The Shujinko Factor

[MKShao_Kahn]

Mostly everyone besides Taven, Daegon and Blaze stopped being relevant in MKA, so I don't see your point regarding Shujinko. Armageddon was NRS's cop out game to make a quick buck, so their consideration for any sort of story then should not be taken seriously. Also going by your logic, there is no reason for characters like Sub Zero to return either, his past story never really went anywhere, whats the point of having him other than him being an iconic character? Yea, nothing.

Personally I enjoyed and liked the storymode of MK9, I would rate it second only to MKD's story. The character deaths were required imo for taking MK forward, seeing the staple characters over and over can only help so much.

I agree Jinko,

I would hate to see most of these dead heroes come back, because it would defeat any relevance MK9 story mode had. Of course, Cyber Sub died, but it is very unlikely that we'll get an MK title without him. As long as they only bring a few back, I am okay with it - I would rather even see new characters than the dead ones.

Having Shujinko in this game would be a dream come true - there was nothing I enjoyed more in the 3D MK era than roaming the realms with Shujinko
I somehow think they will save for MK11 though and maybe have him play a central role once again.

 

[Flying Jinko]

You should have already lost respect for them by rewriting the lore in places where Raiden didn't even interfere. There were huge inconsistencies with the source material in Mk9 which shouldn't have been effected AT ALL. I'm mad at Cyber Subz, but at least that was a CHANGE in their crappy story that Raiden made.

I personally didn't find any glaring inconsistencies in the MK9 storymode, if anything, I felt they added on a couple of things in the story since the first three games belonged to a less technology capable era where things like story couldn't be portrayed properly. Most changes in the timeline were reasonably explained too, though some (like Sindel killing of everyone) could have been done better.

Shang and Mileena were both basically ruined character wise though. While Kitana and Mileena's whole relationship was obliterated as well. I'm sorry, but MK9 was bad storywise.

THE saving grace for MK9 was not it's story. It was the roster that everybody loves. The MAIN MK roster. That and Solid gameplay this time around.

MK9 was acclaimed and praised for its story, whether you like to believe it or not. It is what set it apart from all other fighting games. Plus MK9's storymode is probably going to be the best visual telling of the first 3 MK games, I doubt any movie, web series or even animated shows could be able to match up to it.

Knowledge will show you that the games started going downhill the second they started bloating their roster with filler characters (Shujinko).

The wasn't the roster but rather the lack of creativity on the devs part while working under pressure. Knowledge will show you that inspite of that, MKD would be regarded by most as the best MK in the 3D era before MK9.

Sub-Zero's point was never to be the main protagonist in the series. He was always a supporting character, but he was one who tied in with so many other characters and they rely on him just to make their story better. So, in that sense Sub-Zero is very important to the history and lore of MK.

Shujinko is a failed attempt at trying to replace the main protagonist in the series (Liu Kang). Just like Taven.

Going by your logic again, Shujinko's story spans from years before MK1 to MKD, he is tied to more characters than Sub Zero and thus which would make him more relevant to the story and MK's history than Sub Zero? I don't know, bias much? There is no doubt for Sub Zero's return, it is only because of is popularity than anything else, unless NRS decides to do something more interesting with his story MK 10 or MK 11 onwards.

 

[Tarkatan Trash]

Shujinko is nothing more than a non-ninja Chameleon.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I547 using Tapatalk

 

[Vigilante_FireDragon]

I hope they bring back most stages from MK4, including a few stages from MK: Deception such as the Slaughterhouse, The Sky Temple, and also Quan Chi's Fortress although this one should be in the Netherrealm or at some ruined city in Earthrealm. And also bring back the Portal arena from MKII and MKD.

As for the Shujinko factor, he needs to be in MK10, because Raiden is gonna need all the help he can grab to muster up Earthrealm's defense to prepare for an imminent attack from the Netherrealm. Like FJ said above, Damashi (Onaga) is gonna approve Shujinko helping Raiden out, especially if it's gonna benefit him in the end once the fallen Elder God's demise has come. Also, even if Liu Kang is somehow still alive (if he still is), he's not gonna be that much helpful due to the events of the last game that might shaken his beliefs, even if Raiden tried telling him so many times and also apologizing alot as well.

