History YMMV / MortalKombat9

** Kitana’s ending, where she, Jade, and Mileena join together to fight evil is made canon in [=MK1=], where Mileena is a hero despite being infected with a disease that deforms her and makes her into a psychotic cannibal. While, Jade doesn’t appear in the game proper, intros mention her as a friend of katana, showing that she’s still in the New Era timeline.

** The fact that the original timeline ends with [[spoiler: Shao Kahn winning and getting the ultimate power. The intro to ''Armageddon'' depicts Onaga nabbing Shao Kahn and carrying him off to his doom, and Onaga took the combined power of ''all'' the fighters to defeat. Thus making the idea that Shao Kahn could just defeat him and then get through anyone else in his way to the ultimate power a ''very'' big stretch. Especially when one takes into consideration that Shao had to poison Onaga to overthrow him and Shao's ending in ''Unchained'' outright states that Shao is incapable of defeating the Dragon King in a one-on-one fight.]]

** The fact that the original timeline ends with [[spoiler: Shao Kahn winning and getting the ultimate power. The intro to ''Armageddon'' depicts Onaga nabbing Shao Kahn and carrying him off to his doom, and Onaga took the combined power of ''all'' the fighters to defeat. Thus making the idea that Shao Kahn could just defeat him and then get through anyone else in his way to the ultimate power a ''very'' big stretch. Especially when one takes into consideration that Shao had to poison Onaga to overthrow him and Kahn's ending in ''Unchained'' outright states that Shao is incapable of defeating the Dragon King in a one-on-one fight.]]

** The fact that the original timeline ends with [[spoiler: Shao Kahn winning and getting the ultimate power. The intro to ''Armageddon'' depicts Onaga nabbing Shao Kahn and carrying him off to his doom, and Onaga took the combined power of ''all'' the fighters to defeat. Thus making the idea that Shao Kahn could just defeat him and then get through anyone else in his way to the ultimate power a ''very'' big stretch. Especially when one takes into consideration that Kahn had to poison Onaga to overthrow him and Kahn's ending in ''Unchained'' outright states that Kahn cannot simply defeat the Dragon King in a one-on-one fight.]]

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: Johnny Cage hitting on Sonya at the very beginning of the game, as Cassie Cage's presence on the ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' roster shows.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Kitana's disgusted reaction to Mileena, who she calls an abomination and refuses to acknowledge as family. Keep in mind Mileena has just woken up and hasn't actually done anything yet. Kitana's outrage comes across as FantasticRacism.

** Stryker's pre-battle quote is "Police brutality, coming up!", a threat he makes good on even if the player chooses not to use a Fatality. A few years later, police brutality would become a hot button issue in America due to several publicized police shootings.

** Stryker and Kabal, other than having ADayInTheLimelight chapter, have no real relevance to the story. Stryker's chapter in particular feels much more like a common filler, with it being present only to introduce the third ark of the game from the eyes of someone who was completely external to the events prior.

* MemeticLoser: Cyber-Sub Zero, to the point where ''Reptile'' gets more of a break in comparison. One of his Fatalities involves him [[TakingYouWithMe blowing himself up along with his opponent]] (which is baffling, as the opponent is dazed and unable to fight back, rendering such an action pointless), he's one of only ''two'' characters [[spoiler: to die in their Arcade ending]], and [[spoiler: he gets killed in a very undignified manner by Sindel]] in Story Mode.

** The fact that the original timeline ends with [[spoiler: Shao Kahn winning and getting the ultimate power. The intro depicts Onaga nabbing Shao Kahn and carrying him off to his doom, and Onaga took the combined power of ''all'' the fighters to defeat. Thus making the idea that Shao Kahn could just defeat him and then get through anyone else in his way to the ultimate power a ''very'' big stretch. Especially when one takes into consideration that Kahn had to poison Onaga to overthrow him and Kahn's ending in ''Unchained'' outright states that Kahn cannot simply defeat the Dragon King in a one-on-one fight.]]

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Inverted ''and'' averted within Story Mode. Most of the female characters remain clothed to some degree, with one surprising exception at first. No, not Sonya. Or Kitana. Or Jade. Or [[NightmareFuel Mileena]]. Or even Sheeva. It's [[spoiler:''Sindel'']]. In what is the only display of "frontal nudity" of any kind in the entire series, when [[spoiler:Quan Chi resurrects her]] to match the events of ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3'', she is brought back ''naked'', [[spoiler:with only a view shown of her upper chest above the nipples]].

