Yep and Special Forces are also known to go into different dimensions and fight demons and monsters, its not that hard to see our world and the MK Special Forces are different.
1. Its not that easy to teach a person "CENTURIES" of experience maybe Raiden can tell them some tips to better fight Shao Khan or Goro but sharing 1000 year old experiance is next to impossible. Also Johnny Cage beat Shinnok so its not that far into possibility that Johnny shared his experiance with Cassie and its pretty much shown that Cassie is a prodigy.
Yeah but not only Liu Kang beat Goro but he also beat Shao Khan who he wasn't prepared to fight
So how did Kung Lao BEAT both Quan Chi and Shang Tsung, is he a Mary Sue too.
How do you know Shao Khan is overconfident, overconfident people don't use cheap tricks to kill an opponent like when Shao Khan snaped Kung Lao's neck also going by your "Overconfident" example couldn't you make an argument that Shinnok was overconfident.
Umm all of the Kombat Kids came in prepared and had experience also Cassie beating Shinnok isn't an asspull because its been stated that she wasn't fighting to her full potential and had a power growing inside her.
Oh yeah because Liu Kang NEVER flirted with Kitana in MK9 or Kung Lao complaing he is being upstaged by Liu Kang
Well its a good thing Kung Jin has a "Bow and Arrow", its not like they were fighting bare handed in a tournament.
1. What difference does it make if she looks like a trained soldier
2. She ran away to fight in underground matches
3. I don't know how to tell you but there are some cases where people are just naturally talented for stuff and Cassie comes from a cult that bred warriors for the gods
4. Stop using the word "gimmick" if you actually see her fight you know she has MMA style moves, just because she has powers doesn't mean she doesn't use martial arts, by your own logic Liu Kang uses gimmicks because he shoots fireballs and has that bicycle kick.
If we are going by experiences then Liu Kang and Kung Lao didn't have a lot, sure they trained a lot but its never been established they had their own adventures and was pretty much cooped in a temple, at least with Jacqui and Cassie you can say they seen some action.
Umm Jacqi did help remember.
Hey speaking Dragonball you must hate Gohan for fighting people with years of experiance despite being a child for most of Z, guess he's a Mary Sue too right
1. MK9 made it clear, that Earthrealm had no idea about any other realms or magical beings. So until that time, their forces, were just special forces. They can't be prepared for something, if they don't know it exists. By the time of MKX, yeah. They got 20 years of preparation... and... it is still Jax, Sonya and Johnny Cage. Who are severly limited by disease.
2. Liu Kang is based on Shaolin Monks (captain obvious moment here of course). They are known to use uncoventional methods to train. Shaolin Monks to this day are covered in spiritual mystery. Which leaves all the space for different methods to be used, to gain great strength at shortter period of time. Liu Kang doesn't need to have the wisdom of 1000 years. He needs speed, power and technique to fight a champion.
And oh yes. The Mr. Punching Bag of MK9 beat Shinnok. Not to mention that event happened pretty much right after MK9 (a year give or take). Last time I saw him in MK9, he got his ass beat by pretty much everyone. And now he beats Shinnok. Sure. And it was shown, that he had no chance to beat Shinnok, until he got ass pull green halo power.
And yeah... he gave tips to Cassie... "I don't know how it works" That's a tip.
Look you can try to sell me that bullshit all you want, there is no consistency as story is made up on a go. Johnny Cage had zero fookin build up, to even dream of beating Shinnok, if freakin Sindel threw him away like a ragdoll.
So... both of them don't make sense. Like at all.
2. I can explain you very easily why Liu Kang beat Shao Kahn.
Goro was his first challenge. To overcome the killer of his predecessor. He fought Goro, while being calm and focused.
When Shao Kahn killed Kung Lao, Liu Kang chanelled his grief and rage and used them as fuel. Which BTW goes according to the teachings of Buddhism and Shaolin (Experience from practicing Buddhism myself for few years). You don't supress emotions there, you learn to not only control them, but channel them. That's why Tobias vision worked so well. Liu Kang was perfect for the role of the defender. Perfect Champion. He embodies the knowledge and power of Shaolin teachings. It is the stuff, that you can find in real life. This is why he is so good. You can actually fookin RELATE to that.
And Shao Kahn made it clear, that he underestimated Liu Kang. Sucked for him.
