Mortal Kombat 9

I find it hilarious that an option they could take that everybody seems ok with is essentially:
Scorpion kills all the bad guys. All of them!

edited 12th May '11 10:59:42 PM by Zeromaeus

Scorpion and Sub-Zero are fan-favorites, and (in a sense) Scorpion could be considered as Ed Boon's Author Avatar. If anyone should be given the task of saving the realms, most would agree that they'd rather have those one of (or both of) those guys do it.

Fan favorites? You're kidding, right?

They're more like Icons of the series. They're the two guys on the fricken box art.

Even people who don't know their names would be like "those Mortal Kombat dudes" if you shoved them a picture of them.

You all thought that was gonna be some hate-post from how it started, right? =P

edited 13th May '11 12:02:29 AM by KuroFox

Scorpion ...Protagonist... Hell YEAH

Well, doy.

Scorpion seems about as easily deceived as Shujinko.

How long has he been pursuing the wrong person for revenge?

And even after "he got his revenge" he went after the younger Sub-Zero! For what? REVENGE OF COURSE. Because he obviously did it.

Quan Chi has been yanking Scorp's chain for about as long as Shujinko was on his quest.

I could bring up Armageddon but I hate that game and it's not really Scorpion's fault. The Jerkass Gods were being Jerkass Genie.

And I still can't believe how MK 9 destroyed any semblance of reasonable power levels within the story... If frickin' Stryker can beat Kintaro I guess the Great Kung Lao was about as strong as your average internet nerd.

And that's not even touching the Plot Induced Stupidity poor Ermac has to endure. Why didn't he just rip off Stryker's arms like he did Jax's?

edited 13th May '11 1:25:17 AM by Nikkolas

Original Kung lao fought Kintaro hand to hand. Stryker had you know...guns, bombs and a taser. It's not hard to believe he did better against Kintaro and Ermac for that matter compared to Jax.

Also remember, Ermac was at full juice when he ripped of Jax's arms, he just finished his time in the soul chamber. He was probably stronger then compared to when he fought Stryker, where he had been in battle for a while presumably.

The original Kung Lao never actually fought Kintaro. He defeated Shang Tsung hten got annihilated by Goro. I was just comparing him to Stryker and Kintaro because Kintaro is even stronger than Goro.

Regardless of his level of power at the time, Ermac had Stryker helpless in a telekinetic grip. He could have done anything with him. He could have flipped him over and just dropped him on his head.

And those were only a couple of examples. My earlier example of Sonya defeating the Original Sub-Zero is still the most irritating defeat and I don't think there is any excuse for it at all.

edited 13th May '11 3:16:31 AM by Nikkolas

It was an upset. Why should everybody but the ninjas have to be depicted as completely useless?

Well Liu Kang isn't really a ninja is he? And he's the series' ultimate plot device. He comes in and beats every Big Bad. Well until they killed him in this game and DA.

Anyway I have nothing against the human fighters being able to beat certain opponents. But some other fighters have powers or plot hype that sets them apart and I just don't like seeing that go to waste.

There is a nice bullshit explanation I read elsewhere when i brought this up.

"As a consequence of the time travel a lot of characters had their strength increased or decreased."

i guess I'll just go with that.

edited 13th May '11 6:33:40 AM by Nikkolas

I thought Goro got it the worst. 500 years as undefeated champion, then he and Kintaro together get whupped by Cyber Sub-Zero.

Raiden chose these guys for a reason. I would believe that they'd be able to actually win a fight. Nightwolf even flat out tells Stryker that he needed to stop doubting himself even with proof of his skills.

Anyway, Kintaro suffered from The Worf Effect the entire time. Jobs almost as much as Reptile, Baraka, and Sheeva.

Besides, Ermac has the whole "rejuvenation" thing, plus he was pretty much the poster boy for Redemption Promotion in MK; went from a mindless slave to a borderline Story-Breaker Power for the heroes. I'd assume that since it's supposed to be pre-Deception!Ermac that the same applies here. I'm not making a fuss about it; it's still tame compared to what Sindel did to 10 heroes.

I can't remember exactly but didn't she just beat the B Team?

Anyway, as I said before, I do not doubt Sonya's or Stryker's abilities. Against people like Mileena, Baraka, Reptile, they can surely win.

It's just when the "Deadly Alliance" that fought Raiden himself get taken out by Kung Lao I start calling BS.

The B team? You've got to be kidding.

For one, Shang Tsung had a friggin' Soulnado in his palace during the time of DA, restoring his youth, boosting his power, and sustaining his energies almost indefinitely, not to mention that he had absorbed Liu Kang's soul. While young again in 2, he was nowhere near as powerful. Shang Tsung and Quan Chi only gained the upper hand when it dawned on Shang Tsung that he had a friggin' Soulnado in his palace (last time I checked, Raiden singlehandedly curbstomped them in the Deception intro). So yeah, justified.

Here's the real reason for Ermac losing all his fights. The Good Guys Always Win, + Story-Breaker Power = Ermac jobs.

Lets be realistic here. Ermac could kill anyone he chooses with 0 effort. All he'd have to do is grip them once and he can end it right there by ripping off all their limbs or twisting their head off, or pulling out their guts through their mouth, or flaying them alive, or- well, you get the picture. Basically, in a series where most everybody fights hand to hand, he's a guy who can kill you anytime he likes without touching you. By all rights he should be a terrifying Hero Killer as feared as Shao Kahn. But he's part of the regular cast and the heroes have to fight him multiple times, so he gets his ass kicked by guys he should be able to murder in his sleep. Because god forbid he might actually kill one of the Good Guys! Ohhh no, we can't have that!

Incidentally this is why I find Sindel's massacre of the heroes so cathartic. Yes it's a Diabolus ex Machina, and after 26 years of getting Deus ex Machina, The Good Guys Always Win, and Happy Ending shoved down my throat, I am very happy for the reversal.

Same reasoning goes for Kintaro, Goro, and anyone else who jobs to people they should easily kill.

^ Also, what? Raiden got curbstomped by Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, not the other way around.

edited 13th May '11 8:59:24 AM by OmegaKross

You're a bit too cynical, Omega. Minus Nightwolf and Shujinko defeating Onaga in Deception, Mortal Kombat hasn't had a happy ending since 4.

The moment Liu Kang died was the moment it all went downhill.

edited 13th May '11 9:00:18 AM by X2X

Check again. In the intro to Deception, Raiden was kicking some serious ass. Then, Shang Tsung absorbs a soul from the Soulnado when Raiden is frying Quan Chi, which is when the battle turned around in the villains' favor.

Yeah I'm cynical. Have you seen my contributer's page? Okay, MK doesn't go in for Happy Endings, but I was using it to explain why I find the ending so satisfying. I'm tired of heroic characters owning villains way above their power level just because 'they're the heroes, and heroes always win'.

But I'm ranting now, and if I carry on, Stark Maximum will show up and snark at me again, so meh.

Raiden was stronger than the two sorcerers but not by a huge margin. He was beating them but the distinct impression is that they were tough opponents for the Thunder God.

I don't think Kung Lao is anywhere near Raiden's level of power.

As for Ermac, his power does have limits. He obviously couldn't TK crush someone like Raiden or Fujin or any of the stronger warriors. They possess spiritual and physical power beyond him.

I seriously don't see how you can keep trying to justify a lot of these victories, X 2 X. I was just checking the game again and Kabal beat Noob Saibot.

KABAL beat the super powerful wraith version of one of the strongest Earthrealm warriors.

In fact, I think Noob lost every fight he ws in until he was finished off by Nightwolf. Sigh...

Hopefully he'll redeem himself in the next game. With Shinnok being the Big Bad and Noob being a member of the Brotherhood of Shadow, it seems possible.

edited 13th May '11 9:24:21 AM by Nikkolas

Which is why Ermac does just that for his Fatality then? Even if his power is limited that way, nothing is stopping him from dropping his opponent on their head until they die. He can still lift them after all.

Also, Ermac is 1000 souls fused into a single being so spiritually powerful it gives him telekinesis. Raiden I can get, but no other fighter would have anywhere close to his level of power.

Well, except maybe Shang Tsung. And Shao Kahn obviously.

edited 13th May '11 9:30:59 AM by OmegaKross

I'd actually give Ermac good odds on Shang Tsung. But yeah, Kahn is way outta his league. Kahn deals in the millions of souls range.

Anyway, Ermac certainly is formidable. He basically pulled a Sindel before she ever did. His Deception ending has him fighting and defeating Jax, Sonya, Kung Lao, Johnny Cage and Kitana.

Yeah. Too bad it's non canon.

So who else prefers Ermac evil?

Evil is good but I think Neutral is best. He should be kinda like a less crazy Scorpion.

If you want to talk about story-breaking powers, I think carrying a gun pretty much takes the cake.

I like him more as evil too. And he just looks so sinister now.