mortal Kombat it just is so damned hilarious. I mean, he’s fighting freaking gods like Shinnok and Raiden… and he’s puking on them! It’s just so hard to wrap your head around. Could you imagine ECW’s Sandman vomiting on Greek gods like Zeus? Because that’s what it’s like to me. But he pulls it all off because BO KNOWS KOMBAT. He’s the benevolent and disciplined martial arts master who trains Earthrealm warriors. According to him at least. According to them, he just pukes on them in sparring sessions, so who knows?

Bo knows.

Charon: I really abhorred this guy in MK:DA. Not only does he fart every few seconds when you move with him, he is also a really broken character to go against. Bo is actually the #1 character in both MK:DA and MK:D, if you believe in tier lists. My opinion softened on him in Deception when he surprisingly returned in a toned down, somewhat less gross version of his initial appearance. His character of the drunken but wise, powerful yet silly, is one that was much more well done by his second appearance. Bo was really the first "different sized" character the game really let you play as, and it was a good touch. MK did need someone that wasn't a sculpted, chiseled warrior of death in the field somewhere. Still, some of the vulgarity keeps him from going up too high for me.

Scarlet: Honestly, if you kept the toned down version and had his ending involve vomiting on boss characters, everyone would love him.

'''23. Liu Kang Charon – 16th Scarlet – 31st'''

Charon: The original hero of MK is still cool to me, despite all the naysayers. He looks good, he has original and memorable abilities that are staples of Mortal Kombat and while his constant defeating the antagonists did get a little old after a while, I only found his MK4 appearance a "bad" one. The MK:DA, they decided to kill off Liu Kang but of course a character so identifiable with the series would not stay dead; literally. The zombie Liu Kang in Deception was interesting, because it was never truly explained to my satisfaction. I assumed Raiden, darkened by his sacrifice, brought him back to life assuming him as the only true champion to be able to defeat Onaga (which by the way, his bike kick does INCREDIBLE damage against this boss, and is the only character in the game to basically be able to take a way a near fourth of his life bar with ONE move. I always was fascinated by this fact, but I don't know if it's intentional or bad programming). I know a lot of people like to think this guy is the John Cena of MK, but I would really miss Liu if he missed too many games. He's as much MK as the ninja are in my opinion.

Scarlet: He’s long been a necessary evil for the series because too many people can’t enjoy a franchise without someone super-bland to wrap their head around. It’s why great shows never have big audiences and crap like NCIS and Big Bang Theory can thrive – mediocrity is popularity. Still, Liu Kang is at least a damned competent character with stories that can shine when provided central focus. Still he’s really fricking dull. Like, Whitney on NBC dull.

Charon: I think Liu is dull like a lot of fighting game lead chars are "dull". Maybe his story isn't the deepest or most interesting ever, but I always have found he made up for it through gameplay.

'''22. Shao Kahn Charon – 23rd Scarlet – 23rd'''

Charon: A lot of people, in my opinion incorrectly, associate this guy with the biggest of bads in the MK world. While Kahn's story is not all that interesting in the games (though his potential is shown in other media, for instance in comics) denying that he's at least a really good badass would be crazy. I love his taunts, they are really demoralizing to a player and to hear a video game insult you can really piss you off if you're losing. It can also make defeating him all that much better. He has some room for improvements, but MK9 didn't really make use of any ideas I had in my own head so he stayed right about where he's always been in my personal rankings.

Scarlet: Shao Kahn and Darkseid are virtually the same type of character – the reigning omnipotent evil that appears to take a major force to reckon with them. They also are both not the first ruler of their kind (see Onaga and Mageddon). There comparison is fair because where things diverge is in the usage of the characters. Darkseid is consistently given opportunity to hatch his schemes while Shao Kahn sometimes has to take a backseat to other storylines, making him a looming but somewhat ineffective antagonist at times. If Shao Kahn had the number of opportunities to really make himself a menace like Darkseid, we could see more Earthrealm invasion angles that I think would set him on a path to contend with Shang Tsung as the best villain of the series. Hell, if Mortal Kombat retold Final Crisis (it’s not like they don’t already steal DC Comics storylines) with Shao Kahn, I think it would be the perfect setup for an MK title. Especially since we’re looking at a Blackest Night rip-off in MKX.

Charon: In my personal opinion, and slight list spoilers... Kahn is not even a top 3 "main villain" for me. You're right in that he has had his chances to be a better character, but they just haven't really panned out yet. I personally liked the story in the comic which showed a little more human side to the character, and what he looks like without his helmet on as well.

Scarlet: Kahn has to win a fight that really matters and win big in order to really turn things around. And about seeing him without the helmet… when they removed Darth Vader’s helmet in the prequel films, things went south. Don’t bring that trash to my MK.

'''21. Fujin Charon – 21st Scarlet – 25th'''

Charon: MK could use more gods. Fujin debuted in Mythologies as an opponent for Sub-Zero (Noob Saibot) along with 3 other elemental gods. Fujin was the one lucky enough to return and get a name to go along with it. Wind is a cool element to be associated with, and I really like Fujin's design and the direction they seemed to be going in with a younger Fujin battling against an older, misguided Raiden. Since they veered away from that however and returned Raiden to his initial character, the potential for Fujin to return isn't as good as it once was. For me, I envisioned the future of Mortal Kombat to lie with Fujin guiding Kung Lao while Raiden clung to the corpse of Liu Kang. That power struggle would have been interesting but alas... still good memories though.

Scarlet: Fujin, Raiden, Shinnok. These three guys are cosmically-powered chess players that need an entire game plot to themselves. There’s so much potential for a three-way tug-of-war of their differing ideologies, setting up a battle that could cost all three of them dearly and leaving a vacuum for an unexpected villain to take power and a major push. Honestly, comparing the three is what causes Fujin to land where he does. I feel like he was a little bit mismanaged after his initial debut which caused his massive potential to sink. There really are tiers of characters based on their in-story power levels, and Fujin deserves more attention than his powerful peers at this point. Don’t let him be The Giant in the nWo.

'''20. Rain Scarlet – 20th Charon – 23rd'''

Scarlet: Y’know, despite not being a very well-loved character or particularly prolific in the series, I’ve always found Rain very memorable. Even though he started out as a joke character based around a Prince song, I ended up liking this character significantly thanks to a story that turned him into a great villain-turned-hero character with endings that, in typical MK fashion, aren’t quite good and aren’t quite bad. I particularly loved his DLC ending in MK9 – even though he dispatched Shao Kahn, he usurped the leadership of Kahn’s armies and decided to invade Earth. I don’t know; something about that just really clicked with me. I could see Rain being a cool quasi-villain that you don’t necessarily support but aren’t particularly against. There really aren’t a lot of characters that leave fans torn based on their morality, so that would be cool.

Charon: I preferred Rain's look in Armageddon, one of the best things about that game was the awesome way in which he was designed. The MK team has done a decent job of setting apart formerly swap characters from one another, namely in their design schemes for Ermac and Rain. Rain has a regal feel to him, and his story and character are good in both timelines. He's had a crap life. He was an orphan, and before that he was basically a bastard child to Argus who was passed over as worthy. The most interesting thing about Armageddon's core story was Rain's insertion in it, and it's a shame he didn't get to play a larger role. While this character is Prince Rain who loves Purple, I've always found him a surprisingly well developed character with some really great and memorable moves.

'''19. Havik Charon – 17th Scarlet – 27th'''

Charon: Did you know this character began as a new design for Noob Saibot? Did you know this character's beta name was 'Skab'? It's interesting how a character who had no direction at first ended up being very cool. I'm still not sure WHAT exactly Havik actually is race wise, but he's definitely interesting. His fighting is unorthodox and his mode of thinking as a true chaotic member of the MK world is pretty rare, and actually completely unheard of since it's literally just him as far as playables go. While there may not be a ton of potential in developing his character further, it would be interesting to see more of him simply because he is the face of his realm basically. What secrets are there in Chaosrealm, and why are things the way they are there? There's a glimmer of hope for Havik as he was pretty well received by fans and devs alike, and he does makes a cameo in MK2011 in the ending of the character he was once destined to be.

Scarlet: Havik’s cameo in MK9 has me excited for the possibilities in MKX. After all, who fits in better with a bunch of undead fighters than Havik? For some reason I always relate him to Morte from Planescape: Torment in terms of where I think his personality could end up going if we could learn more about him. I think his moveset is one-of-a-kind and his design stands far apart from the rest of the MK cast. The only part of him that really sink him on my list is the weak storyline, but frankly I see a lot of potential for him – not in his backstory, but in creating new uses for him. Havik could at any time work with any character and it be cool; there’s just so much versatility to the character and playing as him was a treat, so let’s bring him back in the next game!

Charon: Yeah, I think Havik can play a role in games as a piece to a someone else's plan. Sometimes, your role as a character is to make other characters better. Not that Havik isn't good by himself, because he clearly is, but I think we agree he can really play a lot of roles for a lot of different people.

Scarlet: At the end of the day, there aren’t a lot of MK characters that could float around nearly every story and work well in conjunction with virtually every character in the franchise. That’s Havik’s greatest strength.

'''18. Reptile Scarlet – 16th Charon – 24th'''

Scarlet: The first of the secret characters. Of course apart from being ridiculously hard to beat, he never really had a personality until MK2. Reptile was for a long time the “yes-man” of the series and in that respect I always felt sorry for him. You know, always copping grief at the hands of Shang Tsung, then Shao Kahn and even Shinnok. So when he got his chance to kick-ass and take some name as the revived Dragon King, I couldn’t be happier. I can’t help but think that he could have had a different, perhaps less “obvious” name but I suppose it’s too late to go back now. Unfortunately the one move that I thought was his trademark, the Forceballs have fallen by the wayside, victim of the transition to 3D. Shame.

