This is the Trivia page for the reboot of Killer Instinct from 2013. For the original series, see here.
- Acting for Two:
- Cinder and Arbiter (Ray Chase)
- Kan-Ra and Gargos (Edward Bosco)
- Glacius and Fulgore (Jean-Édouard Miclot)
- Riptor, Aganos, and Eyedol (Zachary Quarles)
- The new announcer shares a voice actor with both Jago and Shadow Jago (Mike Willette)
- Christmas Rushed: Double Helix admitted that Microsoft wanted KI 2013 to be a launch title for the Xbox One, and they had to release it after barely a year of development with only six characters and no story mode. Fortunately, unlike most examples of this trope, KI 2013 still ended up very playable and polished, with a minimum of bugs - just not very much content. Fortunately, this was rectified as Double Helix and later Iron Galaxy continued to update the game with three Seasons of DLC.
- Creator Backlash: Orchid's Fanservice-y elements are notably toned down for this game, and it's hard not to see this as a tacit mea culpa for her overt sexualization in previous installments. Notably, her retro costume is her shorts-leotard from the first KI, rather than her infamous thong-leotard from KI2.
- Creator Cameo: The game's sound designers voiced some of the characters themselves: Jean-Édouard Miclot provided the voices of Glacius and Fulgore, while Zachary Quarles provided the voices of Riptor, Aganos, and Eyedol.
- Like in the original KI, director/supervisor Ken Lobb returns to voice Thunder.
- Gargos's minions, Izzik and Dretch, are named after Iron Galaxy developer Issac "Delriatch" Torres.
- Disowned Adaptation: Chris Seavor, one of the original designers of the previous games, isn't fond of the reboot.
- God Does Not Own This World: The 2013 game was started by Double Helix Games rather than original developer Rare. Further development of the game is being handled by Iron Galaxy Studios after Double Helix's purchase by Amazon. However, some of the old KI team, including Ken Lobb, Robin Beanland, Kevin Bayliss, and Chris Sutherland, have contributed to the new game. Rare also acts as executive producers for the game, with each new build being shown to them for feedback and approval.
- Killer App: For many, KI 2013 was one of the only reasons to get an Xbox One at launch.
- Lying Creator: For about a year, Iron Galaxy repeatedly said they weren't going to bring Eyedol into KI 2013, because they didn't like his design, they had no good ideas for him, et cetera. After Eyedol was shown as the last character in Season 3, they revealed they were lying the whole time
. - Moved to the Next Console: A prototype build for the Xbox 360 was discovered, showing it was once intended for that console before migrating to the Xbox One. It's little more than a base Season 1 with less functionality and worse-looking graphics.
- No Budget: Unlike the first KI, which saw Rare receive nigh-unlimited financial backing from Nintendo to achieve their vision, both Double Helix and Iron Galaxy had comparatively miniscule budgets for KI 2013 from Microsoft. An in-game fundraiser had to be done in order to revamp Shadow Jago from a skin to a distinct fighter, and resource limitations left only half the roster with Ultimates and only half of Season 3's characters with new stages.
- Production Nickname: Many of the game's later characters are listed under codenames in the game's internal files. Kan-Ra is called Gauze, Rash is Prince, RAAM is Grub, and Eyedol is Panda.
- Promoted Fanboy: Maximilian Dood got in tight with both Double Helix and Iron Galaxy. He's played with the developers, has a Sabrewulf skin similar to his dog Benny, made a vocal cameo in Glacius' theme, gave feedback on visual elements such as the game's blood and Fulgore's design, and even ending up working on the videos for Rivals Mode and promotional trailers from Sadira's release onwards.
- Role Reprise:
- Chris Sutherland, the voice of the announcer in the first two KI games, returns as an optional announcer in KI2013 nearly 20 years later.
- Thunder is the only member of the roster to have the same voice actor in the reboot as in the originals, with Ken Lobb providing his voice in both KI1 and KI2013.
- Sequel Gap: The last KI game to be released before the 2013 reboot was in 1996, making a seventeen-year gap between the two games.
- Serendipity Writes the Plot: Mira was originally planned to use red, human blood in her fighting style. However, they couldn't get away with doing this without changing the game's rating. Instead, they changed her blood into a liquid metal similar to mercury, which some might argue is even cooler.
- Studio Hop: Initially developed by Double Helix, but after the studio's acquisition by Amazon, the later seasons were developed by Iron Galaxy Studios.
- The Other Darrin: Zig-zagged. Arbiter isn't voiced by his most famous actor, Keith David, but instead Ray Chase - however, this Arbiter is technically not Thel 'Vadam despite having the same appearance and catchphrases, excusing the change.
- What Could Have Been:
- During development, there was at least one alpha build targeted for the Xbox 360. It was fairly similar to the Xbox One alpha, but with obvious graphical differences such as lack of shadows and more subdued particle effects. This ultimately didn't stop this build from having framerate issues (most obvious with blocked projectiles, Shadow Move startups, and Glacius's unfinished rendering), which may have been why this version was dropped in the first place.
- When Sadira first appeared in teasers, she wore a veil over her mouth and nose. However, many sources brought up how similar she appeared to Mileena, inspiring Double Helix to remove the veil and otherwise rework her design before her release.
- Kevin Bayliss' first sketches for Hisako rendered her as a sort of ancient druid-like warrior. This design was used for her retro costume.
- Cinder in the 2013 reboot was originally completely alien in origin and appearance, and was meant to be a more "real" rival to Glacius in terms of backstory. While the team went with the character's original story (a convict turned into a Man on Fire by Ultratech's experiments), some of the alien pitch still remains in his new design.
- During development, there was at least one alpha build
