1- Sub-Zero.(part of the new must-have characters)
2- Scorpion..(part of the new must-have characters)
3- Raiden....(part of the new must-have characters)
4- Liu Kang..(part of the new must-have characters)
5- Kung Lao.(part of the new must-have characters)
6- Kitana.....(part of the new must-have characters)
7- Reptile....(part of the new must-have characters)
8- Shang Tsung
9- Cassie
10- Jacqui
11- Takeda
12- Kung Jin
13- Kotal Kahn
14- D'Vorah
15- Havik
16- Kenshi
17- Fujin
18- Tanya
19- Tremor
20- post-MK3
21- post-MK3
22- post-MK3
23- new
24- new
25- new
26 thru 32 = DLC
4 of those have the potential to be guests, according to MKX
4 of the others can be Trilogy characters that people want in the most.
**NOTES:
These are just my opinions on the matter and none of this is based on any facts...................
- At this point, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Raiden, Liu Kang, Kitana and Kung Lao all seem to be the new "must have" characters going forward, so that people don't riot at NRS and keep buying the game or go into a total melt-down.
- Reptile for some reason or another almost never skips a game, either.
- IMO, Johnny, Sonya and Jax can all sit out / retire for a game or 2.
With Cassie and Jacqui, there's no real need for them in the next game aside from cameos, IMO.
- I have a bad feeling about Ferra / Torr and Erron Black not coming back, which is why I excluded them from my list, but I hope I'm wrong (I really liked those 3).
- Kano was just his usual punching bag / henchman self and (IMO) along with Jax, Sonya and Johnny he can also sit out for a game or 2, not dead just rotated for other characters.
With Quan Chi and Mileena dead and Shinnok being left in a state of limbo, that also frees up another 3 spaces.
I think that Tanya will be playable on the main roster, like how Kenshi was DLC in MK9 and then moved to the main roster in MKX.
Shang Tsung returning via Ermac would be cool to see, imo.
As for Noob, Nightwolf and Kabal, with characters like Quan Chi, Mileena and Shinnok out of the picture, that could be some of the freed up spaces I mentioned before, or they could also be DLC.
That's part of the example of the rotation of characters that I was speaking of earlier.
Much like in baseball, football and basketball, when you take 1 player off of the bench, another player comes in in their place.
Again, I also think that the Trilogy characters can also come in via DLC, much like Sektor Cyrax and Smoke were DLC (via Triborg).
I don't see why Trilogy characters can't be DLC, as the would probably sell the 2nd best, right behind guest characters.