Charon: I too have always felt really sorry for Reptile. Early on I viewed Reptile as a silent assassin and pictured him as more stealthy and true 'ninja' than the actual ninja in the series, mostly due to his trademark invisibility. I became more interested with Reptile as a character though as he progressed through MK4 and into MK:DA, where he underwent a drastic transformation that was loved by some and hated by the ninja purists. The idea of Reptile's mind and body devolving is very interesting to me, and since he is one of the most popular characters I do imagine him being in the next game, and hopefully they won't do away with this aspect of his character. When I was younger I also really loved his forceballs, but they DO make a return in MK2011 ya know.

Scarlet: Yeah, I realize that. But I think Reptile suffered for a long time due to losing such a valuable asset. And, of course, if he’s not included in MKX or changed due to the story, it won’t have made much of a difference.

'''17. Kenshi Charon – 10th Scarlet – 19th'''

Charon: Kenshi and Quan Chi are basically the only characters created after MK3 that the MK team themselves seem to like, or that they trust the community likes enough to keep bringing them back. I was wondering how Kenshi would co-exist with Ermac in Deception, but they managed to handle it pretty well. Kenshi's backstory is pretty cool and hell, he's a BLIND SWORDSMAN. I mean really, that speaks for itself. What a badass right? I really liked the traditional Japanese swordsman approach they took here, combining it with some supernatural powers of course; I mean even his hara kiri is a true seppuku. I think Kenshi is just a product of great design, concept and timing (making his debut in a game where a lot of the characters seemed to get mixed reactions). Kenshi has always been the one character fans of the newer generation of MK and the old fans of the series who can't get over the same characters over and over again both like.

Scarlet: Who am I going to compare Kenshi to? C’mon, guess. Just take a wild guess. Time’s up. The correct answer? Another blind guy with a melee weapon and training in martial arts… Daredevil. I think it’s a fair comparison. A lot of traditional Japanese themes have been strong recurring elements in Daredevil over the years, but surprisingly, I was introduced to Kenshi before I read any Daredevil, so for me, I can’t break the comparison between the two. Kenshi is one of the best designs in the series, because his obvious handicap makes him memorable and a natural underdog despite having abilities to back him up. It’s a visual thing; you see a blind character, or a character in a wheelchair, or a character missing a hand, and you just subconsciously feel sympathy for them. They can’t possibly compete on an even keel with the rest of the world. And yet, here is Kenshi, with one of the best designs in Mortal Kombat and a story that is fashioned not around this disability but what Kenshi can do in spite of it. In fact, Kenshi influenced a major story in Max Brooks’ World War Z novel (the story of a blind elderly monk who was able to use his training to kill hundreds of zombies with a shovel). Cool stuff.

Charon: Kenshi also got a lot of comparison to Solid Snake. I can really see it in their facial structure, hair and some in Kenshi's design in Deception.

'''16. Sektor Scarlet – 13th Charon – 15th'''

Scarlet: What was Midway to do when Mortal Kombat III was in development? They’d already done the guy ninja and the gal ninja. Then they did every different colored version of the guy ninja and the gal ninja in the rainbow. So what was left for MK3? Oh, obviously ROBOT NINJAS. Because, y’know, the concept of martial arts and control mind and body and honing spirit to focus deadly attacks TOTALLY makes sense with soulless husks of robots. But, whatever because ROBOT NINJAS. Honestly, is there a better aspect of 90s video games than the merger of robots and ninjas? Sektor was the best robot ninja of the gang because between the budding palette swaps of ROBOT NINJAS, he was the red one. Also, ROBOT NINJAS.

Charon: I prefer Sektor to Cyrax because he has his own story. Sektor is interesting in that he is the soulless robot that both characters started out as and embraces it. I really like the development Sektor had in his later appearances, creating his own clan of robotic ninja and going to war with Sub-Zero Lin Kuei. The heartless killing machine character is rarely that well done, but I think Sektor does quite a good job with it. Add to his strong story some homing missiles and the always fun teleport uppercut and you have a great character that's never a bore to see.

'''15. Mileena Scarlet – 12th Charon – 14th'''

Scarlet: What’s better than having a sexy, competent female character? A sexy, competent EVIL female character (see Maleficent). And what’s better than a sexy, competent evil female character? A sexy, competent evil female character with a crazy hidden deadly secret! Mileena could very well have been the star of the movie Teeth with the sort of chompers she’s packing (and thankfully we don’t have to worry if the carpet matches the grill). I just find her to be one of the most memorable characters in the Mortal Kombat franchise even though she often has to take a backseat to other lady ninjas. Still, she dresses to perfection in a Bret the Hitman Hart colored costume, she has a great moveset and aside from needing a little orthodontic work, she’s one of the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be.

