Mortal Kombat has always rested a fair chunk of its roster mainstays. Fan favorites like Sonya and Kano have missed out on a couple of games (Mortal Kombat 2 and Mortal Kombat: Deception), specifically, as well as the franchise's de-facto mascot, Scorpion, who was missing from the original release of Mortal Kombat 3. This rotating cast of characters lets the sequel tell different stories and allows them to feel different from the last one. But, with the relative lack of details regarding the roster of Mortal Kombat 1, fans have been dying to find out more about the upcoming game. As it turns out though, Ed Boon has been dropping bloody crumbs all along.
As compiled on Reddit by Youngstown_Mafia, Ed Boon has spent the past year telling us which characters might be in Mortal Kombat 1.
So far, the roster of Mortal Kombat 1 is as follows:
- Scorpion
- Sub-Zero
- Liu Kang
- Raiden
- Kung Lao
- Kitana
- Mileena
- Shang Tsung
- Johnny Cage
This isn't including the characters included in the Mortal Kombat 1 post-launch DLC as well as future characters that may be added to the game.
As you can see, there simply aren't enough characters on the said list, and it's unlikely NetherRealm Studios will launch the game with so few playable characters.
However, as per the aforementioned compilation, Mortal Kombat 1 could see the return of fan-favorite characters as well as new additions, including Homelander.
It's speculated that whenever Boon answers with a "maybe" or "there's a good chance", the character will likely be in Mortal Kombat 1 either as a Kameo fighter or as part of the main character roster. If we take this into account, then we should see the likes of Chameleon, Havik, Reptile, Tremor, Stryker, and Smoke, as well as Rain in Mortal Kombat 1. However, fans aren't quite sold that Skarlet, Tanya, and Kabal are joining the game.
Fans are also loving Ed Boon's sense of humor. When asked if the next Mortal Kombat game could see the inclusion of the next ninja fighter, Boon joked that he'd love to add a PINK ninja and name them FLOYD.
This is, of course, a reference to Pink Floyd, an English rock band that was very famous in the 60s, 70s, and 80s.
Street Fighter has a similar "joke" character, namely Dan. But, while most beginners won't take Dan seriously, he's a viable character competitively given enough time and effort in the lab.
A character like that in Mortal Kombat 1 would be awesome to see.
Believe it or not, the "canon" Mortal Kombat character roster doesn't reach up to 100. If there's as many Kameo fighters in Mortal Kombat 1 as there are in the main roster, then very few will sit this game out. But, don't be on this happening. Most likely, Mortal Kombat 1 will have less than 50 characters, and at least a dozen probably won't be playable.
That's a lot of characters to toy around with, especially if Mortal Kombat 1 ends up being as polished as Mortal Kombat 11.
Given the graphics from the reveal trailer and the fact that it's exclusive to current-gen platforms, Mortal Kombat 1 could usurp its predecessor as the best-selling title in the series yet.
