These Mortal Kombat Characters Deserved Better

While that moment might always remain in Mortal Kombat history, very few people remember the character or look forward to ever seeing them again. Mortal Kombat has so many characters like that. Since its first release in 1992, over 70 characters have appeared on the MK roster. Of course, we all know Liu Kang, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and so on. But, some characters only shown up once or twice and have since faded into the mists of time. That’s what this list is for. 

Today we want to take a look at some of the Mortal Kombat characters who, over the years, deserved so much better. We’ll check out characters with varying degrees of popularity who, for some reason or other, have never appeared in the story again. This includes characters that were killed off that could have been much more. 

Let’s get on with it.

Ermac

Let’s start things off with a pretty well-known character— Ermac. First introduced in MK3: Ultimate, this ninja-garbed character was initially a rumored glitch that appeared in the original Mortal Kombat. Ermac is not one person but a combination of the souls of lost warriors created by Shao Kahn. In the Mortal Kombat lore, he is a character solely occupied with the elevation of Outworld. For this reason, he is typically viewed as a neutral character who can be a hero or a villain depending on the circumstances. In Mortal Kombat: Deception, he was on the good guys' side and helped main man Liu Kang rescue some of the souls in Onaga’s grip. He was on Kotal Kahn’s side in MKX during the struggle for the throne with Mileena. As a character, Ermac was so cool to play and was really popular for his teleport punch and other telekinesis-based skillset. So, it was a real bummer when he turned up dead in the Krypt, which means that he is canonically dead. With such a cool moveset and a fun playstyle, it feels unfair that Ermac never got a shot at Mortal Kombat 11, and we can only hope that he somehow turns up in MK12.

Kai

Next is Kai. Oh Kai, they really did my boy Kai bad. First introduced in MK4, he was with the Shaolin monks and had power comparable to Liu Kang or Kung Lao, but after that game, he just disappeared, and even though you could argue that he was in Mortal Kombat: Deception, was he really? You only find him in a secret mission that doesn’t last long, and he isn’t even playable. Sure he appeared in Armageddon, but didn’t everyone? As a story, Armageddon doesn’t really fit since everyone showed up there. Kai would have been a cool character: quick, nimble, and strong; he even has Raiden’s frigging staff! He got that at the end of MK4 and was to use it to help him on his journey to discover himself. With all this, you can imagine how great a character Kai could have been and how powerful he could be. We never really got to see how he died, and the only depiction of his end comes in a non-canonical Mortal Kombat 4 comic called ‘Trauma’ where he was killed by two doppelgangers… man.

Li Mei

 Up next is one of the most depressing stories to ever come out of the Mortal Kombat stable. Li Mei was considered as a sort of replacement for Liu Kang, and she was well-designed and even had a few nifty moves. She had her version of Liu Kang’s bicycle kick, but hers throws punches instead. She was first introduced in MK: Deadly Alliance as a resident of Outworld, whose village is destroyed by the Deadly Alliance. Kano was responsible for killing her people, but she wasn’t going to go down without a fight. She kicked Kano’s butt, which captured the attention of the main villains. She was then promised that her people would be freed if she competed in the Deadly Alliance tournament. And then her ending… was like something out of Berserk. She won the tournament, but get this… her soul was ripped out of her body and used to revive the Dragon King’s army! IN. HER. OWN. ENDING! As if that wasn’t bad enough, she returned in MK: Deception, but then at the end, betrays all her friends and sides with Onaga becoming his queen in the process. Come on! Oh wait, that’s not all; she returns in Mortal Kombat X, but simply as a civilian who is helping the good guys with some information. Gone were the flashy clothing and peppy attitude, and in its place, we got a bland character with no real redeeming qualities. A mighty long fall from being a possible Liu Kang replacement. 

Havik

So, we have to talk about Havik. Havik is a lover of chaos who first appeared in Mortal Kombat Deception. He is the self-proclaimed ‘Cleric of Chaos’ and only allies himself with those seeking chaos. This makes him a mostly neutral character, but make no mistake, he’s a bad man. In MK Deception’s ending, he got a hold of Onaga’s body and consumed his heart. He was able to bring souls back and went straight to bring Shao Kahn back to life. His fighting style is also a lot of fun as he fights with a mace and will disjoint any part of his body necessary to fight. He appeared again in Armageddon but didn’t affect the storyline much.

After the reboot, we don’t see Havik in any of the games. He was a certified badass in the MKX comics, ripping everyone to shreds and even getting Sub-Zero and Raiden under his control. He’s absolutely unstoppable in the comics, but he wasn’t in MK11 even though he was teased in the story mode. With such a fun playstyle and great lore, especially from the comics, it is a shame that we haven’t got Havik in MK. Just look at his costume; imagine what it’d be like if updated. He’d be so cool. 

Well, maybe we’ll see him in the next Mortal Kombat game.

Hsu Hao

Finally, we have Hsu Hao. Okay, okay, I know, nobody likes him; he’s a silly, joke character that even the devs wanted gone as soon as possible, but hear me out. Hsu Hao is a Mongolian warrior and member of the Red Dragon. He was introduced in MK: Deadly Alliance, and he helped take down the Black Dragon syndicate while also infiltrating the Special Forces and destroying their equipment. He also betrayed Jax and Sonia and was riding high for a period. Of course, this did not last, and he was killed by Jax, who ripped out his cybernetic heart. He returned in Armageddon (everyone did) and was killed again. In MK11, he appears as a decapitated head in Erron Black’s bag at the beginning of fights. It is pretty clear that he isn’t well-liked. But, I think this is unfair because you can see a few redeeming qualities in him. For one, his weapon, the Sun-Moon blades, are undoubtedly badass. He also has a story that, with a few tweaks, could be really compelling. Also, yes, his design is a bit all over the place (It’s the hat, guys, the hat is stupid), but you can see how a redesign could spruce him up. 

Hsu Hao is not a likable character but look at Kano. Even his unlikability has been used as a strength, and I think the same could be done for Hsu Hao.

He’s dead, so it’s unlikely we’ll see him again, especially since the developers themselves don’t like him very much. But, maybe, just maybe, there could be some sort of redemption on the cards in the next Mortal Kombat game. 

And that’s it. Do you know any other characters you feel deserved better in Mortal Kombat? Let us know in the comments.