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[opricnik]

Well to be fair, did anything good come out of MKX's storyline?

Yes it did like end to Scorpion and Subzero battleship. Such a good scene.


Also i dont agree with OP like %0 at all.

They made Liu Kang much interesting then what he was.

Same thing happened with Deadly Alliance/Deception thing too.

He better works when Zombie or Evil tbh.

Also he still has best Mortal Kombat game of all time ( Shaolin Monks) so just play that game if you like normie kang so much

 

[InsaneTiger]

Lui Kang is boring and dumb. Let him die and never return.

 

[petran79]

MK2 Liu Kang was the best

 

[zoodoo]

He was always a shitty character. So, no loss there.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

smh at the kang hate in this thread

 

[MisterHero]

Liu Kang is the descendant of Kung Lao, representative of the Temple of the Order of Light and Champion of Mortal Kombat.

He is the chosen one.

=(

 

[Crankshaft]

If Raiden turns out to be the bad guy in MK11 then I would expect Liu to have a bigger role, since he has the biggest beef with him right now.

 

[SomewhatGroovy]

Could be worse; he could be Superman in a NRS game.

 

[ElFly]

scorpion and subzero were always the protagonists of mortal kombat

liu kang was just a patsy

 

[Seyavesh]

robin shou owns and that no game ever really tried to emulate his take is lame

 

[Terrell]

Liu Kang kind of had to die. They wrote Raiden as a flawed character, and one of those flaws was pumping up Liu Kang to be their saviour. When he realized he was wrong via magical timey-wimey stuff, and that Liu Kang's victories would perpetuate a cycle that they could never escape from, Liu Kang's reaction to that was what you would expect from someone who was told he was the "chosen one" and had a temper tantrum, since his whole life was a preparation to be the saviour of Earthrealm and he was basically told "nah, that doesn't matter anymore". So he challenged a god and got the expected end result of that.

 

[Sou Da]

I liked it, NRS actually knows how to do a new generation right.

 

[Justin Bailey]

Liu Kang was always a generic afterthought. He didn't even have a legit fatality in MK1. That's how out of place he was. Scorpion is the iconic character of Mortal Kombat and always has been. Liu being written out of the narrative is good riddance.

He was pretty awesome in MKII though.

 

[Arby 'n' the Chief]

Fucking terrible, Mortal Kombat makes an enormous return to 6th gen consoles (Deadly Alliance) with a legit serious storyline and they just kill him off because they felt like it without developing his character. They then turn him into a stupid mindless zombie for the rest of the series to add to injury. Reboot comes and then they kill him again and turn him evil in MKX.

Honestly, turning the main hero evil to make him/her "interesting" has got to be one the laziest forms of writing IMO. It's funny because they also did that to Superman and in Injustice 2 they're doubling down on it, but at least he has a good reason to be that way.

 

[Willenium]

if you think Liu Kang got screwed, think about his poor brother. Dude never even got to be in a game. Just gets killed in a dream sequence by Shang Tsung.

 

[poodaddy]

Harsh...This is the equivalent of replacing Ryu with Guile...only now it's canon.

OP, I like you bro....but this would be awesome. Guile is way better than Ryu.

 

[NeonZ]

I'm not a fan of what they've done with him so far since Deadly Alliance.

Zombie Liu Kang was barely a character. In Mortal Kombat IX, I couldn't help but side with Liu Kang regarding Raiden's visions, so being forced to play as Raiden there was really annoying.

And, although the idea of Liu Kang as a specter of revenge has potential, that's not what he is so far. He was pretty much glorified grunt for Quan Chi and later Shinnok, and his tower ending portrays him as a fairly generic "conquer the realms!" villain which just comes out of nowhere.

 

[Uraizen]

Mortal Kombat 9

• Gets denied his destiny as champion of Mortal Kombat
  
• Constantly told to pipe down/shut up by Raiden
  
• Gets fried to death by Raiden, not even killing after a fight or something

Loved this.

Mortal Kombat X

• Is not revived as opposed to others like Jax Briggs, Scorpion etc
  
• None of the main trio (Cage, Sonya or Raiden) reminisce about him
  
• Heck, his fellow Shaolin Monks don't even mention him (not even Bo Rai Cho, his master)
  
• Gets strangled to death by his own intestines by Jason Voerhees

And finally, THIS wonderful exchange:

Liu Kang Mirror Match

Liu Kang(1): The creator sends me doubles?
Liu Kang(2): The creator cares naught for you.

Harsh...This is the equivalent of replacing Ryu with Guile...only now it's canon.

Hated this, but Raiden's arcade mode ending made up for it.

 

[atr0cious]

Street fighter would only improve of Guile replaced Ryu. Lone what they did to lui kang, more sacred cows need to be killed.

 

[Mechanized]

Liu sucks. Game was always about Sub Zero and Scorpion. Turning him into a bad guy makes me think he's just a foil for the resurrection of Onaga or some shit.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

smh at the kang hate in this thread

They simply do not understand what it means to be... Liu Kang.