** Both Nightwolf and Cyber Sub-Zero's endings have them[[spoiler: get possessed by Shao Kahn's soul after killing him. There is no indication Shao Kahn could do this, especially since he never does this in any other ending save for Skarlet, and even she simply took his power after absorbing his blood. Not even the other Cyber Lin Kuei get this ending,]] so it comes off as an out-of-nowhere CruelTwistEnding.

** [[spoiler:Cyb-Zero]] for [[spoiler:Cyber Sub-Zero]].

** Some of Goro's and Kintaro's weaknesses can be exploited via these. They can't comprehend uppercut spamming on Normal difficulty, and are also impotent against diving kicks, especially [[spoiler:Cyber]] Sub-Zero's, [[spoiler:which is a Godsend when you fight both of them towards the end of Story Mode]].

** Stryker and [[spoiler:Police!]]Kabal's conversation in the middle of Chapter 12:

%% Don't add Narm here. It's a DarthWiki/DarthWiki element, and, as such, must be left out of any page.

* TierInducedScrappy:
** Shang Tsung. He can only morph into to the character being fought, and they can block this to prevent it. His moves aren't that great, one of which even leaves you open for attack, and is easy to do by mistake when throwing combos involving uppercuts. And 2 of his big advantages, his grab and Soul Steal, are useless on the bosses. He can be played okay in the right hands, but even then, he's moderately good at best.
** Sheeva as well, considering that for all her power her specials offer, she doesn't have much to work with in combos and specials and is rather large to boot.
** Kabal takes the cake. He has effectively rendered the metagame completely useless considering that he's a tier onto himself. He has no crippling weakness and functions as a zoner, grappler and can rushdown. His instant air fireball allows him to retreat while having multiple projectiles on screen at once. He is a definitive GameBreaker.
** Cyrax is a bordeline case; his infamous touch-of-death combos propel him above nearly every other character in the game which generally qualify him but Kabal's toolkit being as broken as it is meant that Cyrax is only the second best character in the game and one of very few who can challenge Kabal if played right, a relief for spectators who would otherwise have to sit through multiple Kabal mirrors in tournament.

* {{Narm}}: This game's (main) outfit for Sonya is the source of a lot of mockery online. Since she's from Earthrealm, she doesn't get the type of fanservice-y outfit characters like Jade or Kitana get. However, instead of giving her a sporty outfit as is common for her character, she instead wears a military vest that's too small for her to close due to her large tracks of land, and no shirt (or bra) underneath, causing her to have a case of ImpossiblyLowNeckline at the same time. This, combined with her CombatStilettos and the strong implication that this was her work outfit that she was wearing on official business, made more than a few players cringe over the bad design. For some players it verges close to FanDisservice due to how tacky it looks. Meanwhile, the vast majority of players look at it as an example of WTHCostumingDepartment. The visceral reaction to her main outfit may be part of why she's significantly more covered up in her military-themed outfits in X and 11. The playerbase generally agree that while still clearly fanservicy, her alt outfit is significantly better in design, and many wish ''it'' was her main outfit.

* BrokenBase:
** Chapter 15 in Story mode has ''only'' two sides to it: either it's a WhamEpisode [[TearJerker that left many fans in tears]] after seeing [[spoiler:their favorite characters get killed by Sindel so easily and abruptly]] or it's a clumsy ''failed'' attempt at being a wham episode because of [[spoiler:[[DroppedABridgeOnHim how sloppy the deaths were]], and because of the obvious DiabolusExMachina]].
** To a lesser extent, the blatant {{Fanservice}} in all the costumes, especially the female ones. Some players don't care or like the skimpy outfits, while others feel it's too much of a good thing or undermines some important characters (Sonya's ludicrously impractical outfit is probably the best example of this). [[spoiler:Mileena's Flesh Pits costume unlocked by beating the Challenge Tower was another point of contention - not only did some feel it was taking things too far, but it's also a hugely underwhelming reward for such a mammoth task.]] Some felt it was pushed ''so'' far [=NetherRealm=] should have just made a "Nude Kombat" mode and been done with it. Responding to these complaints is likely why the {{Fanservice}} and {{Stripperific}} details were ''severely'' toned down for the next game.