Charon: I used to find Mileena a rather bad character, but I mostly held her scantily clad designs against her. In general, the MK team are sort of perverts... with the whole Mileena/Playboy thing. However, in time I grew to like Mileena more than I once did. The relationship between her, Kitana and their 'father' Shao Kahn has never really been properly done (though again, I think it was touched upon better by the Malibu comics) but her ascension to major character in Deception and through MK2011 has really helped her shine a lot brighter. I agree with you that Mileena is indeed one of MK's most memorable characters, maybe at times for the wrong reasons, but there are a lot of right reasons as well. This is a character I still figure we'll see plenty more of, and she could continue to climb my list if her character is continued in the direction it has gone in the last few games.

 

'''14. Noob Saibot Scarlet – 8th Charon – 18th'''

Scarlet: Sub-Zero 1.0.  Noob Saibot is the source material for all Call of Duty games. He turns into a GHOST, he has a ninja costume designed for black ops, he’s involved in a story where the world is at war, his name is Noob, he used to be overpowered… anyways, I digress. He’s one of the original undead conjurations of Quan Chi and frankly I prefer this version of the character to his original form as the first Sub Zero. So all you people complaining about Quan Chi ruining Mortal Kombat with his role in MK9, you’re wrong! He might just give us a Liu Kang worth talking about. Noob’s design is awesome, his powers are cool, his story is solid and yet still give him an air of enigma… he’s got pretty much everything you can ask for in an MK character.

Charon: So how likely was it that a character jokingly composed of the inverted surnames of the two series creators would become one of the better characters in the series? The team knew by MK2 with Reptile that fans loved their secret characters, and with UMK3 made all 3 (as well as Ermac) secret characters from MK2 officially part of the roster. Initially Noob is simply a shadowy figure cloaked in mystery, working for some evil organization called the Brotherhood of the Shadow. The popularity of the character as a hidden addition or added on character has endured since that time, having to yet miss a game (as he appeared secretly in MK4, in MK:DA's port to the GBA). In Deception, his true nature was revealed and settled once and for that Noob Saibot was not some secret flunky, but rather an important character with deep connections to many characters at the heart of the franchise. What's in store for him next is unknown, since I worry how three Sub-Zero's can really coexist together moving forward. If history is to be believed though, Noob Saibot is far from a shadowy memory.

Scarlet: What, we can’t have Zero Squad?

'''13. Kano Scarlet – 4th Charon – 22nd'''

Scarlet: Don’t really know what it is about this bastard, but I couldn’t forgive myself if I had Kano any lower than the top five. He’s partially based on the Terminator, partially an Australian badass, partially Boba Fett, and wholly amazing. I love his acerbic wit, sly tongue and ruthlessness which earned him a key role early on in Shao Kahn’s favor. He also has the best fatality of all, end-of-discussion. He pull that Temple of Doom heart-ripping schtick so perfectly that it just can’t be topped. End of the day, Kano is amazing and that’s all there is to it.

Charon: While I typically deride the Black Dragon and Special Forces for their tiring storylines and mundane execution, Kano gets somewhat of a reprieve from that. Kano's initial personality was not what it is today, as he wasn't Australian namely, but due to the memorable performance by the late Trevor Goddard in the first MK film, Kano became forever tied into that role as the evil Crocodile Dundee. Kano has still yet to do anything REALLY interesting story wise, so maybe MKX he can do something besides treat Cassie like she's a fill-in for Sonya. Though I greatly suspect the storyline will feature such things, Kano as a personality is a crucial part of the Mortal Kombat fabric. Unlike his counterparts in Sonya and Jax, and his contemporaries like Kira, Kobra or Jarek, Kano's character is strong enough to make him a good additional to a MK game.

'''12. Quan Chi Charon – 2nd Scarlet – 21st'''

Charon: Quan Chi represents one of the few things that happened after MK3 that has become an enduring part of MK. This conniving sorcerer has become the golden boy for the MK team, and has tied together the storylines for the last few MK games. I must confess that even though he is my #2 fave, I sometimes get a little angry at Quan Chi out of respect for the character who sits above him, but I digress... he's still great. The trailer for his announcement in MKX has me pretty hyped up for him again, and he looks like he will play as the truly powerful sorcerer/wizard that he is supposed to be. His battle entrance, riding in on an undead horse? Damn! Quan Chi is a self-serving character, and the success rate he's had is pretty high at this point. Though I am not a huge fan of the deaths of the Earth heroes in large, it's not really Quan Chi I blame for it at all, in fact I still find his usage of the situation a good part of the storyline, at least for him anyway.

