5. Nightwolf/Shao Kahn
A character that just effortlessly looks cool as hell - who doesn't want to be a supernatural Shaman-hunter replete with bearskins for costumes and access to a range of spirit-guided weaponry? Nightwolf actually missed a couple of instalments before the last MK, but it was with his return that NetherRealm really had some fun with the character, giving you some brilliantly powerful-looking Fatalities where 'Wolf controlled everything from his aforementioned weaponry to conjure axes for beheadings, to torching people to skeletons through opening the heavens themselves. However, even though his final cutscene shows Wolf destroying Shao Kahn, the story then mentions that the latter's soul was forever bound to Wolf's spirit animal, turning him into a fierce Lycanthrope/werewolf, and essentially announcing that Shao Kahn's new form is controlling this werewolf hybrid. Whether such a fantastic character design has forever been turned into 'just another werewolf' remains to be seen - and exactly where Shao Kahn ends up is another matter entirely - but either way neither Nightwolf of Kahn are in drastically different states than they were at the close of the last game.