 

[MK-TREMOR]

I think Shujinko needs to be in MKX. His Deception story needs to be altered. I say instead of him going in that "aging pool" in the Realm of Choas, I say that doesn't happen. That way he can stay young. I think keeping him young would make him a much more interesting character in terms of character design.

 

[MK_Reaper]

Im hoping for him to have a central hero role. He is arguably the most developed character so far in the MK games and there is a lot that can be done with his backstory integrating into his gameplay and it does not need to be a copy paste of tother character's specials. As for the story a logical way to go about it is with Raiden looking for him. Since him and Kai being ex-members of the White Lotus Society, it would only be natural for Raiden to approach them to help strengthen back earth's defenses. Onaga/Damashi too would suggest Shujinko to aid Earthrealm since as long as Shinnok has possession of his amulet (the final kamidogu) Onaga cannot rise to full power.

I agree I want him to be the central hero. Playing through deception on the konquest to be a master martial artist was really satisfying experience. If he returns ill be excited to see what NRS will do with him

 

[Noob-Zer013]

Mostly everyone besides Taven, Daegon and Blaze stopped being relevant in MKA, so I don't see your point regarding Shujinko. Armageddon was NRS's cop out game to make a quick buck, so their consideration for any sort of story then should not be taken seriously. Also going by your logic, there is no reason for characters like Sub Zero to return either, his past story never really went anywhere, whats the point of having him other than him being an iconic character? Yea, nothing.

Personally I enjoyed and liked the storymode of MK9, I would rate it second only to MKD's story. The character deaths were required imo for taking MK forward, seeing the staple characters over and over can only help so much.

I thought Sub-Zero's story progression was moving quite nicely until Armageddon came along.

 

[Minh Giang]

If he is playable in MKX, i want 1 of his variations to be like MKD copy paste style .

 

[Flying Jinko]

I thought Sub-Zero's story progression was moving quite nicely until Armageddon came along.

Honestly, I really don't think so and here is why. The best thing Sub Zero has going on for him in the old timeline was him defeating Sektor and taking over the Lin kuei as its new grandmaster and turning it into a force for good.....but....neither Sub-Zero or the Lin Kuei did anything significant in that capacity, atleast as far as the fate of Earthrealm was concerned. He wasn't there at Shang Tsung's palace when all the other earthrealm warriors were killed during MKDA and he seemed to be going after his own agenda, discovering the cryomancer caves, his ancestry and having a tour of the living forest during the MKD timeline. He hardly contributed to the fight against Onaga other than kill a few tarkatan lackeys, that too for his own protection.

I realise alot of this was done mainly not to have him killed but he did suffer quite a bit storywise because of it. Im not trying to downplay Sub-Zero alone here, many other characters too seemed to have this problem, thats why it irks me when people start singling out Shujinko for problems he shared with other popular MK characters.

Now onto Shujinko....I'll just leave here two of my past posts which justifies his character, his cause for return and his potential.

I don't think Shujinko's future will change in the altered timeline. Perhaps Raiden will ask him to help defend earthrealm from Shinnok, in which case he may put aside his quest temporarily. Damashi as Onaga will also favor this since the amulet is now with Shinnok and having Shinnok defeated will make it easier for Onaga to obtain it once Shujinko finds all the kamidogu.

Also I don't understand how Raiden can warn Shujinko this time round since Raiden doesn't have the ability to look into the future. Raiden's amulet guided him to ensure that Shao Kahn does not win in the future during armageddon and thats it. Armageddon itself has not been averted nor all the events that lead to it, including Shujinko finding the kamidogu and resurrecting the dragon king.

I don't understand why people consider Shujinko idotic/stupid. It was not like he knowingly allowed himself to be deceived. Never in the konquest mode did anyone warn him or damashi gave away any hints that he was infact Onaga. Yes he was a bit naive and peaceful, allowing himself to be captured by Kano in outworld and not resisting his imprisonment at Seido when he was more than capable of doing so but it was not stupid move, but just an extrapolation of Shujinko as a character. It wasn't untill the last moment when Onaga revealed himself, did Shujinko know he was deceived. This could have happened to anyone and there was nothing Shujinko himself did that led him to be deceived. He cannot be blamed for it.

