History YMMV / KillerInstinct

** [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Riptor]] was very popular in the first game due to being quite unique at the time. After all, what other fighting game lets you play as a dinosaur?

* ReplacementScrappy: ''Killer Instinct 2'''s newcomers Maya, Tusk, and Kim Wu aren't too popular with the fans, being replacements of fan favorites Cinder, Thunder, and Riptor. Replacing three unique fan-favorites with a trio of generic human warriors? Not a great move. It also doesn't help Thunder is given no explanation for his disappearance and the other two are simply written as being dead, making for a rather cheap way to get rid of them. Fortunately, the 2013 reboot saw Maya, Kim Wu, and Tusk all being retooled and becoming more popular again, resulting in them being RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap.

* LesYay: In the first game, Riptor is affected by Black Orchids flash finisher. On the other hand, Riptor being female is a retcon from the 2013 game, so there's that.

* LesYay: In the first game, Riptor is affected by Black Orchids flash finisher.

* {{Mondegreen}}: "BEANS!!" for Thunder's Phoenix projectile.

* KillerApp: The SNES port of the original ''Killer Instinct'' helped push a lot of units thanks to the success the game found in the arcades.

* {{Narm}}: The edginess and awkward 3D graphics really show what a product of its time this game was. The soundtrack, while funky and fun as hell, is also very outdated.

* MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales: Thunder is fairly popular among Native Americans in spite of his stereotypical nature and is more fondly regarded than T. Hawk or Nightwolf, who tend to get EthnicScrappy reactions.

** In the SNES port of ''[=KI1=],'' all of the announcer's callouts play at slightly higher than normal speed (presumably saving some precious space on the cartridge by making the sound files smaller) and the combo callouts are done with MadLibsDialogue. The difference was hard to notice back in the days before MAME and ''[=KI2013=]'' made it easy for a player to compare the two, but if you go into the SNES port with a fresh memory of what the arcade version's announcer sounded like, it sounds really off, ''way'' more so than the rest of the SNES version's sounds, which are just lower in fidelity.

* {{Squick}}: Orchid using her "Flash" move against Jago in the first game can become this when in the sequel it is revealed that the two [[spoiler:are siblings]]. In other words, she is flashing her ''own brother''.

** Thankfully, his rebooted appearance is much closer to the source, rather than the "red-skinned Indian" stereotype from before. Apparently some of the Double Helix devs even approached some of the people of the Nez Perce tribe to help them make it as accurate as possible, so it has the approval of at least one actual Native tribe.
** Additionally, the Double Helix devs refused to make Thunder's retro outfit fully resemble his original appearance. They gave him a jacket and got rid of his war paint and mohawk headdress, so he looks more like a regular tough Native dude than just a walking stereotype.

* PolishedPort:
** Thanks to Nintendo being in a partnership with Rare at the time, they had the programming team for the arcade version handle the Super Nintendo and Game Boy ports, instead of outsourcing it to a third-party developer. The result is that the SNES version was well-received and the GB version was surprisingly faithful, and more importantly, playable.

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Although it's hard to tell now, the graphics of the first Killer Instinct was ''mind-blowing'' in the arcades. Those 3D environments with the faux-3D character models - plus some fantastic sound design - made for an astonishing experience for all young arcade-goers.

* FandomRivalry: With ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'' and ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' due to all having similar DLC update models and ''KI'' 2013 and ''MKX'' both launching updates within a month of ''SFV''[='=]s release. This has gotten to the point that both ''KI'' '13 and ''MKX'' can often be found getting dissed in online comments by ''Street Fighter'' fans, much to the chagrin of both games' fans.