 

[JusDoIt]

He was pretty awesome in MKII though.

True.

 

[Professor Beef]

Liu Kang needed some characterization beyond "happy to be here" smiling babyface who saves the world. Glad they did what they did in MK9 and 10.

At least he was strangled by his intestines within a game, and not at company HQ.

Like Capcom did to Mega Man.

oh jesus christ, can't you mega man fans just keep to your own threads like shenmue fans did?

 

[Demoskinos]

I like it in that the MK universe now has no real "chosen one" idol around which every character orbits. Liu Kang as a "denied hero", sabotaged before his rise by time shenanigans, is much more interesting.

Now it feels as if nobody can predict what's going to happen in MK and every character has the potential to step up.

Totally if you told me that Cassie Cage was going to be the one who takes down shinnok in MKX I wouldn't have believed you.

 

[Bog]

Harsh...This is the equivalent of replacing Ryu with Guile...only now it's canon.

Street Fighter Cinematic Universe did just that.

 

[PSqueak]

He didnt come across as threatening tho. He basically looked at Kitana like he's "uh....wtf crawled up Raiden's butt"

I think that's the interesting part, basically Liu Kang is pissed off, but he's not evil, he reigns the Netherealm because every evil ruler is dead by MKX's ending.

So you have him be pissed off that most earth realm warriors got revived, but he, Kitana, Stryker and other C-listers didnt, but he's like "guess im top dog now" and suddenly Raiden shows up with an evil glint of his eyes and goes "fuckers, no one messes with Earth Realm, prepare to get even deader!!"

 

[mas8705]

Don't know if saying "replacing Ryu with Guile" so to speak but I get what you're saying. The only problem is that when we look at Liu Kang, he was kind of... bland... I mean, not to say "Bruce Lee Clone!" but it was at around that time.

Hell, looking at the comments, I completely forgot that Liu Kang has been getting screwed since Deadly Alliance when he got his neck snapped at the beginning and he wasn't even playable; only to come back as a zombie and then we move into him getting BBQ'd thanks to Raiden's paranoia.

I mean, looking at it now, Liu Kang was screwed over considerably, but I don't think it was a mishandling by any means. Really would have been nice had that been explored a bit more of how Liu Kang hates Raiden so much that he decided to serve Quan Chi openly rather than just be a random minion. Even at the end of MKX

Spoiler

Liu Kang is still treated like a bit of a butt monkey in comparison when you have Raiden come out and be like, "I'm the boss now!" while casually carrying around Shinnok's head like a trophy.

It certainly makes MK11 seem interesting if this means that we got ourselves a power hungry Raiden that wants to go on a rampage.

 

[LaNaranja]

Liu Kang vs Raiden only they are both evil is a pretty interesting hook for MK11's story. Much more so than generic "Liu Kang saves the day" every single time. As a Johnny Cage main I cannot tell you how thrilled I was that he was one of the last people standing in 9 and with X he has pretty much been cemented as the hero of earth.

Also Liu Kang's face looks like a butt.

 

[atomic moth]

Wasn't he reduced to a zombie way before NRS took over?

 

[atr0cious]

Wasn't he reduced to a zombie way before NRS took over?

NRS created MK, under a different name for Midway, but same people I thought?

 

[Piers]

Wasn't he reduced to a zombie way before NRS took over?

This. He's been shifted out of the spotlight before.

 

[Professor Beef]

NRS created MK, under a different name for Midway, but same people I thought?

Yeah, same people.

And Liu Kang was a zombie, but they rebooted everything with MK9.

 

[lucebuce12]

Wasn't he reduced to a zombie way before NRS took over?

 

[fernoca]

Wasn't he reduced to a zombie way before NRS took over?

NRS created MK, under a different name for Midway, but same people I thought?

Yep.
NRS was Midway Chicago back then.

With a few exceptions, most of the team that created MK continues there. They have expanded and added more people over the years and moved to a new office after the acquisition by WB.

 

[A-V-B]

Liu Kang vs Raiden only they are both evil is a pretty interesting hook for MK11's story. Much more so than generic "Liu Kang saves the day" every single time.

Holy shit, that'd be so fucking awesome. Outworld led by Liu Kang invades Earth, Raiden goes crazy to protect Earth and becomes a tyrant himself... or maybe even reverse it, Raiden goes crazy learning Liu Kang rules Outworld, attacks Outworld... Liu Kang responds in kind.

Our only hope is Johnny Cage's buddies. Let's get Fujin on board and rock the house!

 

[Nightii]

I mean, I get the whole "I'm too edgy to like the main character" mindset, it is a constant of teenagehood that people have a hard time growing out of, but in what world is Guile any less generic and simple than Ryu? lol


I hate that Liu Kang got done dirty, if you don't want him to be the focus there are better ways to do it, but expecting much from MK's story is a fool's errand.

 

[Mrbob]

I haven't played MK9 or 10 but might now. I read this thread and while spoiled some details, fascinated to see NRS create a story people are talking about.