3. Cause Kung Lao faced them both head on? They couldn't use any tricks on him? In Deadly Alliance, Shang and Quan Chi used deception to trick Liu Kang and injured him, so Shang Tsung could kill him. They didn't have any chance to do that shit on Kung Lao. Especially on an open field. Without Deception or some serious powerup, they can't fight for shit. They needed a fookin Soulnado (infinite power source) next to them, just to beat Raiden.
4. "Overconfident people don't use cheap tricks". Seriously I need that book or whatever you guys, have that allows you to generalize entire fookin population and tell what people do or do not. I really need it. That would make me into a God as I would know what ALL OF THE PEOPLE DO.
Overconfident people actually TEND to use cheap tricks, because they do not see reason as to why to take anyone SERIOUSLY. From his point of view he saw a brat, who got drunk on his victory and let his guard down while mocking him. So he came in and showed who is the boss. You can literally see how crowd reacts. They boo, Kung Lao, but once Shao Kahn kills him, their cheer him on, because he knows how to entertain people. They don't care about heroes, they want blood and Shao Kahn gave it to them, while at the same time, he showed to his people that Earthrealm champions are insects to him and not even worth his effort.
You judge gim him based on our society rules. We have people where they whine about "OH YOU'RE USING CHEAP TRICKS" "NO HONOR"
Outworld is a place that has established one rule many times. "Survival of the fittest". In nature there is no cheap moves, tricks or honor. And Shao Kahn embodies that. He hates rules. He wants to just charge and conquer things. Hence why he is always on the frontlines.
Like certain famous quote says. "Stand among the dead and ask them if honor matters. Silence will be your answer"
And then it comes to Shinnok. No. Because they did a very stupid setup. Liu Kang literally jumped on Shao Kahn, and they had a power struggle. That established that Liu Kang had physical strength needed to fight him. Cassie on other hand, punched and kicked Shinnok and... no effect. Ok. So basically she had nothing against him. Hence why people hate that green halo shit.
5. Prepared? Where Dude, just because you stop being an ass, that doesn't make you stronger. Like I said, power levels all over the place. Just because you have a shit teamwork, doesn't mean you suck as a fighter. MKX though tried to make you believe that oh, now they work as a team, so they suddenly became better fighters. Only for Kung Jin to be blasted away and Takeda/Jacqui "holding off" the power houses.
6. Here is the difference between MKX "romance" and MK9 romance. One was forced and served no purpose, except... to build ... a character or something? It had no purpose. Apart, just being there. MK9 felt natural, because it plays a major part in the story. Liu Kang acts like a light side for Kitana. A side she hasn't seen for a long time. Hence why it was shown, that she got confused. She spent most of her life (thousands of years) alongside egoistic asshole who doesn't know two shits about love. So when Liu Kang showed her affection, she was thrown into turmoil and that played a part in her turn over, as she began QUESITONING THINGS, which LED TO OTHER STORY DEVELOPMENTS. Raiden then fans the flames, because he senses that this love can bring Kitana to their side. And later on you see her hesitate when it comes to killing someone. That love brought character development and pushed THE FOOKIN STORY. It didn't just exist for the sake of existing.
And I say that as a guy who hates romance.
As for Kung Lao, that also made way more sense, than anything in MKX. Kung Lao in his desire to prove himself over Liu Kang recklessly jumped into the fight, which well... end up with him being killed. If you think about it, it was pretty tragic. Kung Lao was legit celebrating, because he felt that for once he got to shine over Liu Kang. He was playing with the crowd, because he was in Cloud 9. It was probably one of his happiest moments, and that turned into a tragedy. But at the same time, the story showed consequences. That are COMPLETELY ABSENT in MKX. Kung Jin causes a scene and pisses off Kotal Kahn. So what happens next? What will be the consequence of his actions? Will he pay the price for... nope. He just beat the Emperor. Ok.
7. So cause he had.. bow and arrow... that's why he won? That's what you're saying? Kotal Kahn has the power to call upon the very fookin Sun. His race is stronger in the sunlight. What a bow and arrow is gonna do to the guy, who spent hundreds of years in countless wars?
Oh no! Bow and Arrow! I bet it was his first time seeing that as well! Oh wait.. he fought colonists who were armed better, when he was with aztecs/mayans (forgot which ones). Again. No excuse. Kotal Kahn is supposed to be an Emperor of Outworld, not some random dude to be beaten, by "Bow and Arrow". You do realize, that Kung Jin, by the law of battle could have claimed Outworld? He literally beat Kotal Kahn and could have killed him.