* FridgeBrilliance: If you pay attention to the Hisako's {{Leitmotif}} "Village of Whispers", you will notice that the lyrics repeat the same word twice (i.e. "Fukushu, fukushu", "Kemuri, kemuri"). There's a reason why the Japanese greeting phrase "moshi moshi" is said the way it is: Main/{{Youkai}} (Japanese monsters) cannot speak proper human language; beast youkai because they do not have the right mouths and tongues to properly imitate our sounds, and youkai [[WasOnceAMan who were formerly humans]] have abandoned their humanity and so devolve and begin to lose the ability to speak like humans. Especially repeating words is impossible for youkai to do, so "moshi moshi" became a kind of trust phrase with the implication "I can repeat this word, so now you know that I am human", and if someone only says the word once, [[GlamourFailure it becomes a dead giveaway that they're not human]]. When viewed from Hisako's perspective, it can be seen as that even though she's an onryō, she ultimately hasn't abandoned her humanity. This is reflected in her goals and motivations, where she's only targeting Ultratech and the individuals associated with them because they disturbed the graves and shrine of the village she watched over, as opposed to being an indiscriminating killer who curses everyone who gets in her way with her grudge like a typical onryō would.
* GameBreaker:
** Cinder in the first game is ridiculous. On his own, he holds several advantages such as simple move inputs, air maneuverability and easy combo resets, all of this topped with a fantastic moveset including: a flip kick with the second highest priority in the game as well as a lot of invulnerable frames, a torpedo that can be used in the air can can easily stun opponents, fake torpedo moves that work as combo resets, invisibility to the point only his outline is visible, the ability to darken himself and become invulnerable to projectiles until he gets hit, and teleportation. And ''then'' he has multiple bugs in his favor, such as an infinite combo involving his flip kick (patched out in later arcade versions, as well as the SNES version), [[HitboxDissonance disjointed hitboxes]] (giving his normals and his air torpedo more range than they look like), and the fact that his invisiblity move makes him completely invisible in the SNES version (with the exception of his shadow, which is not visible anyways in bridges or while Cinder is in the air). All of this makes a fighter that can only meet his match against Eyedol or another Cinder.
** The Odorous Wolf Heart in ''Shadow Lords'' was this for the first two months that the mode was out. Using the item granted players unlimited Shadow Meter and made every attack unblockable for 15 seconds. While merely ridiculously potent in the hands of most characters, it was downright LUDICROUS in the hands of Fulgore, Omen, and Spinal, giving them, respectively, a spammable, unblockable, ridiculously powerful, screen clearing [[WaveMotionGun Devastation Beam]], a spammable, if somewhat impractical, opportunity for [[OneHitKill a command grab that allowed players to possibly wipe out an entire lifebar in a followup combo]], and the ability to fire a [[RuleOfThree spammable]], unblockable, large projectile that could juggle infinitely while making it effectively impossible for the victim to gain Instinct Meter for the remainder of the match, which was especially notable in that it could shut down one of the main gimmicks of the FinalBoss of that mode. Which is to say nothing of players using it at the end of the match for [[NoKillLikeOverkill fifteen seconds of unending Shadow Moves to extend Ultra Combos to the point of utter insanity, which became a major problem for the online versus portion.]] It was finally heavily nerfed two months after the mode launched, providing rapidly regenerating Shadow Meter instead of effectively unlimited Meter.
** From the same mode, the Snake Guardian. Ending a combo with it equipped provides a damage over time effect that can be cashed out with another successful combo ender for heavy damage. However, the power of this effect is independent on the length or power of the rest of the combo, and, especially with higher rarities, builds EXTREMELY fast and takes several seconds (as many as ten, with a Killer Rarity Guardian) to begin to decay, meaning even a short combo against highly defensive opponents can cut through them like hot butter.
* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Surprisingly, while not to the extent of ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'', ''KI 2013'' has managed to develop a loyal fanbase in Japan, to the point that even the American community was surprised when Ken “Bass” Armas, one of the game's top players, was beaten by Tomosama and Osomatsu, who, respectively, used Riptor and Omen, both of which were considered low-tier in the American community at the time, in their matches against him. [[http://www.redbull.com/us/en/esports/stories/1331791559875/killer-instinct%E2%80%99s-japanese-community-gets-hungry This article explains it well]].
* GoodBadBugs:
** KI 2013 has a rare and amusing bug, where when a character is knocked out of their first lifebar, they will stay down and never get up. Since the timer doesn't run, there's no way to continue the fight, forcing either player to quit in an online battle, or to exit to the main menu in an offline versus battle.
** Many of the exploits in the original ''Killer Instinct'' are so instilled in gamers' memories, such as Cinder's infinite combo, that the digital re-release actually allows players to choose between playing the revised arcade build that fixed them or the original build with all the glitches intact.
** A bug early on with the PC version for Season 3 caused the game to run extremely fast if your monitor wasn't locked to 60hz, since it's designed to run at a consistent 60 FPS and no more. Distressing if you wanted to actually play the game, since performing combos and breakers became all but impossible, but watching the characters scramble around at hyperspeed was admittedly hilarious.
** Kilgore originally had a bug with his Ultra Combo that caused the combo to "blow out" at various points, sending his opponent flying away early if the Knockdown Meter was filled too high before the Ultra was triggered. The Ultra Combo would, however, continue as though the opponent was still there, which lead to hilarious sights such as Kilgore unleashing a MacrossMissileMassacre and uppercutting thin air. Sadly, this was patched out a few weeks later.
** ''Shadow Lords'' allows players to attack for a short period after the fight is over to let players open the mode's treasure chests. This, however, comes to an abrupt end and plays the character's victory animation as soon as all of the loot is collected, allowing certain attacks to remain on screen for a few seconds, allowing for moments that weren't originally intended, especially if the victory pose requires the character model to be moved to a different part of the map. For instance, Cinder's Pyrobombs can cause a screen-filling explosion, Kilgore can be caught in a salvo of his own missiles, and Omen's Shadow Rashakuken can cause his various fireballs to fly past him as he poses.