Scarlet: Great character, great execution… but it’s been at the expense of other characters, so I can’t say I approve of that. It’s kind of like being a fan of Goldberg; he’s made a lot of his name by effing people up, so I can’t say that really makes him a great character for me. He has a great personality and power set. Why push it? Killing characters or irreparably messing with characters does not achieve anything in my book. Dead and maimed characters have no impact in modern culture. Does anyone care about Walking Dead’s fallen after two, three episodes? Game of Thrones? Lost? No; we’re so inured to the concept of major character killing that it means nothing anymore.

Charon: It's interesting you seem to lay a lot of 'blame' on Quan Chi for the state of a lot of the characters, and while that's somewhat true, he really didn't have anything to do with them dying. Now if HE had killed them AND resurrected them in such great number? Yeah, he'd be in line for a huge fall from the top of my list. Thankfully Sindel exists so I can just put my hatred into her and the MK team for something so boneheaded. Of course, MKX will show us just what potential lies in these characters as Quan Chi's pawns, so until that game comes out I'll hope for the best... somehow.

Scarlet: Thing is, Sindel was just given her push because you can tell that the Quan Chi aspect of the story was the primary motivation for her actions from the writers. And even though the writers are to blame, the fact of the matter is this: writers are to blame for every character you dislike ever. End of discussion. So there’s no point in separating a character from a writer – at the end of the day, the story exists and the character can’t rewind the story so we’ve never seen or read it.

'''11. Frost Charon – 5th Scarlet – 17th'''

Charon: Way back when I was in high school and MK crazy, I browsed around early HTML designed rumor mill sites that have long since disappeared. One day in study hall, I came upon a rumored roster for the game and saw one character that would be in the game listed as "Sub-Zero's sister". At first, I was a little iffy on that but at the same time curious about it. While Frost turned out to be his pupil and not his sister, the site ended up being partially correct. While Frost has caused a lot of dumb fans to clamor for the "female Scorpion" for years, I still really love Frost as a character and I *think* perhaps the MK team does too. One thing in MK:DA I enjoyed was Frost's 'novice' use of her icy powers, where it showcased her master as well, the master. She even gets Sub-Zero's classic slide from the early games. Her desire to prove herself is an interesting storyline point, and I've always hoped to see more of her character's backstory to illustrate why. With Kuai Liang indisposed of at the moment, I have to wonder who is indeed leading the Lin Kuei in his absence. Is it this new Sub-Zero character, and if so, will we still see Frost? And what exactly has happened to the Lin Kuei now? There's a lot to answer, and I hope that they will, and I hope even more Frost is somewhere in that answer.

Scarlet: Frost is badass and sexy and she tries hard. I really don’t know what else to say. I’m a fan of all of Team Zero, the general design of their costumes and the icy theme of their power set. I don’t have anything else to say. Bobby Drake should team up with them sometime, or Ice from the Justice League.

Charon: Such a short reply! Clearly Frost gets your icicle hard.

'''10. Smoke Charon – 6th Scarlet – 15th'''

Charon: My favorite of the original cyborgs was always Smoke, because he differed from his allies in that he still seemed to have some part of his soul actually stuck inside this metal frame. I always think of Smoke, not Reptile, when people mention the tragic MK character. Here's a guy who was forced to become a robot, has to actually endure it as a living being, is captured by Shao Kahn and basically locked in a war room as a trophy then controlled by Noob Saibot, his former friend, into doing his evil bidding; creating a master race of Netherrealm infused robots. Of course, in the new storyline it was Smoke that escaped from automation and not Sub-Zero, and unfortunately he met his end like far too many characters did. While his future is a little foggy, I still hold great reverence for the character he was in the original timeline.

Scarlet: Probably the most tragic of all MK characters. I doubt very much that Smoke believes in karma. For someone who started life as effectively a grey Scorpion, he’s certainly evolved over time. And then there’s the confusion over the Robo-Smoke and Human Smoke that for some odd reason seems to add to his popularity. Personally I’m more partial to Robo-Smoke as the better route of evolution for the character because it serves as a reminder of the cruelty of humanity. The ninja-esque design complete with transparent smoke parts is by far the coolest look and having regained his own free will away from Noob, he seemed to be heading in the right direction. Of course, time will tell if he is finished or if there’s more room for growth.

'''9. Raiden Scarlet – 9th Charon – 11th'''

Scarlet: The moment I started looking at Raiden as one of my favorites? Weirdly enough, it was when James Remar played him in that film that shall not be named. I still look back fondly at Raiden in the early games and the films because there was just a level of fun involved with him that I adore. Look at his original ending; when he won the tournament, he stuck around for a little while but he got bored and left. I just love that he kinda sorta had the ability to just blow off the entire concept of the game for a while. Since then he’s no longer the sole god amongst men in the MK arsenal and that has dragged him down into the more simple affairs of mortals, giving him a very douchey edge which works for me. You ever read Greek mythology? Those guys are total *******s, too. So I buy it. He’s got his agenda, he’s got his memorable design and moveset, and he’s a tool. Can’t go wrong with that.

