WARNING: In addition to the usual gore of the Mortal Kombat series, many of the franchises mentioned in this article feature violence, blood, strong language, and sexual content that may be frightening or inappropriate for younger audiences. Reader discretion advised. The fact that these people can fit into a tournament where contestants rip each other’s guts out should be a sign.
Test You Might! Uncanny Fox here, popping back in after *checks notes* a full year?!? – to celebrate Halloween with some Mortal Kombat talk. I mean, it’s kind of Halloween-ish, right? Now, I know that Ed Boon just said that they aren’t putting out any news about MK 12 soon, so we still don’t even know if it’s a thing yet. Still, it’s fun to speculate, and for this blog post I’m going to talk about something that fans have been speculating about since… well, NetherRealm announced that it was done adding new stuff to Mortal Kombat 11: the fabled DLC guest fighters.
NetherRealm’s become quite infamous for bringing characters from other properties into its games over the past several years. While MK 9 only featured a couple of guest fighters (and Kratos was exclusive to PlayStation consoles), MK 10 upped the ante with a vast array of horror film icons and MK 11 featured a strange mix of comic book characters and 80s action movie heroes. It’s not limited to Mortal Kombat either, as Injustice 2 saw Hellboy and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trade blows with the heroes and villains of the DC Universe. MK 12 will probably be no different, though at this point it’s anyone’s guess who Ed Boon and the wizards at NetherRealm will license out for its next big fighting project.
And that’s where the fun begins. Here, I’m going to go crazy and list off a few characters from movies, comics, cartoons, TV shows, and even other video games that I think would be a good fit as Mortal Kombat 12 DLC characters should it be the next NetherRealm game. I’ll admit, this list will include a few that are very unlikely to ever be put in a Mortal Kombat game. But hey, some of y’all have been asking for Cactus Jack to tear into Scorpion with his barbed-wire bat, so let me have this.
Starting things off with a pipe dream, since there’s next to no way that Hasbro will license one of its family friendly characters into an ultra-violent video game. Heck, the parents groups came after Zedd hard in his actual show back in the day. If there’s going to be Power Rangers representation in a NetherRealm game, it would probably be in Injustice 3. Still, just look at Lord Zedd’s design and tell me that’s not the sheer embodiment of the same mid-90s edginess that gave us Mortal Kombat. Zedd’s always been a personal favorite of mine (as seen here), but he’s been making a comeback of late thanks to Battle for the Grid, the Boom! comics fleshing out his backstory, and even Dino Fury seeing the skinless wonder make a shocking return from oblivion in the main continuity. Heck, he’s even going to be the big bad of Cosmic Fury next year!
For Mortal Kombat, I could see Lord Zedd’s moveset being similar to that in Battle for the Grid, with him using his Z-Staff, dark magic, and even his army of Putties to attack his opponents. Zedd can teleport, control minds, and even mutate his victims into terrible monsters – all of which could allow for some interesting moves and Fatalities depending on how far Hasbro would let NS go with him. If worse comes to worse, Zedd could unleash the power of his dreaded Zord Serpentara to fry his foes alive. Zedd’s already a menacing force to be reckoned with in the family-friendly Power Rangers series, and a guest spot in Mortal Kombat 12 could give fans a gruesomely R-Rated version of the Emperor of Evil – in the incredibly low chance Hasbro and NetherRealm would ever agree to this.
7. Deathstroke (DC Comics)
Now for something that could actually happen, since NetherRealm has included DC characters in Mortal Kombat in the past (hello, Joker in MK 11). If there’s any other notable killer in DC Comics aside from the Clown Prince of Crime, it would be Slade “Deathstroke” Wilson. He’s been in Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe and the first Injustice game, so the precedent is there. Deathstroke is an evergreen character too, whether he’s showing up to take on Batman in the Arkham games, terrorizing the Teen Titans in the umpteenth Judas Contract adaptation, or signing up with Lex Luthor for that Justice League sequel that’s probably not happening now. Sorry, Snyder fans…
As for his moveset… I think Deathstroke’s playstyle in Injustice was fine enough, just add some more blood and a few gory Fatalities. I’m not as hardcore a gamer as some of the other fans out there, so I’m not really sure how much The Joker changed between Injustice and MK 11. Given that MK and DC are about as tight as Marvel and Capcom, I wouldn’t be surprised if this pick ends up happening in MK 12.
6. Travis Touchdown (No More Heroes)
Now, this one seems like it would be likely on paper, but given the No More Heroes series’ strong association with Nintendo, Travis Touchdown would be more likely to appear in Super Smash Bros. than Mortal Kombat. Still, Travis is a stylish assassin who regularly kills his enemies in over-the-top ways, so he’d fit in quite well as an MK guest character. His latest gaming adventure wasn’t that long ago (I actually just reviewed No More Heroes 3 on the PS5 for ScreenRant) either, and Suda 51 did say that he’d like to see Travis make a comeback if enough fans asked for one.
In battle, Travis Touchdown has his trusty beam katana, a pseudo-lightsaber that slices up foes with a ridiculous amount of blood. He’s also got access to a speeder bike, power armor with various battle modes, a Death Glove that lets him do all kinds of telecentric attacks, and some good ol’ fashioned wrestling skills that could make for a decent MK moveset. His Fatalities would reflect the stylized nature of his home series, with the art style briefly changing into that of an anime or 16-bit game as Travis delivers the final, fatal blow against any opponent who dares try to measure up against the galaxy’s deadliest assassin.