* JustHereForGodzilla: Admit it, finally getting a VideoGame/{{Halo}} vs. VideoGame/GearsOfWar fight with Arbiter and General RAAM is amazing.
* KillerApp: The SNES port of the original ''Killer Instinct'' helped push a lot of units thanks to the success the game found in the arcades. The Xbox One reboot also counts, being a very popular, exclusive launch title for that system.
* LesYay; In the original game, Riptor is affected by Black Orchids flash finisher.

** "'''ULTRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!'''" Courtesy of the Xbox One game.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOe0ceZYn8o "Look for the, Bear Accessories, those simple Bear Accessories."]]
** [[{{Mondegreen}} MAH SOUP]]!
** Kan-Ra's Stage Ultra sending the recipient to the [[Manga/YuGiOh Shadow Realm]]
** Kan-Ra is actually Wrestling/RicFlair.
** After Tusk's gameplay debut, [EXERTS SOUNDS] has become a minor meme.
** Several phrases in reference to asking Rash to be played on a livestream, some of which include "UNLOAD THE TOAD", "UNINHIBIT THE RIBBIT" and "UNCLOG THE FROG".
** #whereisarbitergoing
** Gargos' portal punches are usually met with cries of [[Anime/JojosBizarreAdventure "ORAORAORA", "MUDAMUDAMUDA",]] or [[Anime/FistOfTheNorthStar "ATATATATATATA"]] from the chat during livestreams.