8. Oh boy. You numbered these.
8.1 In games, appearance says a lot. Hell even in real life. But in video games it is even more important, because their appearance defines what kind of personaltiy they have. In real life, you can dress up classy, but can act like an animal. In games (especially fighting games), you can't do that, because character has to tell the story. And Cassie looks like a brat with rich background.
8.2 That happened ONCE, by ACCIDENT. They didn't plan on going to deathmatches. Cassie and Jacqui wanted to just fight in safe controlled arena, that didn't have authorities. And even then only managed to win, by using a lazy "smoking gun" tactic (writer, not Cassie)
8.3 Oh this bullshit.
Sigh...
You know, it is funny. I tend to hear people give me shit about being too serious about lore and certain video games (even though that is just pure passion), but it seems I am one of the few people, that actually can tell the difference between reality and fiction.
TALENTS. DON'T. WORK. LIKE. THAT. Enough. It is Hollywood and fantasy writers that made up that bullshit that talent, makes you into a Tony Stark. Talent is a tiny booster, not a super saiyajin power up. It makes you a bit faster than others, but it doesn't carry you to some insane heights and make you skip 10 fookin years of PHYSICAL TRAINING. And people without talent can actually catch up pretty easily.
Talent doesn't put everything on easy mode. It just allows you to understand things a bit faster, because your mind is more open and absorbs the information faster. That's all. And you can even simulate that thing. You don't even need to have a talent, to learn on how to LEARN in that way.
I called Liu Kang a prodigy, because he was shown as a man, who focused on his training. Kung Lao, fell behind, not because he was worse, but because instead on focusing on himself, he started focusing on the shadow Liu Kang casted in front of him.
Cassie, genius or not, that doesn't make up for insane power up she got. Talent/Gifts are just a lazy ass pull explanation, that doesn't make any sense to anyone, that knows how talent actually fookin works.
8.4 I am not gonna stop. Cause it is a gimmick. And yes. Liu Kang also uses gimmicks. You know why? Cause Mortal Kombat is A PARODY ABOUT MARTIAL ARTS. It's how it started. John Tobias was the guy that put all of the martial arts theme into the game. Cassie uses couple of flashy moves. That's all. She uses just enough for you, to identify that. "Oh hey she is using MMA." And even then it sucks, cause animations suck most of the time. And I can't call that martial arts. Ask any kickboxer, if Jacqui looks like a Kickboxer. He will tell you, the same thing as i do. Yeah. She uses moves similar to Kickboxing, but they look more like gimmicks, than actual moves. I mean, shit. Jacqui is already a comedy gold among my friends, once I showed them that "kick" of hers. Entire body freezes and only one leg moves.
9. They had God of Thunder and Bo Rai Cho training them. I don't think their training was that of conventional temple runs. If an actual Shaolin gets his bones fractured to become stronger everyday, then I don't wanna imagine, through what kind of training Liu Kang and Kung Lao went.
Once again, Tobias vision was that of ancient ways, spritual training, chakras and all of that stuff.
10. Yeah. Injured Jacqui... helped. Thanks to bullshit writing. Which literally just told me, that if Jacqui wasn't injured, she would be mopping the floor with Sindel and Kitana no problem. But Blimey! She got injured and she couldn't unleash her power.
It is just stupid. She should have been killed in that situation. Not put up a fight.
11. Hate? Why should i hate? I can dislike something. But in this case... Gohan had an actual build up? Like literally we had multiple ARCS which pointed at Gohan having internal strength (from the start of the series too). That stuff was built slowly and STEADILY. Not OUT OF NOWHERE. And for the record. He was a well written character. When he turned SSJ2, it didn't feel lazy. It felt awesome, cause there was a long build up to that point. SSJ2 was a payoff, not an ass pull.
Johnny Cage got his powers out of nowhere. He was being beaten blue in MK9, and now HE IS THE CHAMPION THAT FIGHTS ELDER GODS. Sure. Let me just take this nasty thing called "consistency and common sense" and throw it away. There was no build up to that. He just got it cause... sonya was in danger? Ok.
So yeah. Gohan was anything but Mary Sue. That was a bad example. Gohan's road to becoming SSJ2 was filled with challenges and failures. He literally had to watch his friend's head get crushed, to get the final piece. He had to SACRIFICE something.
Did Johnny Cage had to sacrifice something for that power? No. Did Cassie? No. Hence. The Mary Sue.