Charon: I dunno, I never have seen Raiden as much of a douche. Up until Deception I viewed Raiden as a tireless protector of Earth and the ultimate force of good. I would liken him more to a Jesus sort of figure almost (hell he even sacrificed himself at the end of Deadly Alliance). Granted that early ending could make him look more like you think, but I feel by MK2 that moved away from that direction of his character. Except perhaps in Deception, where it is shown he has become tired of mortals failing to defeat evil that he simply believes he'll have to do it himself (specifically, blaming Shujinko for the situation in his ending). Beyond that, he's a popular and enduring part of Mortal Kombat. As narrator for a good many of the games and with such a good arsenal the Thunder God is a must have character in these games. I do confess I did like the snarky comment Raiden from the films, however.

Scarlet: His actions aren’t particularly laced with jackassery, but his general demeanor for several games had this air of arrogance and douchery to it. I mean, you can still be a good guy and piss people the **** off. I love that.

'''8. Ermac Charon – 8th Scarlet – 11th'''

Charon: I never really found Ermac special until Deception, and I sort of bemoaned his return in the game because I felt Kenshi was the better character at the time. However, they managed to redesign Ermac in a sort of arabic feel almost and not only that, they gave him the awesome persona of We Are Legion. Speaking of that, he is very much like Legion from Mass Effect whom I also love a lot. There's a lot of conflict within Ermac however, and he's generally not much in agreement with himself given he's composed of souls that probably are sometimes less than good. However, like Legion, I think there exists an Ermac that is his own person, and moving forward I greatly hope he will develop this personality like they were able to do with his ME relative.

Scarlet: Legion is a good comparison, but I always think of him as the Eastern version of the superhero Ragman. An adaptation of an ancient Jewish legend, Ragman’s costume is composed of thousands of patches, each patch made from the soul of a soul seeking penance. Some of the souls are seeking redemption and some relish darker deeds – to me, this is very similar to Ermac’s current modus operandi. What takes Ermac in a unique direction is the inherent flavor of the character – the fact that his design makes him outwardly very mysterious and enigmatic. And since he in effect doesn’t know himself (as he is really many people), the design reinforces that for us as we can’t quite glimpse what he is beneath the costume.

Charon: Yeah, I guess his design is also sort of like a mummy to me. Ermac's form underneath the wrappings would be pretty hard to explain, so I just hope to never really see it.

'''7. Scorpion Scarlet – 6th Charon – 13th'''

Scarlet: Revenge personified. Much like Ghost Rider, Scorpion has become this beacon for an anti-heroic undead vengeance. Unfortunately for this ninja, that is just about ALL he has become. Instead of chasing Sub-Zero, he spent too long gunning for Quan Chi. But you can’t deny that he has one of the most classic and well known catch cries ever. Even people who don’t know anything about Mortal Kombat know the phrase. His modern outfits could arguably be considered the best costume evolution of any of the old school characters. Now his story just needs to follow suit… (No pun intended)

Charon: Scorpion CAN get a little tiring, because he's Ed Boon's favorite character. He's essentially treated as if he was the most popular character in the series, even though I am pretty sure most people know that is Sub-Zero by now. Ed seems pretty stuck on the fact it's Scorpion though. Still I find it hard to deny Scorpion's cultural impact, because it clearly is there. Ghost Rider is pretty much the perfect comparison for him, hell in MK:DA he basically has an alt costume that's pretty much Ghost Rider, complete with flaming skull and chains and all. I for one didn't much care for the attempts to assert Scorpion as a major protagonist for the series, such as was attempted by Deception with him being a champion for the Elder Gods. It's hard to move Scorpion on from his revenge storylines, because he really has never had any chance to do anything else. The entire basis of his character is built upon it. I used to think that was bad, but it's not so bad anymore. He still have tons of quality points about him, such as probably the most identifiable move in MK, the catchphrase and a pretty solid design progression (as they attempt to keep Scorpion as the 'real' ninja of the series).

'''6. Shinnok Charon – 3rd Scarlet – 14th'''

Charon: For me, Shinnok represents the ultimate evil in MK. He was mishandled by MK4, unfortunately as a way to make Quan Chi cooler, but he did manage to finally break out and return as one of the lone great parts of Armageddon. This Shinnok, the all powerful, deal brokering being of evil is what I longed to see. This is the guy who was sent to Hell by the other Elder Gods and what did he do in response? He (literally) took over Hell and bound the devil in an amulet. I love his design, it's like a Kefka that's actually terrifying sort of. I tend to really favor villains in most things, but Mortal Kombat is a true entity where they are the best things about the game. With MKX looming, I am hoping Shinnok can once again get his time to shine alongside Quan Chi rather as part of his storyline to make him look superior.

