If we get Baraka and Rain, we’re just piling on characters from the last game. I guess that’s ok, but for all 4 characters to come directly from MK2011 seems a little too mundane.

Playing it safe, I would say that Baraka, Rain, and Sindel are the top contenders, in that order. This is really just because of their appearances in Story Mode. These 3, along with Tanya, are the only NPCs one is able to fight but not included as a playable character. Regardless of whoever else is added, if any of these 3 are left out, there will be some degree of fan outcry.

However, Baraka really doesn’t play much of role in the story. I like him as a character as much as everyone else, but if MKX is really trying to push the story forward, there’s no reason to include him. Rain occupies an interesting place in the story and is almost guaranteed to be an important contender in the next game, so I fully support his inclusion. My only problem with Rain is his goofy set of special moves. Baraka = more fun to play as, whereas Rain = more sensible choice considering the narrative of MKX.

Then there’s Sindel. We all know she kicked some ass in MK2011, but where’s the justification for adding her in MKX? It’s already confusing that we have some of the current revenants in the game – Kitana, Liu, and Lao – yet the others, seemingly of equal status are left out – Smoke, Nightwolf, Kabal, Stryker. (Jax, Scorpion, and Sub-Zero are of course cured.)

So they throw Sindel in, but the other 4 revenants are still noticeably absent. For this reason I could actually see Sindel being left out; fans will just want the complete roster of revenants. (Which begs further questions like, isn’t Jade a revenant? And whatever happened to Noob? Was he destroyed in the Soulnado back in MK20011?)

SO, we have some very good reasons why some of these characters may or may not be included – not that the MKX team has any reason to consider these justifications . If we did get Baraka, Rain, and Sindel, who’s number 4? Another revenant? A guest character? (Spawn has been a popular source of speculation.) A slim chance of someone brand spankin’ new?

Rewind: none of those silhouettes look like Sindel, but these silhouettes may be another red herring. It wouldn’t be the first.

As I said in the article, personally I would love to see more characters from MK4 and MKM:SZ appear since these occurrences in the “original timeline” most closely align with events in MKX. If I disregarded stuff like Story Mode and fan reaction, I’d draw from these sources – Fujin, Sareena, Reiko, even Kai or Jarek. The fact that Tanya was included leaves me hopeful; she was mostly a discarded character and she got a fantastic treatment in MKX. Realistically, I don’t know that we’ll ever see Reiko, Kai, or Jarek again, or at least not soon. Fujin seems to have some strong fan support, and we also get an updated look at Sareena during Story Mode, but unless the developers have a real soft spot for her, I doubt many fans really know who Sareena is.

Frost also pops up during Story Mode briefly, as does Bo’ Rai Cho (though he seems to meet his end), rare appearances of post-MK4 characters to make it into the reboot. In fact, since the MK2011 reboot, we’ve only seen 4 post-MKT characters become playable – Quan Chi, Shinnok, Tanya, and Kenshi, and only one of them, Kenshi, debuted after MK4.

In short, I don’t know what’s in the cards. I’ve got so much rattling around about who could who up and why…I guess I’ll have to find out like everyone else!

It’d help if I could make out more of those shadows. I guess I’ll keep staring at select screens to see if I can put it all together…