* {{Mondegreen}}:
** No one knows for sure what Chief Thunder says in KI 2013 after he wins. One popular interpretation goes "Cats go Yum Yum" (or Meow Meow).
*** It's most likely in Niimiipuutímt, the language of the Nez Perce tribe. Apparently he's saying "Kutse yao yao", and the captions say "Thank you for the battle.".
** "YOGA FEVER!" for whenever he activates instinct or uses ''Call of the Sky''.
** "BEANS!!" for his Phoenix attack in the first.
** "EXCUSE ME!" for Jago's Endouken attack. Other interpretations include "WHAT YOU COOKIN!" and "EAT YOUR COOKIE!".
** "MAH SOUP!" for Kan-Ra's Spike special
** "RASHAGOOGIE!" for Omen's Rashakuken fireball attack
** Jago's theme. "You faaaart, saw my nigga, Jago. Fought at local carwash, died from his potatoes/underneath the table".
* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: The announcer has a few. There's the classic "C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!". The 2013 game adds "C-C-C-COUNTER BREAKER!" and "ULLLLLLLLLLTRAAAAAAAAAA!". The sheer enthusiasm the announcer has yelling them makes you feel awesome for pulling it off.
** Fulgore's [[https://youtu.be/VZZEXpm1DFU?t=1m2s Devastation Beam]], which opens with an awesome mechanical whir before making a really satisfying Godzilla-like mechanical roar. Unless you're targeted by it, in which case it's nightmarish.
** It sounds amazing to Instinct Cancel with anyone in the game (especially Fulgore) during a combo - all the music and sound effects and explosions stop for a second while your character gets ready to lay down a beatdown, often with a punchy sound to it (ex. Fulgore entering a command into the keypad on his arm, Orchid yelling "Take em down!", Spinal cackling, etc.)
** Thunder's brutal Call of the Earth command grab ends with Thunder curb-stomping the enemy and twisting his heel, resulting in a sickening but satisfying crunch and crackle.
*** Likewise, Gargos' Sadistic Drop command grab makes a VERY satisfying thud when his victim hits the ground. Even better is the Shadow variation, or better still, the Ultra Ender variation if he's still on his first lifebar.
** The giant bell falling in either version of Tiger's Lair comes with an immensely satisfying peal when it hits the ground. If timed properly, it can add a very nice bit of flair to the end of the match or during the characters' win animation.
** Pretty much all of the sound effects in the game, especially those from ethereal characters like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z41TN3Pu6NU Omen]]. You normally can't hear it very well over all the music and hit sounds, but they're there and they're grand. The team really outdid themselves on this one.
** The beats and music produced when preforming an Ultra Combo. Double points if the beat works outside of that character's natural stage music.
* {{Narm}}:
** Kim Wu's announce trailer got this reaction because of some not-so-stellar voice acting and clunky dialogue.
** The mimic skins have lime green skin. During gameplay, with distortion and smoke effects, they look menacing enough. However, their stills, like during pre-fight scenes in the Shadow Lords mode, look goofier than they should be.
** A few [[FinishingMove Ultimates]] in the 2013 edition are... not really the ultimate finisher. Awkward facial animations and oddly quiet deaths are the main culprits here. Riptor's is notorious in this regard, where she knocks the opponent into the air for an aerial bite... [[EpicFail only to miss and fall to the ground]], forcing her to burn them to death as an improvisation. On the other hand...
* NarmCharm: Riptor's Ultimate has appealed to some fans for being cute and enjoyable in its silliness.
** Many of the original games' Ultimates also have Narm Charm. Special shout-outs to TJ Combo and Sabrewulf smacking their opponents against the FourthWall, Riptor eating them and gaining a cartoonish BalloonBelly, and Orchid flashing her breasts to induce a heart attack on her opponent.

** Other than certain aspects that're common to other PC games on the Windows 10 Store (like the lack of more advanced graphical options to ability to disable V-Sync, to note one of the more minor ones), the PC version of ''Killer Instinct 2013'' is surprisingly well-optimized, to the point where at least one review noted that it could pass the performance benchmark on a ''tablet'', making it effectively a mobile game. While it only accepts Xinput (XBOX 360 layout controllers, third party that known to support this includes Logitech though) devices natively, there are workarounds (like various X-Input emulators, and binding the buttons to keys using joy to key).
* RatedMForMoney: Fairly blatant at that. It was actually rated T, but the intent was still there. Played straight and literally with the Xbox One release of Killer Instinct Classic, which has a M rating.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Every returning newcomer from ''Killer Instinct 2'' in the reboot. Maya, Kim Wu, Tusk, and Gargos were all given more unique designs, personalities, and gameplay that helped them hold up against the rest of the cast a lot better. It may have also helped that they weren't replacing any fan favorites this time around.
* RetroactiveRecognition: For the OST, singer Ali Edwards contributed vocals to a few songs years before getting wider attention from her performance on [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry5 Devil Trigger]].
* SacredCow: Among the online-focused part of the UsefulNotes/FightingGameCommunity, at least two games get constantly praised because of having a rollback networking code (such as GGPO). They are this game and ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}''. You can barely find any major criticism of these games online. Their well-received netcode served them so well that it allowed them to be included in the main lineup of the reworked online edition of EVO 2020, following the cancellation of the tournament in-person due to the [[UsefulNotes/CoronavirusDisease2019Pandemic COVID-19 pandemic]].
* SpiritualAdaptation: With the large number of supernatural non-human characters in its roster, ''[=KI2013=]'' is sometimes jokingly considered an unofficial reboot/sequel of ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}''.