Scarlet: In the words of Tim Allen, “MORE POWER.” Because that’s all I ever want from Shinnok. Phenomenal cosmic power, itty-bitty living space. Most specifically, Hell. Shinnok is an awesome baddie of the highest order and the one I consider to be the best option for main villain. There’s always so much untapped potential with this guy because he never seems to run out of new, cool ways to scheme, manipulate and gain new levels of strength and evil. His design is awesome and I definitely prefer him to Quan Chi. After all, Shinnok doesn’t waste half the cast to put himself over.

'''5. Kitana Charon – 7th Scarlet – 7th'''

Charon: Though I ranked Frost higher, Kitana is typically identified as MK's best female. Her storyline isn't as dull as Sonya's and much easier to intertwine and connect with other characters. She's also pretty hot of course. Though at times the Edenian storyline can get bogged down and she's been unnecessarily killed and revived a few times, Kitana's still really great and who can not remember her trademark weapons? Oh, and did I mention that when AJ Lee dressed up as Kitana back before she was super popular she actually responded to my old website's tweet about it? Score!

Scarlet: The reason she’s typically identified as MK’s best female is that she IS MK’s best female. I mean, AJ Lee played her! That’s gotta count for something. But on a more serious note, she’s elegant, she’s swift, she’s just well put together in every facet and I heart her. Hell, she can kick ass while wearing a tight dress and high heels. What more could you ask for? Plus she has the BEST X-Ray in Mortal Kombat 9. Yeah her story is pretty decent, but who cares? Kitana is just a joy to play as and look at. She’s better than Chun-Lee. There. I said it.

Charon: No doubt about being better than Chun Li in my book.

'''4. Kung Lao Scarlet – 5th Charon – 9th'''

Scarlet: Man did they hit the jackpot with this guy. Sorta like a more pissed off version of Liu Kang only he throws a massive bladed hat – what more could you want! I think this is a case of “less is more” when it comes to his look. Give him one identifiable feature and keep the rest simple. Add in a dash of brooding attitude and a link to the games hero and voila – one of the best characters in the series. So I simply couldn’t understand it when he was left out of subsequent games like MK4 and Deception. If there was ever anyone to take over the mantle from Liu Kang after his death, it was always gonna be the man in the black hat. But then again, maybe that’s precisely why he didn’t. (See: Shujinko) His demeanor always appealed to me – a semi-loner who liked to go about things his own way and looked damn slick while doing it. Like to Scorpion, Kung Lao has benefited from a great physical makeover in recent times. I also loved his moves: simple yet effective and very much in keeping with his Shaolin heritage. I’d love to say he’ll be back in the next MK however I get the impression that he’s kinda fallen out of favor with the powers that be. Why this is, I’ll never know.

Charon: Yeah, I think Kung Lao is a product of perfect timing and design and personality. He's been a constant second man in Liu Kang's shadow and it was really only in MKDA did he get a chance to act as main hero. While I am glad evil did prevail there, much to my surprise, Kung Lao has always been able to bounce back. As I mentioned before, I always envisioned him becoming the main hero after Liu's death and even after his resurrection with Fujin as his mentor. The two seem to share a lot in common to me, sort of mysterious ponytail men of silence and action. I would admit to a small mancrush on his MK:DA design, he looks great. Trivia factoid: According to John Tobias, his hat was inspired by Oddjob. I'd normally ramble about a poor storyline decision here taking all the fire out of this character, but I'll try to leave it at just this sentence... Kung Lao has always deserved better, I can't understand why he's not in better favor with them.

Scarlet: I think it might be fair to say that Kung Lao really had the rug pulled out from under him when they introduced Shujinko. You can survive not being in a title or two, but having a character essentially take the spot you’ve been building towards leaves you with nowhere to go. All that momentum was crushed.

'''3. Johnny Cage Scarlet – 1st Charon – 12th'''

Scarlet: Johnny Cage isn’t just my favorite Mortal Kombat character, he’s my 25th favorite video game character of all time. And if you know anything about me, you know that he’s got the personality that really suits my tastes. Character concepts make or break stars, and Johnny Cage has one of the most ludicrously hilarious concepts in fighting games. Johnny entered the original tournament with the intent of proving he didn't use special effects... because Johnny Cage was a martial arts movie star. An attention-grabbing, media-whoring narcissist, Cage is reminiscent of comic books' beloved cult star, Booster Gold. His quick wit and silly demeanor brought levity to an often overwrought franchise, and his sudden death took him from comic relief to a sort of tragic hero, often underrated. Sacrifice, in many ways, breathed new depth into a character trapped in the often static fighting genre. And of course, Johnny was nothing without his trademarked moves. Cage's particular skill at annihilating his opponents' genital regions has become inarguably some of the most impressive fighting in video game history. And his OWN move into the Mortal Kombat film franchise only made the character more fun and memorable.

