Now that there is a video on the final bosses you should do a ranking on characters that are evil, but don't appear as bosses such as Kano, D,vorah, Mileena, and others.
I like Shang Tsung a lot. His persistence is what particularly gets me. He nearly always loses, but by their nature, in that their deviousness brings out the best in the heroes because it's what's needed for the greater good, villains are supposed to lose. So speaking of persistent villains, a tier list of MK's various bad guys based on their effectiveness over the course of the series canon (and competitive viability can carry weight in that if you want) would be interesting. Of course you're free to just machinegun Kobra, Kira, Hsu Hao, Sheeva, Jarek, and other jobbers I can't remember into D-tier in a mid-video quickfire round, otherwise the video would be far too long.
@@aaronlampkin284overrated how? Hes an icon in video game history. I know that the past games paint him as a jobber but vintage and powerful shao Kahn? dude has +1000 Aura
@@SolidPain6624 I agree with you on the Aura part but his backstory is kinda Jobber bro. He copied Onaga whole flow and couldn’t get the job done so he poisoned him. Also Onaga needs a better backing because he beat the influence of the one being and had the one being scared of him. That’s a boss to me.
You are crazy if you think the one being fears Onaga It was ONAGA who was directly influenced by the one being the entire time in deception Onaga was NOT originally Evil it was the one being that influenced and corrupted his soul after shao Kahn poisoned and killed him when the one being corrupted Onaga to beginning the kamidogu to revive himself and thus using Onaga to get reptiles body for Onaga to return in order for the one being to return through using Onaga by influencing him directly To gather the kamidogu once whole the one being would return. Onaga is just a simple ruler of 1 realm my dude The kamidogu themselves are fragments of the one beings power and united the one being returns which is what the one being wanted and is why Onaga was gathering the kamidogu without Onaga being aware that he was being influenced and used by the one being itself in order for it to return. Onaga was a peaceful Ruler before he originally died it was shao Kahn who was evil and killed him thru poison. Shao was the evil one not Onaga Onaga was just a lot stronger than shao. One being was the real villain BEHIND Onaga and his resurrection in the first place as he used Onaga to gather the kamidogu so one being may return but Onaga was defeated. It is Onaga who is the most overrated I love his story but as far as power he is overrated he was only stronger than a weak shao Kahn bfr shao became a lot stronger after he became emperor In Armageddon they battle again and Kahn defeats Onaga…Onaga was only strong bcuz of kamidogu in deception which was directly influenced as well his desire to gather them and revive was the one beings doing.
You could have made a 20 minute video giving a basic overview of each character. But instead we got 105 minutes of deep diving into both the gaming history and the lore behind each one. This was so well done. I'm subscribing.
During my water polo days as a kid, the actor who played Shao Kahn was a parent for a kid I played against all the time. Seen him on the regular and always thought it was cool how he embraced the character every time we all brought it up lol
In the Onaga fight in Deception, you can walk into and attack the kamidogu on the stage which will stun Onaga for a bit giving you a chance to run up and get some attacks in. And during the prehistoric stage of the Kronika fight, she can summon a T-Rex to run across the stage and trample you. Also, I wasn't expecting my comment from the last video to get a shoutout here, so thanks for that.
Shao Khan is one of my favorite villians, period. Its a shame what they turned him into in MK1. They turned him from the ultimate badass to the biggest jobber.
Naturally Shao and Shang are iconic, but personally I love Quan and Shinnok nearly as much. Their potential has not been realized as well but I love the ideas behind them. Beyond all these warlords are these two fellas who are masters over death itself. To me they feel sinister on a new level after you get used to Shao's brutal warlord shtick, and I felt they were great next villains. I love their designs, as well. Quan appearing in MK1's story for the first time was the hypest moment of the entire campaign for me. On the other hand, Onaga has never worked for me. A bigger, greener Shao with wings is just kinda lame to me at best. Beyond his role in Shujinko's life he offers nothing that I appreciate in the universe of MK. Even Kronika, even though she introduced the thrice cursed timeline crap into the story, has a more interesting concept and design IMO. Blaze as well, literally a HoMM3 monster but on steroid. (Or crossed with the magma elemental or whatever the upgraded earth ones were called).
Lmao I didn’t think anyone would get the HoMM3 reference! I do love Quan Chi and Shinnok, but not as final bosses but that’s mainly a development issue. They’re both jobbers, even Quan in the new game.
Ironic you say he’s a bigger Shao when Shao secretly killed him and modeled his purpose 95%( Pre Death Onaga beat the influence of the one being, while Shao “gave in” and killed him) like Onaga. Onaga hasn’t been executed well at all.
I do like Quan Chi’s blatantly evil personality and at times he feels even more evil to me than Shang Tsung. He’s probably caused even more pain and suffering than Shang. Like making Jax a revenant and traumatizing him, forcing him to be honorably discharged from the SF, killing Scorpions family and entire clan, corrupting even more fighters into revenants, etc.