* TearJerker: The news that Mick Gordon wouldn't be returning to compose the music for Season 3 had fans unanimously heartbroken.
** On the Season 2 soundtrack, there's a secret track at the end of "Herald of Gargos" that features Mick playing a very slow, acoustic version of the main theme on guitar. After finding out days after the album was released that he'd be leaving, the track feels much more somber, seemingly acting as one last quiet send-off after two years of continuous hard work on the series.
* ThatOneBoss: Shadow Jago, by a long shot. Not only does he knock up the difficulty to the legendarily hard ''[[HarderThanHard Kyle]]'' Difficulty, but he also has a lot of improved frame data, a few new moves Jago normally has no access to, and a much more infuriating Instinct Mode. To the uninitiated, Kyle difficulty fights involve [[PerfectPlayAI input reading]] CPU opponents that can break any combo they want, resist any traps for Counter Breakers, and will always finish their combo.
** SNKBoss: May not have been since much of his difficulty stems from being played smartly by the CPU but his moves have unique properties to them that make him stand above the rest of the cast.
** Gargos and Eyedol weren't fair fights either, considering [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard they're capable of regenerating health while the player is down]].
** Shadow Lords' Omens and Gargos have elements of both, with both a max-difficulty AI as well as superpowered mechanics of Shadow Lords (Each Omen has a ridiculous power boost, while Gargos not only is the strongest boss in the game, but he has any powers you didn't seal away by beating an Omen with that power). Simply put, even considering fighting Gargos with all his powers is considered suicidal and even without his powers, he's a chore to fight. It got so bad that Iron Galaxy had to release a patch to tone the difficulty ''down''.

** Some also claimed that the 2013 game looked like a grittier ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV''.
* TierInducedScrappy:
** Spinal and Hisako both get the majority of their hate for being insanely powerful and easy to use respectively.
** Kan-Ra gets hit with this often, due to the fact that once one knows how to play him well, he can cover so much of the screen and shut down several options of every character in the roster. It's not helped by his surprisingly high damage for a zoning character and being able to start up a combo from almost every area of the screen.
** Despite being [[EnsembleDarkhorse a big fan favorite and fun to watch]], Aganos is generally considered to be one of the worst characters in the game due to its odd, hard-to-master playstyle and lackluster match-ups against a majority of the cast.
** Rash became a high-tier scrappy over the course of Season 3, with his mobility and offensive options making him very difficult to pin down.
* UglyCute: Much like [[Franchise/MortalKombat Mileena]], Hisako was designed to be disturbing, but somehow got some fans who find her attractive. It's a bit more understandable in this case, since Hisako has [[DueToTheDead more relatable motives.]]

** While the original game seems to hold up well enough, the character models for ''Killer Instinct 2'' are very...off, especially by today's standards. Everybody (especially the women) looks like big-eyed mannequins with FrozenFace syndrome.

** Done intentionally in the 2013 game with Kan-Ra's NightmareFace.
** Another intentional example is Hisako, with her blank eyes, neutral expression and just visible anglerfish-like teeth. The glitching doesn't help, and it gets even worse when she moves or uses her NightmareFace.
* VindicatedByHistory: The new game's callbacks to ''Killer Instinct 2'' have been received better than ''[=KI2=]'' itself was at its release.
* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The 2013 game really loves particle effects. Hitting someone with Jago's Endokuken or Orchid's Firecat causes them to shatter into a bunch of energy particles. Most of Glacius' special moves leave the map covered in lovingly detailed ice shards. Cinder not only has fire constantly swirling around, but he also is a light source, which is why [[MirrorMatch a battle between two Cinders]] is used for the Windows 10 Edition's Hardware test. Also General RAAM's Instinct Mode literally covers the screen with moving objects while still maintaining the 60fps gameplay, it's quite a sight.

* CreepyAwesome: [[DemBones Spinal]] is a classic, hilarious skeleton with a chilling laugh.

** [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Riptor]] was very popular in the first game due to being quite unique at the time. After all, what other fighting game lets you play as a dinosaur? After her absence from Killer Instinct 2, her return in 2016's Season 2 pass was met with open arms thanks to an updated look that includes more mechanical attributes such as her tail as well as her more vicious fighting style.
** [[KillItWithFire Cinder]] was liked in the first game for his unique design and gameplay. When he returned in Season 2, not only was he welcomed back by his older fans, but newer fans [[{{Pun}} warmed up]] to him, especially since he benefited from an awesome remix of his old tune and acquired a new [[EvilIsHammy evilly, hammy]] personality.

