Baraka is pretty relevant post UMK3 with him leading the Tarkatans, plus there's the whole Mileena/Baraka Deception arc, which I honestly found interesting.
I do hope that if Kano gets the axe for some reason, that Jarek takes his place as the hopeless lone Black Dragon member against the growing Red Dragons. This could help Kira and Kobra come into play as the new recruits. Kira could be Sonya's direct rival and Kobra could be the Ken ripoff he was always meant to with Hadoukens and Shoryukens. His overly c0cky and uninterested attitude could make him a good rival for Cage.
Sheeva nobody cares about, but I do think Goro may come back. He was actually a good guy for a short while after Kahn's death. Then Noob kicks his ass and Unmasked Kahn saves his life. I know it conflicts with a lot of what MK9 established, but I have always wanted to see that in some form. Be it cutscene or hell, I'd even take a vignette.
You're right about Jade. I forgot about her ending. It was foreshadowing way too hard and left too many questions unanswered for it to not have any relevance. Many people think the woman in her ending is Ashrah. So I can't really see the reborn part happening. Ashrah does have heavy ties to the Neatherrealm though, so maybe she saves Jade's soul?
Just thought about it, Rain might replace Baraka as Mileena's rival. With the power struggle for Outworld happening there's no way the vacuum in leadership wont lead to war. Maybe Mileena teams with Baraka to get the horde behind her while Rain convines Edenia's Government (Whoever is in charge now that Sindel & Kitana are dead) to attack the weakened Outworld while he secretly wants it for himself. Though I guess he could just as easily become Edenia's ruler.
Goddamn I haven't talked about this game like that in a while :laugh: