Mortal Kombat 11: 9 Neglected Characters That Must Return
It's time to bring some klassics back off the bench.
Mortal Kombat, like the rest of its long-running contemporaries, suffers from a chronic case of character bloat that's only going to get worse as time continues. It's a problem that, in an alternative light, can only be considered an identifiable sign the series has enjoyed enough success to keep welcoming new faces into the fold more than two decades later. Eventually though, tough decisions will have to be made.
Short of giving each new instalment the Smash Ultimate treatment, NetherRealm can't possibly be expected to cram every single Mortal Kombat mainstay into the roster - some, like Mokap and Meat, don't deserve the screen time - each time a new entry rolls around, but Mortal Kombat X, borderline objectively the best entry in the series to date, left out several contenders that should never have been left on the bench.
Strong fan favourites like Noob Saibot, Smoke and Kabal, characters strongly represented in past titles, were nowhere to be seen on MKX's roster, nor were the likes of Rain or Baraka, despite both cropping up as AI-controlled opponents in the dimension-spanning campaign.
Striking the perfect balance between old and new is a tough ask, no doubt, but Mortal Kombat X tilted mildly too much to the latter side. Bring back more of the golden oldies!
9. Fujin
Since his playable debut in Mortal Kombat 4, Fujin's only appeared on subsequent character select screens a measly two times. As one of Raiden's best mates and a crucial defender of Earthrealm's life force from villainous entities like Shinnok, you'd think the wind-wielding deity would get more screen time, but alas, his last handful of appearances have been nought but cameos.
With that said, the timeline reset kicked off by NetherRealm with 2009's reboot ultimately leads to Raiden becoming corrupted at Mortal Kombat X's conclusion, leading to speculation that Fujin could replace his thunderous friend as Earthrealm's full-time protector.
Fujin has earned the promotion once before, after all, and if nothing else, his being thrust back to the series' forefront would allow NetherRealm to give the character some much-needed fleshing out.