Jakejames Lugo – Associate Editor
Shujinko
While he is not the most popular character in the entire series, Shujinko still played a huge role for the franchise in MK Deception. Despite the big timeline changes with the reboot in MK9, Shujinko can still make an appearance in Mortal Kombat X. The timeline changes in the story mode of MK9 did not reference Shujinko’s quest, nor did it make it clear that it didn’t happen. Or rather could not happen.
Mortal Kombat X takes place many years after its predecessor’s events, and it could be possible for Shujinko to still be around in the MK universe, only not in the same vein as he was before in Deception. Being a hero character, it would be interesting to see Shujinko join up with Raiden, Kung Lao, and the rest of the White Lotus Society in their battle against the forces of Outworld.
Shinnok
At the end of MK9, it was teased that Lord Shinnok was scheming to be revived and invade Earthrealm. This was being done with the help of Quan Chi, who has been manipulating many of the characters in the story of the Mortal Kombat. So it’s only natural to believe that Shinnok will appear in Mortal Kombat X. The question remains though, in what capacity will he be used in the game?
Mortal Kombat X takes place far into the future and for all we know, Shinnok and Quan Chi could have reached their goal in the time that has passed between games. Whether playable or not, we may be seeing Shinnok show up to cause some havoc for all the MK fighters at some point.
Liu Kang
Nobody in the Mortal Kombat universe really stays dead for long. We’ve seen this with the original Sub-Zero becoming Noob Saibot and other characters making a comeback at some point. With Liu Kang being a series staple and dying at the end of the story for MK9, we shouldn’t hold our breath at him being dead for long. He’s one of the main heroes of the story after all, and Kung Lao even died in the story mode for MK9 and is now appearing in Mortal Kombat X.
In past games, Liu Kang has returned as a zombie and fought in battle for various reasons. It would be interesting to see him make a return as a possible villain this time around should something like this occur in Mortal Kombat X, taking a similar approach to the Mortal Kombat Legacy version of the same character.
Shang Tsung
We’ve seen Shang Tsung defeated in the Mortal Kombat tournament many times, but he always manages to keep coming back for more. In MK9, Shang Tsung was transferred into Sindel during the story in which she was later defeated by Nightwolf. However her death has yet to be clarified, as with just about every death of a character in the MK universe.
This also goes for Shang Tsung, who could still easily be resurrected and controlled by Quan Chi and Shinnok. Having been one very slippery villain in the series, as well as being a powerful sorcerer, one can’t help but think that Shang Tsung could find some way to escape the Netherrealm and return to Outworld somehow.
Frost
Frost was a character that was pretty much a female version of Sub-Zero. While she never really got into the spotlight as much during the Deadly Alliance, Deception, and Armageddon games; Frost has an interesting backstory that could be explored in Mortal Kombat X. We never see any mention of Frost despite many nods to the some of the events in the games that she appeared in, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that she didn’t exist in the MK universe. In those games she was Sub-Zero’s apprentice in the Lin Kuei.
With Sub-Zero also appearing in his ninja form, we could possibly get some insight on other Lin Kuei members that we’ve not seen in a while. Since there are plenty of new faces appearing in Mortal Kombat X, this would be a great chance to see how Frost would mesh well after the different timeline changes. This could be a complete change for many of her characteristics while still maintaining her identity, so that she is more than just a female copy of Sub-Zero.
