Drahmin is either a character with a lot of potential in the story or an annoying addition to the cast. Ed Boon personally considers him the latter, and his very difficult playstyle has given him a hard time getting over with the fans, but he does have a higher fanbase than Hsu Hao at least (AKA more than one non-ironic fan).
Mavado has both fans and haters alike. Those who like him for being a Foil to Kano and being apparently the only decent Red Dragon of the cast (unlike his widely hated subordinate Hsu Hao) and those who hate him for apparently killing Kabal and stealing the latter's signature hookswords.
Bo' Rai Cho, you either see him as a cool, fun mentor towards Liu Kang and Kung Lao or hate him for his overuse of grossout humor.
Ethnic Scrappy: Hsu Hao is widely hated for being a bad Mongolian stereotype.
Game-Breaker: Certain characters had "impale" attacks with their weapons which would constantly sap life from the opponent until they keeled over. Granted, these attacks could be blocked, but there's a reason they never resurfaced in Deception and Armageddon.
Magnificent Bitch: Nitara is a vampire whose realm, Vaeternus, was conquered by Shao Kahn. Seeking to free it, Nitara finds the Portal Sphere, an orb which, if destroyed, will free Vaeternus. Since the Portal Sphere was being submerged in lava, Nitara decided she needed the cyborg Cyrax to obtain it. Earning Reptile's loyalty with a Saurian artifact, Nitara has him damage Cyrax's teleportation device. Nitara, having the means to travel the Realms, offers to send Cyrax home if he retrieves the Portal Sphere for her. Cyrax agrees and Nitara keeps her word, afterwards destroying the Portal Sphere. One of the few to save her homeworld from Shao Kahn—all by her own cunning—Nitara was willing to use underhanded means, but all to save her home and people.
The narrator for the character endings, (implied to be Raiden and voiced by Allan Stagg) sounds completely unenthusiastic with what he's given. He almost sounds like text-to-speech program.
The way Raiden delivers the line "We must stop this deadly alliance" in the opening.
Quan-Chi's Fatality is something... interesting. It begins with him jumping onto his victim's shoulders and grabbing their head, he then pulls said head and instead of ripping it off in traditional Mortal Kombat fashion, he somehow ends up stretching their neck, leaving the victim awkwardly waddling around with an elongated neck and suddenly falling to the ground. According to the devs, it was something thrown in at the eleventh hour of development and they disliked it as much as the players.
Popular with Furries: If a little in the niche department, Reptile's design in the game has been far better received in the scalie fandom than his Base-Breaking Character status in this game would suggest.
Replacement Scrappy: Mavado is hated mainly for replacing Kabal, and to add an insult to this injury, apparently killed the latter and then stole his trademark hookswords. It earned the ire of Kabal's fans.
Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Frost was widely hated when she was announced, with claims that she would "ruin" Mortal Kombat forever. Come the game's release and she soon became a fan favorite by having a cool backstory, different characterization, as well as her movelist being surprisingly different from Sub-Zero's.
Koffins in the Krypt can be bought again. If you select one by accident then the game still immediately saves and takes your money, giving you nothing in return.
Obtaining Platinum and Onyx koins is a complete chore; you can only get them via the Test your Might/Sight mini games which only occur once every 3 fights. And of course it's completely random as to which koins you'll get. There's also the fact that later Might/Sight games are ridiculous with their win requirements.
Self-Fanservice: Sub-Zero's design in this game has him looking much older than he actually is (approximately 42) due to the grey in his hair and the hardening of his features. Most fans tend to overlook this unexplained age-up (which Fanon attributes to his Dragon Medallion). That being said, Subby does appear to look more his actual age in Deception and Armageddon.
Win Back the Crowd: Deadly Alliance brought renewed interest in the Mortal Kombat brand during the 2000s, thanks to a better transition into 3D, some new characters that became fan favorites like Kenshi, Li Mei and Frost, the Shocking Moment of killing off long-time series protagonist Liu Kang and innovative gameplay.
. It begins with him jumping onto his victim's shoulders and grabbing their head, he then pulls said head and instead of ripping it off in traditional Mortal Kombat fashion, he somehow ends up stretching their neck, leaving the victim awkwardly waddling around with an elongated neck and suddenly falling to the ground. According to the devs, it was something thrown in at the eleventh hour of development and they disliked it as much as the players.