Also people saying Shujinko wasted his life have really not understood Shujinko's character and backstory at all. It is the dream of every martial artist to travel the world and learn as much as they can in their limited lifespan. Shujinko not only got this oppurtunity but also had the ability to do it at a much faster rate (due to his powers) thus fulfilling his life long dream. It was the journey that was important and not the destination. He also corrected his wrong doing by killing Onaga himself. I would say he lived an adventurous and a much more fulfilling life than any other character in MK before the events of Armageddon.

I am sure if the devs put enough thought and time into Shujinko, he could be an outstanding character to play as. The way I see it, I think Shujinko should be a jack of all trades kind of character. He strength comes from the variety of fighting styles and powers he has and utilizes and not being an individual specialist in each. For example since he learnt and absorbed the powers from Sub Zero's ancestors he could be able to create a small ice ball and freeze individual opponents. But his ice summoning powers are much weaker than Sub Zeros, who can form ice spikes and a kori blade.

Thus I feel his moves should be a conjunction of the variety of powers he has got. For example he can have a parry move where his upper part of his hand gets frozen and the opponent freezes on contact. Shujinko then connects with a fiery blackflip kick. Thus it pays tribute to the original characters from whom he learnt these moves (scorpion and sub zero) but using them in his own improvised way. The enhanced version can follow with a teleport punch immediately after the back flip kick. Another move he could have is the whirlwind kick. Though originally Kung Lao's MKDA move, I think it will fit him best which can pay homage to two characters, Bo Rai Cho and Liu Kang (Whirlwind kick= flying kick + bicycle kick). The enhanced move could be a fiery version doing more damage.
Also he could have an anti air where he throws his kunai when the opponent is in the air and smashes them onto the ground.

Another great way to bring him back is going by bbblp's idea of him having light and dark based powers. Sorry for the TL;DR, just felt I had to post it again.

 

[Taj Gill]

I'm wondering, if he is included in MKX, it would be pretty cool if Raiden tries to stop his quest due to visions of the past. That would be a good story arc, considering Ed said this is a non-linear story.

Like him or not, he is an important part of MK's story, and not just after MKDA, but throughout the entire series, as seen in MKD's Konquest mode. How are NRS going to simply just throw his quest out the window in the new timeline without explaining it? As far as I'm concerned, the events of MK9 should not alter his quest whatsoever, which is why I'm wondering if we see Raiden trying to stop him due to his visions. It is a stretch, but it is very possible.

 

[natedoggcata]

since there is now no more Deadly Alliance, there is no more resurrection of the Dragon King's army, which means no Li Mei, no Dragon King, No Shujinko.

 

[Flying Jinko]

^ Don't see any logic in that, Li Mei's, Shujinko's and Onaga's existence does not depend on the resurrection of the Onaga's army.

 

[Taj Gill]

Exactly, the fact that Quan Chi found the army basically did Onaga a service as he didn't have to search for them himself after his resurrection. Shujinko would've still found all the Kamidogu, the Deadly Alliance bears no impact on that.

 

[natedoggcata]

^ Don't see any logic in that, Li Mei's, Shujinko's and Onaga's existence does not depend on the resurrection of the Onaga's army.

Li Mei was only involved to free her people from being enslaved in the Dragon Kings army. Without the army, and the deadly alliance, there is no reason for her to show up.

Also the events changing from MK 1 onward in the new timeline would obviously change Shujinko's quest since all the people he would have met are now doing other things. What about Reptile and Cyrax? They are obviously going to be doing other things instead of stalking and helping Nitara.

Either way, Shujinko was a terrible character and should not be a wasted slot in MKX

 

[Taj Gill]

Li Mei was only involved to free her people from being enslaved in the Dragon Kings army. Without the army, and the deadly alliance, there is no reason for her to show up.

Also the events changing from MK 1 onward in the new timeline would obviously change Shujinko's quest since all the people he would have met are now doing other things. What about Reptile and Cyrax? They are obviously going to be doing other things instead of stalking and helping Nitara.

