History YMMV / MortalKombatDeception

* PolishedPort: ''Mortal Kombat: Unchained'', is a near perfect UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable port of ''Deception'' which additionally includes not only Shao Kahn and Goro from the [=Gamecube=] version of the game, but also Jax, Kitana, Blaze and Frost from ''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance''. The entire roster and all stages are unlocked from the start, plus an Endurance mode is also included.

* LoveToHate: Arguably it was the aim of the creators for Hotaru to be seen this way, but whether they succeeded is up to the player. See his entry under the BaseBreakingCharacter section for details.

* CrazyIsCool: Havik is probably one of the more crazier fighters in the series and has the moves to prove it, from breaking his own knees to deliver a low projectile attack to sliding through the floor like a goddamned penguin to straight-up ''breaking his own neck'' just to regain a bit of health. Havik is one of the most fondly remembered fighters in this game, even making new appearances in later titles in [[VideoGame/MortalKombat9 the 2011 reboot]], the ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' comic book, and ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11''. He returns in playable form for ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1'' to the surprise and delight of many.

** Ashrah has some fans who believe she has some potential based on her character arc of seeking redemption and wanting to longer be a demon, but is disliked by detractors who view her as a [[FlatCharacter pale imitation]], [[TheyCopiedItSoItSucks if not a poorly made ripoff]], of Sareena.

* FanPreferredCouple:
** Fans seem to be fond of pairing up Ashrah and Raiden despite [[CrackPairing no tangible connections existing between the two]] aside of being members of the Forces of Light. As noted on the Characters page, this is rooted in [[ThemePairing how similar the two appear to each other]], with many mistaking originally Ashrah not only as Raiden's DistaffCounterpart, but his wife.
** Say what you want about them, but Kira and Kobra do have their supporters, with shippers as part of those ranks. This actually is even given a degree of canonical support in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon Armageddon]]'', wherein both characters' endings show them expressing affection towards the other in some manner... only to end up being backstabbed for their troubles.

* SugarWiki/AndTheFandomRejoiced: [[AndTheFandomRejoiced/MortalKombat Shares a page with the rest of the franchise]].

* AndTheFandomRejoiced: [[AndTheFandomRejoiced/MortalKombat Shares a page with the rest of the franchise]].

** The [=Gamecube=] release of the game was mostly dismissed compared to the other two main versions as it lacked an online mode. Now, with the online servers shut down, the [=GameCube=] version has been viewed as one of the better versions due to it including two exclusive fan favorite characters.

See also the franchise-wide pages for:
* [[AndTheFandomRejoiced/MortalKombat And The Fandom Rejoiced]]
* [[Monster/MortalKombat Complete Monster]]
* [[HilariousInHindsight/MortalKombat Hilarious In Hindsight]]
* [[Memes/MortalKombat Memes]]
* [[NauseaFuel/MortalKombat Nausea Fuel]]
* [[TheScrappy/MortalKombat The Scrappy]]
* [[Woobie/MortalKombat The Woobie]]
----

** The [[VideoGame/MortalKombat9 new]] [[VideoGame/MortalKombatX timeline's]] [[VideoGame/MortalKombat11 conclusion]] made people look back to this game with more fondness, since it provided endings where certain characters that were treated ignobly faring much better originally. Highlights include Ermac who ended up being nothing but a glorified {{Jobber}} with [[IAmLegion legion-like personality]] in the new timeline, but in here pulling an actual HeelFaceTurn after meeting Kenshi and rescued many revenants from Onaga's enslavement (though with a help of a zombified Liu Kang, but Ermac did a lot of heavy-lifting), and ''especially'' Sindel, who received a severe AdaptationalVillainy into an EvilAllAlong bitch in the new timeline, while in here, she was a bonafide good mother and queen who would [[MamaBear go on a rampage to save her brainwashed daughter]].

* CrazyIsCool: Havik is probably one of the more crazier fighters in the series and has the moves to prove it, from breaking his own knees to deliver a low projectile attack to sliding through the floor like a goddamned penguin to straight-up ''breaking his own neck'' just to regain a bit of health. Havik is one of the most fondly remembered fighters in this game, even making new appearances in later titles in [[VideoGame/MortalKombat9 the 2011 reboot]], the ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' comic book, and ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'', even if he's yet to return to playable status.