** Fulgore was saved as the last returning character for Season 1, and for good reason. His {{Film/Predator}}-like design made him a fan favourite back in the day, and his unorthodox gameplay style and even more imposing design in the 2013 game ensured he stayed that way.
** [[StringyHairedGhostGirl Hisako]] has been received very warmly by the fanbase due to her interesting and [[CreepyAwesome awesomely creepy]] design in addition to her sympathetic backstory, as well as [[{{Golem}} Aganos]], who has a very fleshed out rivalry with Kan-Ra, an interesting design and an awesome stage theme.
** Rash has managed to please many fans straight out of the gate, thanks to being from another Rare franchise and his overall funny character and moves, along with being a much more fundamental and straightforward character than most of the Season 2 cast.
** The Arbiter has already managed to be this, considering the reaction from his tease made a lot of people interested in ''Killer Instinct'' just for his appearance. It helps he was this in his home series too, not to mention that it's been a ''long'' time since ''Halo'' was involved in a crossover with [[VideoGame/DeadOrAlive a popular fighting game franchise]].
** Gargos' KI 2013 appearance became this rapidly after his arrival, in stark contrast to his ReplacementScrappy position in ''[=KI2=]''. A wildly varied moveset, DifficultButAwesome status, and variety of crowd-pleasing combo finishers had him become a fan-favourite virtually overnight.
* EvilIsSexy: Shadow Jago somehow manages to appear even more ripped than regular Jago.
** On the same note, Sadira has quite her share of fans.
** Cinder's voice does this for some fans, but the rest of him...not so much.
** After her reveal, Mira has gained quite a following. VampiresAreSexGods, indeed.

* AwesomeEgo: While he was already pretty cocky to begin with, Cinder's ego came to a head in ''2013'', where he's pretty much acting like he's the hottest thing since sliced bread, and most people seem to love it.
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Omen, the January 2015 character, has caused a lot of controversy among the fans. Some consider him to be a cheap, unoriginal clone fighter who uses other characters' moves and looks very bland, created by Iron Galaxy as a filler, while the others think that he is a very interesting character with a fine design, fun moveset, and intriguing backstory.
* BrokenBase:
** Guest Characters tend to be controversial with different opinions on them. With Rash, there's just as many people who are excited as there are people who think he doesn't fit the tone of KI at all, as well as claiming his inclusion will lead to KI getting flooded with guests and turn it into Microsoft's equivalent of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''. Later, Arbiter caused more controversy regard. Some think it's awesome he's a character and are hopeful that having a character from a massively popular franchise will bring more attention to the game, while others think he fits even less than Rash, who is at least a character from another Creator/{{Rare}} franchise. And then there's [[VideoGame/GearsOfWar General RAAM]], who isn't exactly despised, but is probably the most overlooked and ignored of the three guests. His reveal had everyone saying "what? cool? okay?"
** Eyedol's updated design. Some people love it, saying that it fixed many of his original design quirks, while also saying that the split-head is genius, while others think that the new design doesn't fit at all, and that they preferred the old 2-headed demon over the new ogre-like design. [[https://www.deviantart.com/blackheartzero/art/when-Redesign-Arguements-go-too-far-624856749 This comic edit]][[note]] of ''[[{{Manhua/CollapseOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt}} Collapse of the World as We Know It]]''[[/note]] demonstrates two distinct viewpoints on the subject. [[GainaxEnding (and then some...)]]
* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: You will see Jago often in ranked matches. ''Very'' often. Ditto with Orchid and, to a lesser extent, Hisako.
* CompleteMonster (2013 reboot): [[BigBad Gargos]] is the worst of all the villains, as he [[EnemyMine forced previous villains to work together with the heroes]] to stop this herald of doom. A being who conquers and destroy worlds, generations ago Gargos wiped out a benevolent race called the Astral Beings to conquer the Astral World. Before he could enter the world of the humans, he was forcefully [[SealedEvilInACan sealed away]] and trapped in his own dimension. However, being able to establish himself as a god to a group of monks, he created a group of worshipers to a being called the Tiger Spirit, who in actuality was him. Wanting to possess one of the monks to be his vessel, he chose Jago and forcefully mind-controlled him to become the dark warrior Shadow Jago, who then tries to free Gargos along with Gargos's personal servant Omen. When Kan-Ra summoned Gargos out of temptation for power, this gave the opportunity for Gargos to free himself. Now planning to take over the world for his own, Gargos begins his invasion of Earth, hunting any remaining threats such as the amnesiac barbarian Tusk or one of the last remaining Astral Being, the Dragon Spirit. Even his gameplay shows his complete desire for dominance by having a mechanic where punishing his minions that summon him can end up benefiting Gargos. The [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Shadow Lord]] is a fitting title for Gargos, the darkest villain in the series.
* CreepyAwesome: [[DemBones Spinal]], [[EvilSorcerer Kan-Ra]], and [[StringyHairedGhostGirl Hisako]] in ''spades''.
* DemonicSpiders: Enemies with the Armoured Trait in ''Shadow Lords'', which gives them the ability to become ImmuneToFlinching. The cooldown feels very short, especially on higher difficulties, and often turns would-be punishes into VERY painful opportunities for the enemy to tear into you.
* DuelingGames: ''Killer Instinct 2013'' is billed as one against ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear Xrd'', by virtue of being on rival platforms (''Xrd'' and the [=PS3=]/4 vs. ''KI'' and the XBO) and being the resurrection of two old 2D fighting game franchises. There's also a bit of an America vs. Japan thing going on.
** There's a bit of this as of late with ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'' as well, given many of the same reasons as listed above for ''Xrd'', combined with ''SFV'' launching at roughly the same time as KI's third season and PC port, alongside ''SFV'''s DLC coming out on a monthly schedule lining up with KI's extra season 3 characters.