Either way, Shujinko was a terrible character and should not be a wasted slot in MKX

Doesn't mean that he won't still find the Kamidogu though. And just because Reptile was used as a Host for the Dragon King in MK, doesn't mean that anyone else who stumbles across the egg can't be either. They never specifically mentioned that the Host had to be a Reptilian creature. And as far as I know, Onaga and Reptile are two different species altogether.

 

[Flying Jinko]

Li Mei was only involved to free her people from being enslaved in the Dragon Kings army. Without the army, and the deadly alliance, there is no reason for her to show up.

How are you so certain that Shang Tsung won't return again? Plus who is to say what other role she could have had in the absence of the deadly alliance? There are lots of possibilities for her....but this isn't the thread to discuss that.

Also the events changing from MK 1 onward in the new timeline would obviously change Shujinko's quest since all the people he would have met are now doing other things. What about Reptile and Cyrax? They are obviously going to be doing other things instead of stalking and helping Nitara.

"Obviously" how? Please elaborate. If you had bothered to do any reading up, you would know Shujinko had started on his journey years before the first MK tournament, 40 years prior to be more or less exact. During the MK1 to MK4 timeline, these are the characters he interacted with.

Nightwolf - Few years before the 1st MK tournament
Shang Tsung - Right before the 1st MK tournament was set to begin
Kenshi - Right before the 1st MK tournament was set to begin
Raiden - Right before the 1st MK tournament was set to begin
Scorpion - After the events of MK4, at the Netherealm.

Thus as you can see, none of these characters or events seems to change even in the altered timeline, besides the last one as we have yet to reach there. So it is clearly not so "obvious" that Shujinko will automatically cease to exist.

Either way, Shujinko was a terrible character and should not be a wasted slot in MKX

Disagree, read my post above.

 

[Raiden's Boomstick]

I would like to see Shujinko come back, as he had one of the more fleshed-out stories. On his move set, I was thinking this:

--He would/should have his own moveset. Be it light/dark powers like bbblp suggested or something else all together. Now that the timeline has been altered, these new moves could have been learned from warriors that players haven't necessarily seen. Stays with his copy style, but still new to us, so to speak. So, in going with that his three styles could be:
LIGHT--more White Lotus, monk-like moves--subduing and stunning. One Fatality to reflect this style (something like Kang's somersault from MK1)
DARK--ripping and tearing and crushing. One Fatality for this style (Oh, look! Your insides are now your outsides.)
MIMIC--straight Shang Tsung opponent copy, since Shang is currently six feet under.

--in addition, the Light and Dark sets could have one opponent move-copy function. This could be accomplished by either Shujinko having access to the opponents signature move (Scorp spear, SZ freeze) or Shujinko could copy the last special move that his opponent used. From a gameplay standpoint, this could make the opponent switch up moves and not spam the same one, and also provide a challenge to the Shujinko player by thinking of the best way to incorporate the move he now has access to **EDIT** Make it the same button combination for Shujinko every time, not the combination the opponent has to use. Programming wise, just have a variable that updates when an opponent uses a special.

**EDIT 2** Thinking about the "last special move copy" function, maybe make it the last special that connects with Shujinko, whether it be an actual hit or a blocked move. In this way, the player can keep a favorite copied move at the ready, but will need to be adpet enough to doge other specials thrown at them. Hmmm...

Tried to not make this tl;dr. Just brainstorming.

 

[MK_Reaper]

I'm wondering, if he is included in MKX, it would be pretty cool if Raiden tries to stop his quest due to visions of the past. That would be a good story arc, considering Ed said this is a non-linear story.

Like him or not, he is an important part of MK's story, and not just after MKDA, but throughout the entire series, as seen in MKD's Konquest mode. How are NRS going to simply just throw his quest out the window in the new timeline without explaining it? As far as I'm concerned, the events of MK9 should not alter his quest whatsoever, which is why I'm wondering if we see Raiden trying to stop him due to his visions. It is a stretch, but it is very possible.

I think I would like this! Have Raiden becoming Dark Raiden in the story at some point, but have a Shunjinko and Raiden having a very uneasy alliance at first and make it more heated as the story progresses

 

[CaptainJingo]

Well, Raiden has only stopped Armageddon from occurring, but nothing has stopped Shujinko and Onaga....