MK Storyline Ninja Tier List

The Adder

New member
Basically, this topic is to discuss the placing of the many male MK "Ninja's" (including the cyber-ninjas) skills on a storyline tier list. In other words it's about listing the Ninjas on order from strongest to weakest based on things we can see in the story storywise. Please give your reasons for your placements. You're able to split a character into as many incarnations as you feel is needed to express their varying skills over the years.

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Noob-Saibot: Was once the top Lin Kuei and has now had wraith powers added to his own skills. MK:A seems tom imply that Sub-Zero would not have been able to handle him had Taven not stepped in.

Grand Master Sub-Zero (MK:DA onwards): Power was greatly increased by the dragon medallion.

Ermac: Made up of the souls of hundreds of warriors so is very likely quite powerful.

High

Spectre Scorpion: Defeated Younger Sub-Zero in MK4. Was defeated by Elder Sub-Zero once, but defeated him in their second (technically third) match.

Elder Sub-Zero (MK1): Top Lin Kuei of his time. Fought and defeated Spectre Scorpion once, defeated the second time.

Younger Sub-Zero (Pre-MK:DA): Strong enough to defeat Sektor, but not as strong as he would be when he got the medallion.

Middle

Sektor: Before becoming a cyborg he was one of the top Lin Kuei. Became even more powerful after being made a cyborg. Seems to have been approached before Younger Sub-Zero or Smoke.

Cyrax: Before becoming a cyborg he was one of the top Lin Kuei. Became even more powerful after being made a cyborg. Seems to have been approached before Younger Sub-Zero or Smoke.

Smoke: Before becoming a cyborg he was one of the top Lin Kuei. Became even more powerful after being made a cyborg. Seems to have been approached after Cyrax and Sektor.

Low

Rain: Apparently high ranking member of Shao Kahn's forces, also fought Taven, though he was defeated.

Living Scorpion: Had none of the abilities that make him so formidable, was able to fight against Elder Sub-Zero, but was defeated.

Younger Sub-Zero (MK2 - MK4): Was defeated by Scorpion in their first match (though this may have been due to Scorpion's experience fighting a similar opponent). Implied to be inferior to his elder brother.

BOTTOM

Human Smoke: Was captured when Sub-Zero managed to escape.

Reptile: I don't think he has ever canonically won a single fight in MK history.

Chameleon: Spent the entire series hiding, so is probably not too powerful.
 
Well, I'm not too fond of "which of the ninjas is best" thread, but I must say, you did something pretty neat here, and I don't really have any qualms with any of it it all seems pretty right, and I think Noob Saibot is, canonically, the best ninja.
 
Aren't Younger Sub-Zero (Pre MKDA) and (MK2-MK4) the same thing? Otherwise, I like this list. Good work.
 
I figure that it was apparent that SubZ was becoming more skilled from MK2 to his defeat of Sektor before MK:DA, but instead of breaking him up into like 5 different Younger SubZs I just decided to put SubZ up to MK4 and SubZ just before becoming Grandmaster
 
My only gripe is with Spectre Scorpion's placement. I have always considered Scorpion to be one of the most powerful fighters in the MK universe. Much like the Hulk of Marvel, his strength increases to unlimited heights with his anger. When Scorpion has been in a rage he has been nigh unstoppable, chasing Quan Chi (another of the great powers in MK, being a final boss once and a semi-final once as well) all across the netherworld.

But based on the numbers and canonical wins, I suppose he fits there on your list. But placing him below Ermac, who's only canonical call to fame is his assisted decontamination of most of the earth realm warriors...well, I think Scorpion deserves to be higher up.
 
Ermac and Scorpion's rankings are indeed debatable, but there are reasons regarding both characters why I felt they were in that order. It just seemed to me like the storyline was trying to hype Ermac. While it's true he has no huge victories, he also has no loses and, unlike with Chameleon, it wasn't because he was hiding. It just appeared as if the story wanted us to know that he was a major power.

As for Scorpion, we know for a fact that he once lost to Elder Sub-Zero, meaning their skills were close. I don't know about you, but I can't see Elder SubZ being that close to Grand Master Younger SubZ.

As for making Quan Chi his whipping boy, that was because his powers didn't work in the Nether Realm. Hell, Elder SubZ beat on him too.
 
The thing about most of Scorpion's victories is they're simply non-canon. He's been played up as really powerful in quite a few situations. In MKD he defeated Onaga as a servant of the gods...and that was almost corroborated in MKA since he got his zombie clan, though I hate to use MKA's vacant plot as any kind of confirmation.

Also, I'm in doubt as to exactly how much power Sub-Zero's dragon medallion gave him. Considering he was powerful enough to defeat Sektor, who had managed to practically take over the Lin Kuei and thus I think deserves to be in the "high" category, and he hasn't shown a dramatic increase in power since...we really don't have a frame of reference, since he was so powerful before he obtained it.

What really pushes Sub-Zero above the rest I think is his armor. In MKD it was said to have given him the power to defeat an entire Tarkatan horde, not simply killing them but crushing their bones.

But let's go back to Scorpion for a second. In MKDA it states that he was overpowered by Drahmin and Moloch. But he wasn't killed, dismembered, or broken by them. I suspect in fact, that the only way they gained an advantage over him was by throwing him into the soulnado. Also I don't think there's any real difference between Sub-Zero in MK4 and Sub-Zero pre-MKDA. The difference was in Scorpion's power. His rage was at it's height just as he was about to achieve his revenge, as well as when he learned of a new focus for his anger. And considering he was able to defeat the MK4 Sub-Zero who defeated pre-MKDA Sektor, who I've already argued should already be in the High category...well, I think that's an argument for Scorpion's strength.
 
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