** Kira and Kobra also count. Kira is either a cool and {{Fanservice}}y EvilRedhead or a ReplacementScrappy with the moveset of both [[MovesetClone Kano and Sonya]], and Kobra is either a subversion of the {{Shotoclone}} archetype or a blatant [[CaptainErsatz rip-off]] of [[Franchise/StreetFighter Ken Masters]] and one of the worst characters of the franchise (along with Hsu Hao, Drahmin, Mokap, and Meat).

** Ashrah has some fans who believe she has some potential based on her character arc of seeking redemption and wanting to longer be a demon, but is disliked by detractors who view her as a [[FlatCharacter pale imitation]], [[TheyCopiedItSoItSucks if not a poorly made rip off]], of Sareena.
** While not nearly as hated as back in the day, Shujinko still has his fair share of detractors. At best, he's seen as a character with wasted potential, especially when he was hyped up by the creators as "the next generation Liu Kang". However, his status as being VindicatedByHistory has fans hoping for his return.

** In the middle of Konquest mode, Shujinko encounters a fighter called Monster who challenges him to a fight, claiming that he’s the true champion of the elder gods. Who he is, where he came from, and why he believes this are all a mystery. His appearance is not foreshadowed, he appears nowhere else in the game (or the franchise),[[note]]The character's design was originally meant to be used as an alternate costume for Scorpion before the creators realized that the look didn’t really fit him[[/note]] and after he is defeated he is never seen or mentioned again.
* CrazyIsCool: Havik is probably one of the more crazier fighters in the series and has the moves to prove it. From breaking his own knees to deliver a low projectile attack, or sliding through the floor like a goddamned penguin or straight up ''breaking'' his own neck just to regain a bit of health. Havik is one of the most fondly remembered fighters in this game, even making new appearances in later titles in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat2011'', the ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' comic book and also in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11''.

* FanNickname: Thanks to the new armor Sub-Zero picked up in this game ([[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/MK_SubZero_002_1474.png behold!]]), a sizable amount of fans began calling him "[[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles The Shredder]]".

** Say what you want about them, but Kira and Kobra do have their supporters, with shippers as part of those ranks. This actually is even given a degree of canonical support in ''Armageddon'', wherein both characters' endings show them expressing affection towards the other in some manner... only to end up being backstabbed for their troubles.

** Dairou's Tombstone Drop is this. It's an unblockable ground pound that falls ''extremely'' fast and has a very quick recovery time, and the only way to avoid it is to anticipate it coming and jump. Unfortunately, given this game's mechanics, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u43xdGfQUl4 that's a lot easier said than done]].

* HarsherInHindsight: Despite being dead and a ghost, Liu Kang wants to save Raiden before he grows too dangerous, as his ending provides. After the reset, Raiden becomes a BrokenPedestal to him after trying to change the past one-time too many.
** In what could also be considered HeartwarmingInHindsight, ''Videogame/MortalKombat11'''s story mode has something similar to both cases. [[spoiler: Liu Kang tries to warn Raiden about him being corrupted by Shinnok's amulet to almost no avail, until Raiden realizes from their confrontation that it and the events above were actually part of Kronika's machinations to keep him and Liu Kang into conflict throughout multiple timelines.]]

* MagnificentBastard: [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Onaga, the Dragon King]], was the Emperor of Outworld before he was overthrown by Shao Kahn. In ''Konquest'' mode, over a process of decades, Onaga manipulates the protagonist [[UnwittingPawn Shujinko]], from the time the latter is a young man, playing on Shujinko's desire for adventure and giving him the ability to [[PowerCopying copy the fighting style of any kombatant he meets]]. Using an avatar he calls "[[TreacherousQuestGiver Damashi]]"--[[BilingualBonus based on the Japanese for "deceive"]]--Onaga pretends to be an emissary of the Elder Gods, and claims they need Shujinko to retrieve 6 items called Kamidogu. In truth, Onaga wants the items for himself, and once Shujinko has retrieved all 6, Onaga is finally able to regain corporeal form. Revealing his deception, he takes the Kamidogu, overpowers Raiden, Shang Tsung, and Quan Chi to retrieve the latter's amulet, and sets about conquering the realms. Even though he is eventually defeated by Shujinko, Onaga survives, and is [[VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon willing to work]] with Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, Shinnok, and even Shao Kahn, but is secretly planning to betray them and gain ultimate power.

** Progressing through Konquest Mode forces you to complete many, many {{Forced Tutorial}}s where you assume different characters and learn their moves-- something you can do on your own at any time in Training Mode. While it's more substantial and interesting than ''Deadly Alliance'''s version (which was nothing ''but'' tutorials), the Konquest Mode here isn't exactly optional; it's your only means of unlocking a lot of the valuable extra content like new characters, costumes and whatnot, since they require keys exclusively found in Konquest Mode instead of regular Koins.