* {{Narm}}: This game's (main) outfit for Sonya is the source of a lot of mockery online. Since she's from Earthrealm, she doesn't get the type of fanservice-y outfit characters like Jade or Kitana get. However, instead of giving her a sporty outfit as is common for her character, she instead wears a military vest that's too small for her to close due to her large tracks of land, and no shirt (or bra) underneath, causing her to have a case of BareYourMidriff and ImpossiblyLowNeckline at the same time. This, combined with her CombatStilettos and the strong implication that this was her work outfit that she was wearing on official business, made more than a few players cringe over the bad design. For some players it verges close to FanDisservice due to how tacky it looks. Meanwhile, the vast majority of players look at it as an example of WTHCostumingDepartment. The visceral reaction to her main outfit may be part of why she's significantly more covered up in her military-themed outfits in X and 11. The playerbase generally agree that while still clearly fanservicy, her alt outfit is significantly better in design, and many wish ''it'' was her main outfit.

* {{Narm}}: This game's (main) outfit for Sonya is the source of a lot of mockery online. Since she's from Earthrealm she doesn't get the type of fanservice-y outfit characters like Jade or Kitana get. However, instead of giving her a sporty outfit as is common for her character, she instead wears a military vest that's too small for her to close due to her [[BuxomIsBetter large tracks of land]], and no shirt (or bra) underneath, causing her to have a case of BareYourMidriff and ImpossiblyLowNeckline at the same time. This, combined with her CombatStilettos and the strong implication that this was her work outfit that she was wearing on official business made more than a few players cringe over the bad design. For some players it verges close to FanDisservice due to how tacky it looks. Meanwhile, the vast majority of players look at it as an example of WTHCostumingDepartment.
** The visceral reaction to her main outfit may be part of why she's significantly more covered up in her military-themed outfits in X and 11.
** The playerbase generally agree that while still clearly fanservicy, her alt outfit is significantly better in design, and many wish ''it'' was her main outfit.

* BreatherLevel: Challenge 150, Gor-Owned, is much easier than anything near it in the Challenge Tower. This is mostly due to the challenge involving [[spoiler:you playing as Goro. You keep his ridiculous armor and damage resistance, and you even get a considerable damage boost. Not even the requirement of having to defeat five people without healing makes this at all difficult.]]

* IdiotPlot: Due to Raiden's tight grip on the IdiotBall he calls his amulet. He repeatedly gets glimpses of the future and know it's to prevent Armageddon, but his efforts cause him to repeatedly make foolish decisions that get people killed and burn his bridges with his allies. He even acknowledges at points that he doesn't know what he's doing and is trying to make sense of things. This can all be pinned on Raiden's future self, who sent back the vague message "he must win". Granted he only had a few seconds to send such a message before Shao Kahn killed him, but surely he could have said something a bit more specific.

* WhatAnIdiot:
** Raiden just stands and watches the Lin Kuei cyborgs abduct [[spoiler:Sub-Zero]]; that this comes ''after'' warning Cyrax against the Cyber Inititave & his saving [[spoiler:Smoke]] from that same fate makes it especially glaring. An argument could be made that [[spoiler:his inability to understand his message from the future ("He must win") could fall under this, as he keeps thinking that it means a specific combatant from Earthrealm, even after Liu Kang's victories over Shang Tsung & Shao Kahn didn't ward off Armageddon]]. In fact, Raiden from the original timeline could fall under this too, because [[spoiler:he could have very easily specified who the message "He must win" was referring to, though to be fair, he was just beaten up and about to be killed, so he must have had little time to clarify. That being said, "Kahn must win" uses the same number of syllables and is a hell of a lot less cryptic (though it would probably have been even harder to convince others to follow him in that case)]].
** Hey Sonya, Ermac's got a hold of Jax! Want to help Jax out? No? Okay, let's just hope nothing bad happ--Oh wait, there go his arms. Good thing you're here Sonya, now you can stop the bleeding!
** Shao Kahn himself at the very start of the game. If he simply killed Raiden there and then [[EvilGloating as he started his]] [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech gloating]], the timeline wouldn't have changed and he wouldn't have been annihilated by the Elder Gods.
** Sindel's [[spoiler:[[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown slaughter of the]] [[CurbStompBattle whole team]] [[TheWorfEffect of heroes]]]] wouldn't be that bad if they just attacked her all at once or at least used their projectile attacks at her first.
** [[spoiler:Raiden really shouldn't have brought out his lightning against the fiery Liu Kang when trying to stop him from rushing against Shao Kahn. As a result, Liu Kang gets fried.]]