Charon: Cage was actually my #1 fave when I was a kid, not really sure what drew me into him though. I guess I always felt he deserved a lot better, and I remember going into see the film which must not be named when I was just a preteen and being horrified at the results... but anyway, Cage is a lighthearted character in a pretty dark-hearted series. In MK:DA, they sort of poked fun at his many death related storylines and actually retconned them saying they were ideas for movies and Johnny had had enough of that. They actually used a similar idea I had for Cage in Armageddon, giving him for once in his existence a truly serious story that wasn't all about proving how awesome he was. Comically enough he's one of the few living characters from the original timeline from Earthrealm now (at least... maybe). While I suspect he'll sit out of the next game, he's always a character that's going to keep coming back. No grave, literal or film, can hold his body down.

Scarlet: The irony is not lost on me that he’s now one of the rare survivors of the new timeline. He certainly deserves a rest, but if anyone deserves to be in the series in an NPC role, it’s Johnny.

'''2. Sub-Zero Scarlet – 3rd Charon – 4th'''

Scarlet: He’s Sub Goddamn mother ******* Zero. ‘Nuff said.

Charon: Indeed!

I'll grant him a bit more than that though. Sub-Zero is the living essence of Mortal Kombat now, and the most popular character in the series. This is of course about Kuai Liang, the younger Sub-Zero who debuted in MK2. Progressing from a younger member of the Lin Kuei who escaped automation to the Grandmaster and wielder of the Dragon Amulet to his rise to near main character status by Deception, tying his true origins closer to Onaga, Sub-Zero has always done it well storyline wise (up until disaster in MK9). I am a massive critic of Cyber Sub-Zero... it's awful. Now not only is he a cyborg, he's an UNDEAD cyborg. The rage I have at the MK team for basically taking this beloved character, crapping all over him and then killing him is pretty severe. I was able to hold back for Kung Lao, but for Sub-Zero's sake I really cannot. I feel this was done because Ed Boon has a massive erection for Scorpion and is mad everyone prefers Subby instead. OH WELL! "Sub-Zero" will indeed return, but I really, really fear the future of this character. He could be completely gone now.

Scarlet: It might be a testament to the character if people can keep his popularity alive even in the face of this adversity. And I think that could happen. Scorpion has become more and more static and pigeon-holed as the series goes on, whereas maybe forcing Sub-Zero to play an uncomfortable role will keep him interesting in our eyes. Lord knows that Liu Kang’s best days are as a zombie.

'''1. Shang Tsung Charon – 1st Scarlet – 2nd'''

Charon: As my #9 all time favorite video game character and more than likely a member of my overall top 100 characters ever, Shang Tsung takes the cake for me. The original final boss of the game has never been topped, and it really has nothing to do that version of the character either. The progression of Shang Tsung from game to game has always been a thing of beauty. While I have all 3 sorcerer types on top, Shang Tsung is simply the best because he has the most style and the most flesh in story. My favorite design for him was Deadly Alliance however, which also is my all time favorite MK moment (the intro). Rarely does the main villain get such a huge victory over his long time hero rival. Shang Tsung did the unthinkable; he killed off the main character and took his soul. How many of the greatest villains of all time can say they accomplished such a feat? Anyway, his story and design in this game was so great and confirmed how great of a character he was for me. How would this guy battle? In the Snake karate style, of course! Such a good moveset, even without his trademark morphing powers.

Another cool thing which some people probably already know is that while I was running a MK fansite, I actually had the chance to converse with Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa several times. He himself actually called me on his personal cellphone numerous times, and talking to the guy who portrayed my favorite MK character is probably always going to be a highlight for me in terms of fandom. To be on a first name basis with the man who memorably remarks, "Your soul is mine!" is not something I can see being easily displaced by any other MK character. Shang Tsung's just completely awesome, and it's a shame the MK team seems to prefer to let Quan Chi and Shao Kahn outshine him time and time again, much like my favorite villain period (Seymour Guado) he tends to get screwed over by characters who aren't as good as he is.

'''Scarlet: '''If you look at my favorite characters, they all share at least two or more of the following traits: heavy sarcasm, quick wit, broad intellect, versatile skills, ass**** demeanor, and indomitable villainy. Shang Tsung definitely holds all but the sarcasm, and I only blame that on his lack of experience in American culture. So let’s bring him down to Earthrealm for a while next game!

Anyways, he’s Iron Man’s foe the Mandarin – but good. I mean, really freakin’ good. He’s exactly what I want in a fighting game villain. He’s the type of character that can visually be seen as a foe that requires the full united front of the cast of heroes. After all, his debut was serving as the ultimate Swiss army knife of MKharacters. Since then, he’s be further honed and defined, and almost every step along the way, I’ve been more drawn into his character and story. He’s just a bad bad dude, and I love him for it.