* ThatOneBoss: Several candidates in Konquest, especially the fights with different stipulations depending on the AI difficulty and the opponent;
** The fight against Tanya in Edenia, the first of the final two Kombat missions in the game. It doesn't sound bad on principle, except the game locks you into using [[BadassNormal Shujinko himself]], a character with no special moves and lengthy combos that are hard to memorize and perform in the heat of the moment, as well as having a moveset you only used once at the very start and never again, meaning you'll be doing constant visits to the move list just to make sure you have something to use. Not only that, Tanya will be playing aggressive and will certainly be using all of her moves against you. Fortunately she's still more manageable than the battle after hers. Speaking of...

*** Tying back to the matches with special stipulations, one such fight is, again, with Scorpion, a bonus mission that technically must be done in the post-game to unlock his Spear move for Shujinko. Sure, you only need to beat him in one round this time, but that's only the bare minimum of the compensation for the match stipulations: '''he deals 300% of his natural damage [[HealingFactor and his health will automatically heal throughout the fight]]'''. Couple that with an ''extremely'' aggressive AI that seems to [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard bypass most of your blocks and read what combos you're trying to use]], as well as a fighter that has Hellfire as a special (ie [[ThatOneAttack one of the few special moves in the game that cannot be blocked AT ALL]]), and you have a battle where you'll lose in about ''three to five hits'' without any damage counted on his end due to the fast healing. Sure, it's doable, but you're guaranteed to be hearing "SCORPION WINS! FLAWLESS VICTORY!" a LOT before you finally get the win.

** The [[VideoGame/MortalKombat9 new]] [[VideoGame/MortalKombatX timeline's]] [[VideoGame/MortalKombat11 conclusion]] made people look back to this game with more fondness, since it provided endings where certain characters that were treated ignobly faring much better originally. Highlights include Ermac who ended up being nothing but a glorified {{Jobber}} with [[IAmLegion legion-like personality]] in the new timeline, but in here pulling an actual HeelFaceTurn after meeting Kenshi and rescued many revenants from Onaga's enslavement (though with a help of a zombified Liu Kang, but Ermac did a lot of heavy-lifting), and ''especially'' Sindel, who received a severe AdaptationalVillainy into an EvilAllAlong bitch in the new timeline, while in here, she was a bonafide good mother and queen who would [[MamaBear go on a rampage to save her brainwashed daughter.]]
** The Gamecube release of the game was mostly dismissed compared to the other two main versions as it lacked an online mode. Now, with the online servers shut down, the Gamecube version has been viewed as one of the better versions due to it including 2 exclusive fan favorite characters.

** Some fans have this opinion in regard to Sub-Zero's "[[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Shredder]]" outfit that he had in this game as being unfitting for him. [[BrokenBase Though on the other hand]], some fans would consider this NarmCharm in that Kuai Liang is the type of person who is [[{{Pun}} cool]] enough to make what would otherwise be ridiculous look stylishly awesome. Adding onto that, the costume is actually considered by quite a bit of fans as probably one of his best ones. To the point that there was quite a bit of rejoicing when it became a DLC skin for Sub Zero in [=MK11=].

* TierInducedScrappy: Hotaru, in addition to the other criticisms of him noted above, is regarded as the least effective in regard to playstyle based on the limited usefulness of his attacks, most notably his Lava Burst attack which can be easily nullified by the opponent being too far or too close. Thankfully, he received some well-needed adjustments in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon Armageddon]]'', but even then he is roughly mid-tier at best.

** The Gamecube release of the game was mostly dismissed compared to the other two main versions as it lacked an online mode. Now, with the online servers shut down, the Gamecube version has been viewed as one of the better version due to it including 2 exclusive fan favorite characters.

** Bo' Rai Cho. Either you like him for being a FunPersonified CoolOldGuy or hate him for taking his already established ToiletHumor from ''Deadly Alliance'' and turning it UpToEleven.

*** Tying back to the matches with special stipulations, one such fight is, again, with Scorpion, a bonus mission that technically must be done in the post-game to unlock his Spear move for Shujinko. Sure, you only need to beat him in one round this time, but that's only the bare minimum of the compensation for the match stipulations: '''[[UpToEleven he deals 300% of his natural damage]] [[HealingFactor and his health will automatically heal throughout the fight]]'''. Couple that with an ''extremely'' aggressive AI that seems to [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard bypass most of your blocks and read what combos you're trying to use]], as well as a fighter that has Hellfire as a special (ie [[ThatOneAttack one of the few special moves in the game that cannot be blocked AT ALL]]), and you have a battle where you'll lose in about ''three to five hits'' without any damage counted on his end due to the fast healing. Sure, it's doable, but you're guaranteed to be hearing "SCORPION WINS! FLAWLESS VICTORY!" a LOT before you finally get the win.