* Unfortunately owing to the console exclusivity, Kratos was never tournament legal during the game's competitive lifespan as the 360 version was preferred in tournaments and Xbox owners could not reasonably be expected to buy a [=PS3=] and a copy of the game just to be able to lab as/against him if they did host tournaments on them. It's telling that Netherrealm would not go on to include any console exclusive characters after this game.

** Liu Kang. In the past, he was regularly overshadowed by everyone else. This is changed by having him be more of a chosen one ("He must win" [[spoiler:though Raiden realizes that the message meant something else entirely]]) and by developing his relation with Raiden [[spoiler:by making them become estranged enemies by some of the latter's decisions sometimes having detrimental ramifications]]. That is, [[BaseBreakingCharacter if they don't consider this new development, especially how it ends up in the next game, to be actually worse than being overshadowed like before.]] However, the events of ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' solidify this rescue more since this game's rendition is the beginning of what would be the {{Reconstruction}} of Liu Kang's original character issues.

** Liu Kang. In the past, he was regularly overshadowed by everyone else. This is changed by having him be more of a chosen one ("He must win" [[spoiler:though Raiden realizes that the message meant something else entirely]]) and by developing his relation with Raiden [[spoiler:by making them become estranged enemies by some of the latter's decisions sometimes having detrimental ramifications]]. That is, [[BaseBreakingCharacter if they don't consider this new development, especially how it ends up in the next game, to be actually worse than being overshadowed like before.]]

* EightPointEight: IGN gave the game a "mere" 8 out of ten, with a one page review and some complaints about the single player mode. The latter falls under sloppy research, since the reviewer complained that [[ItsHardSoItSucks it was too hard]], and that the story mode wasn't comprehensive enough. When the reviewer states in the review that when he made remarks about the difficulty to other IGN writers, they noted "Sounds like ''Franchise/MortalKombat'', then" and that none of the other fighting games except for [[VideoGame/GuiltyGear a]] [[VideoGame/BlazBlue few]] feature a Story Mode.

** Challenge #300: You have any choice of character, but you must fight all three bosses (and Mileena) back-to-back with one health bar as they get bonuses up the wazoo while ''you'' are crippled constantly with disadvantages. Partially subverted in that [[AntiFrustrationFeatures the game tones down the difficulty the more times you fail]] (one of the only times it does so).

** In her defense, it's very shocking to find out that your step-father has had his evil sorcerer henchman make hybrid clones of you in order to replace you just because you question his actions. In her arcade ending, Kitana partly redeems her previous act by [[spoiler:asking Mileena to join her and Jade to fight evil]].

** The fact that the original timeline ends with [[spoiler: Shao Kahn winning and getting the ultimate power. The intro depicts Onaga nabbing Shao Kahn and carrying him off to his doom, and Onaga took the combined power of ''all'' the fighters to defeat. Thus making the idea that Shao Kahn could just defeat him and then get through anyone else in his way to the ultimate power a ''very'' big stretch.]]

** Both Nightwolf and Cyber Sub-Zero's ending have them[[spoiler: get possessed by Shao Kahn's soul after killing him. There is no indication Shao Kahn could do this, especially since he never does this in any other ending save for Skarlet, and even she simply took his power after absorbing his blood. Not even the other Cyber Lin Kuei get this ending,]] so it comes off as an out-of-nowhere CruelTwistEnding.

** Quan Chi. He's either a {{troll}}ish bastard, or a boring InvincibleVillain and a spotlight hog due to being {{retcon}}ned into the events of the first few games. For some of his detractors, him being [[HumiliationConga knocked down a peg]] in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' seems to have balanced his oversaturation in this game.

** Cyber Sub-Zero's ending has him [[spoiler: get possessed by Shao Kahn's soul after killing him. There is no indication Shao Kahn could do this, especially since he never does this in any other ending save for Skarlet, and even she simply took his power after absorbing his blood. Not even the other Cyber Lin Kuei get this ending,]] so it comes off as an out-of-nowhere CruelTwistEnding.