5. Geralt of Rivea (The Witcher)
I could see this one happening. The Witcher is still pretty popular thanks to Wild Hunt and the Netflix series, there are a whole crapload of new games in the works, and Geralt of Rivea is no stranger to violence. He’s made a guest appearance in Soul Caliber VI, and it wouldn’t be too hard to imagine the mutant monsterslayer taking his twin swords against the various evildoers of the Mortal Kombat universe in MK 12.
Geralt isn’t particularly flashy, but he’s a master swordsman with plenty of potions and magical abilities to flesh out a Mortal Kombat moveset. Not to mention his appearance in Soul Caliber VI already laid the groundwork for how he could perform in a 2D fighting game. His Fatalities would be a trickier manner, but I’m sure the talented people at NetherRealm could draw from the Witcher games and show to recreate some memorable kills that will make fans toss a coin for a Geralt DLC character.
4. The Shredder (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
NetherRealm is already plenty familiar with the TMNT universe given that the titular brothers were guests in Injustice 2, and considering the franchise’s edgy roots it wouldn’t be that much of a leap to put a more lethal character like Shredder in the world of MK. As the leader of the dreaded Foot Clan, Oroku Saki is already similar to the many ninja warriors that populate Mortal Kombat, and NetherRealm could create a pretty awesome design for the vengeance-driven samurai – preferably one based on the 2003 cartoon pictured above.
The Shredder has been depicted in many different ways over the years, from a goofball crime boss to an alien warlord and even the reincarnation of an ancient Japanese warrior. This leaves NetherRealm with plenty of different powers, weapons, and skills to reference as attacks and Fatalities should they decide to bring the Shredder to Mortal Kombat 12. From mechsuits to an alien tech-infused katana known as the Sword of Tengu, Saki has no shortage of arms to go with his signature wrist-mounted claw and deadly ninja moves. There could even be a way to work the Super Shredder into his moveset, allowing players to gain a power boost when Saki becomes a devastating, mutagen-infused beast.
3. Deadpool (Marvel)
While it may seem unlikely due to the long-standing rivalry between Disney and Warner Bros, there have been rumors of a NetherRealm-developed Marvel title in the style of Injustice over the past few years. Heck, some are saying it could be a crossover with the Injustice version of the DC Universe. Whatever the case may be, NetherRealm could test the waters of this interesting idea with a Marvel guest character in Mortal Kombat 12. And if this is indeed the case, I could hardly think of a better representative than Wade Wilson, aka the unforgettable Deadpool. This Merch with a Mouth is more popular with mainstream audiences than ever before thanks to Ryan Reynolds’s big-screen outings, and Wade would be a natural fit in the Mortal Kombat universe given his past appearances in fighting games. Deadpool’s fighting style would be more comedic than other Mortal Kombat characters, with plenty of guns, swords, and even more outlandish weapons to deliver pain to his opponents. NetherRealm could even borrow from Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 and have Wade impale his opponent with his own health bar as a Fatality.
2. Adam Smasher (Cyberpunk 2077)
The chromed-out boogieman of Night City, Adam Smasher is the main boss players fight in Cyberpunk 2077. Before the last few months, I probably would have never considered the possibility for this game to be represented in Mortal Kombat, but Cyberpunk 2077 has seen a rise in player counts and popularity after several patches and the excellent Cyberpunk Edgerunners anime. This could cause NetherRealm to consider a character from Night City as a guest fighter in Mortal Kombat 12, and I couldn’t think of a better fit than the ruthless and bloodthirsty Adam Smasher.
Smasher is armed to the now-nonexistent teeth with various weapons and cyberware, which makes him feared throughout the mean streets of Night City and would lend itself to a full Mortal Kombat moveset that wouldn’t be that far removed from MK 11’s Robocop. Guns, shoulder missiles, superhuman strength, you name it – Adam’s got no shortage of ways to kill people and the drive to enact a viscous rampage across the entire Mortal Kombat roster. Plus, there are plenty of fans who would love to subject Smasher to every Fatality under the sun after what he did to Rebecca and David.
1. Darth Vader (Star Wars)
Now for the mother of all unlikely Mortal Kombat guest characters, one that’s actually been asked about a lot but doesn’t feel possible due to Disney needing to sign off on it. Heck, I myself once covered a fan petition to bring Darth Vader into Mortal Kombat 11, though that never came to pass. Of course, Vader is no stranger to fighting game crossover appearances, as he was famously a guest character in the PS3 version of Soul Caliber IV – or if you’re like me and went with an Xbox 360, a DLC character that was added to the game after fan demand later on. And yeah, if anyone from Star Wars is going to enter an ultraviolent fighting tournament, it’s going to be Vader. We all saw what he did to Obi-Wan a few months back, right?
Being the legendary Chosen One and the scourge of the Jedi Order, Darth Vader comes pre-packaged with a wide range of Force abilities and lightsaber skills to pad out a moveset. I’m sure we’ve all come to accept that lightsabers won’t be able to cut through enemies on the first swing in a video game at this point – though I guess NetherRealm could cheat a bit during the Fatalities. Some of his special moves could involve throwing his opponent with the Force or strangling them with his infamous Force Choke. Not to mention those enhanced cyborg limbs that crush bones and tear through steel walls. Face it, Vader’s Jason Voorhees with a PG rating – and Grogu bless him for that!
And that’s it for my list of Mortal Kombat 12 guest characters, ranging from possible picks to some that are truly out of left field. Of course, with my luck none of them will ever appear in MK, but it’s still fun to fantasize, right? Anywho, until next time, I’ve been The Uncanny Fox. Live long, stay gold, and be sure to check out some of my articles on Screenrant if you have the time. I’ve been writing an awful lot about Gotham Knights lately. Have a safe Halloween.
The Uncanny Fox 