** Guest Characters tend to be controversial with different opinions on them. With Rash, there's just as many people who are excited as there are people who think he doesn't fit the tone of KI at all, as well as claiming his inclusion will lead to KI getting flooded with guests and turn it into Microsoft's equivalent of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''. Later, Arbiter caused more controversy regard. Some think it's awesome he's a character and are hopeful that having a character from a massively popular franchise will bring more attention to the game, while others think he fits even less than Rash, who is at least a character from another Creator/{{Rare}} franchise.

** [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Riptor]] and [[KillItWithFire Cinder]] from the first game for their unique designs and gameplay. Demands were heavy for their return in the new game and they got their wish in Season 2, with Cinder in particular benefiting from an awesome remix of his old tune and his new [[LargeHam hammy]] personality.

* SacredCow: Among the online-focused part of the UsefulNotes/FightingGameCommunity, at least two games get constantly praised because of having a rollback networking code (such as GGPO). These are ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct'' and ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}''. You can barely find any major criticism in these games online.

* ReplacementScrappy: ''Killer Instinct 2'''s newcomers Maya, Tusk and Kim Wu aren't too popular with the fans, being replacements of fan favorites Cinder, Thunder and Riptor. Replacing three interesting and unique characters with a trio of generic human warriors? Not a great move. It also doesn't help Thunder is given no explanation for his disappearance and the other two are simply written as being dead, making for a rather cheap way to get rid of them. Maya was retooled for Season 2 and became more popular, and the same happened with Kim Wu and Tusk in Season 3, resulting in them being RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap.

** A few [[FinishingMove Ultimates]] in the 2013 edition are... not really the ultimate finisher. Riptor's is notorious in this regard, where she knocks the opponent into the air for an aerial bite... [[EpicFail only to miss and fall to the ground]], forcing her to burn them to death as an improvisation.
* NarmCharm: On the other hand, Riptor's Ultimate has fans for being somewhat cute or even enjoyable because of the silliness.

** [[spoiler: The Tiger Spirit Jago worshiped being a phony.]]

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Surprisingly, while not to the extent of ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'', ''KI 2013'' has managed to develop a loyal fanbase in Japan, to the point that even the American community was surprised when Ken “Bass” Armas, one of the game's top players, was beaten by Tomosama and Osomatsu, who, respectively, used Riptor and Omen, both of which are considered as low-tier in the American community, in their matches against him. [[http://www.redbull.com/us/en/esports/stories/1331791559875/killer-instinct%E2%80%99s-japanese-community-gets-hungry This article explains it well]].

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Omen, the January 2015 character, has caused a lot of controversy among the fans. Some consider him to be a cheap, unoriginal clone fighter who uses other characters' moves and looks very bland, created by Iron Galaxy as a filler, while the others think that he is a very interesting character with an cool design and interesting backstory.