** Near the end of Konquest mode, Shujinko encounters a fighter called Monster who challenges him to a fight, claiming that he’s the true champion of the elder gods. Who he is, where he came from, and why he believes this are all a mystery. His appearance is not foreshadowed, he appears nowhere else in the game (or the franchise),[[note]]The character's design was originally meant to be used as an alternate costume for Scorpion before the creators realized that the look didn’t really fit him[[/note]] and after he is defeated he is never seen or mentioned again.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The Red Dragon Clan ends up mostly ignored despite the previous entry, ''The Deadly Alliance'', going to great lengths to establish them as a growing threat among the Realms. They play no part in the war against Onaga, but ironically the ''Black'' Dragon Clan gets much more prominence than they've seen in years.

* ScrappyMechanic: Progressing through Konquest Mode forces you to complete many, many {{Forced Tutorial}}s where you assume different characters and learn their moves-- something you can do on your own at any time in Training Mode. While it's more substantial and interesting than ''Deadly Alliance'''s version (which was nothing ''but'' tutorials), the Konquest Mode here isn't exactly optional; it's your only means of unlocking a lot of the valuable extra content like new characters, costumes and whatnot, since they require keys exclusively found in Konquest Mode instead of regular Koins.

** Hotaru is either liked for being a notable LoveToHate {{Foil}} to the ever-popular Havik or hated for either being a fascist or just having a boring design and personality.

* FoeYay: The intense, reciprocally personal rivalry between Jade and Tanya took off starting here and continued into the next game, where [[DesignatedGirlFight they single out the other to square off]] during the Battle of Armageddon. Jade, who was established in the ''DA-D-A'' trilogy to be [[PatrioticFervor deeply patriotic]], does have a justifiable reason for hating Tanya (who betrayed their homeland for a [[VideoGame/MortalKombat4 second]] time in ''Deception''), but the fervently negative emotion from both sides still comes on a bit too strong for some.

* [[EnsembleDarkhorse/MortalKombat Ensemble Darkhorse]]

* WhatAnIdiot:
** You just have to facepalm when the Elder Gods Champion (the one before Scorpion) steps in to stop Shujinko and the natural reaction of our [[IdiotHero hero]] is to say "No, it's me!" and initiate a fight, not even thinking for one second how this guy reached the Nexus or why he would make such claims.
** Raiden blindly accepting Shujinko's story of being the Champion of the Elder Gods based on him "having the strength of ten fighters" without ever bothering to check with them to corroborate his story arguably also counts.

** Near the end of Konquest mode, Shujinko encounters a fighter called Monster who challenges him to a fight, claiming that he’s the true champion of the elder gods. Who he is, where he came from, and why he believes this are all a mystery. His appearance is not foreshadowed, he appears nowhere else in the game (or the franchise)[[note]]The character's design was originally meant to be used as an alternate costume for Scorpion before the creators realized that the look didn’t really fit him.[[/note]] , and after he is defeated he is never seen or mentioned again.

** Near the end of Konquest mode, Shujinko encounters a fighter called Monster who challenges him to a fight, claiming that he’s the true champion of the elder gods. Who he is, where he came from, and why he believes this are all a mystery. His appearance is not foreshadowed, he appears nowhere else in the game (or the franchise), and after he is defeated he is never seen or mentioned again.

** Ashrah has some fans who believe she has some potential based on her character arc of seeking redemption and wanting to longer be a demon, but is disliked by detractors who view her as a [[FlatCharacter pale imitation]], [[TheyCopiedItNowItSucks if not a poorly made rip off]], of Sareena.

** A '''ton.''' The majority can be corralled under two things: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQftCLpsk_A moves that lead to unduckable throws,]] and moves that can be repeated ad-nauseum until the timer runs out. It's the core reason why this game was frowned upon by the professional fighting game community.

* ThatOneBoss: The final battle in Conquest mode for one arbitrary reason. After spending an entire game mode juggling/rotating through every other fighter, you must take on the final battle with basic Shujinko with movesets and fighting styles you haven't used or learned since the first hour of Conquest mode. Half of the battle will likely be you constantly pausing the game to remember what those styles even did.