@@FAiRWAYx Jokes on yall, i know yall talking about Heroes 3 Magma elemental. Also I love Shinnok and Quan too, they just got butchered by Netherealm's writing tbh, i always kinda got bored of Shao and Shang(like they iconic and cool, but its been so many games with them as main villians), Hope they do a better job with Havik as a villian in the upcoming DLC cause he is a character with a lot of potential.
Quan Chi is perhaps IMHO the goat when it comes to background events and backstory shenanigans. Always liked him better than Shinnok. His Deadly Alliance outfit was peak. They rarely deviated from its aesthetics afterwards. Shinnok took some more hits to his reputation when it’s revealed he’s basically one huge mama’s boy with the Titan helicopter Karen, Kronika.
I feel that after Shao Kahn being insanely hard in MK9 (even on vrry easy), they nerfed the resulting bosses onwards. Shinnok, Khronika and Titan Shang Tsung were too easy, even on hard difficulty.
Gotta make a video of all main characters ranked Ie. Liu kang- mk 1,2,3,4,9 Kyung Lao- deadly alliance Shujinko- Deception Taven- Armageddon Cassie- mkX Raiden mk1
I honestly want to see a Black Dragon/Red Dragon tier list next, because I'm especially curious on where you would put one of my favorite MK characters, Kira, on the tier list, and maybe you could talk about potential for characters as part of the criteria.
Back in the day, my least favourite thing about Tagawa Tsung was that they made him look like a triad thug instead of a Chinese sorcerer. This was not his fault, but it did affect how I felt about his portrayal. Now that he's been brought back into the fold with the latter design, he's the best Tsung by a country mile.
1:30:52 Actually, he has 1 in my school vr game, but it's when he possessed Goalius to kill Exogon (The Fatality starts with Goalius burning the victims eyes, then he tears off the right arm then burns the enemy and finally Oblivorates the victim with Goalius laser wing lasers and core blast)
I never got that. How did Shao have to poison Onaga before to defeat him, but in Armageddon,he takes him on one on one after getting grab and flown off and wins lol wth
Great video!! Well done! I like the idea of Kronica. I wish she had a better name because it always makes me think of Konica printers. Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn will always be S tier.
So MK2 SNES my cousin used an infinite life cheat and made it to Shao khan.Khan used so many shoulder charges in a row without stopping that my cousin started to lose health even though he had unlimited life cheat on.
loving these videos, i just recently got back into mortal kombat after not playing since ps2 and 360 and it’s cool learning more about the history of certain characters🔥🔥
Excellent job! I really enjoy these MK Tier List Videos & I appreciate all the Work, Time, & Effort You put in to make them as good as they are! I have been a fan of this Series since I first played the Original in the Arcade in 92 and have been hooked ever since and it's been really nice to revisit all the Arcade and 3D Era games I grew up with as well as the Recent and Current Installments..... 💀FLAWLESS VICTORY💀
Barakka was only one who was in the evil side of things mainly, but i always felt bad for him. Because he just wanted to lead his people and outworld together with all the races. He wasnt like Tarkatans should have whole outworld. Shao khan, sheeva, barakka, kitana makes quite good consule to lead the outworld. I also felt bad for Kitana because she had to watch her mom play her so many times, and she lost everything including liu kang. till the new era.
I love how you gave Shang Tsung the Ric Flair introduction haha..all you missed was the limousine riding jet flying wheelin dealin son of a gun haha...oh yeah Shao Khan is always gonna be the best to me and then Shinnok then Goro in last place
What’s wrong with Quan Chis look? I think he looks distinct, smug and evil. He might not look like a scary final boss, but as a scheming mastermind he looks the part. I also love these smug sorcerer types. Him and Shang Tsung are bad ass. Also his voice actor in 9 is excellent.
Shao Khan is the ultimate for me. When he appeared in what has to be in the top ten video game promotions of all time, Shao Khan lurked in the Living Woods and invoked fear and intimidation. His laugh haunted arcades and I watched him handle even the best players in the neighborhood.
Fair tier list I think. Just wanted to say that MK9 Shao Kahn is probably the easiest boss to beat though, you can easily get flawless on him even on hardest difficulty (just need a little bit of luck for him not use his upwardss dash on wake-up and is not reactable), it's just a matter of knowing his moves and reading them, jump/teleport at the right time and he can't hit you.
Shang tsung is easily best in his mk11 variation where he was at his most threatening and succeeded in his plan + he’s so badass and menacing at the same time in mk11 aftermath
I honestly didn't like the treatment two of the most iconic villains of all time got in this franchise. In those early days I remember fighting them were so brutal that defeating any of them could be considered as an epic story to discuss with friends. While Shang Tsung did turn into a normal and playable character from the 2nd game, Shao Kahn used to terrorize us in the 90s. Then he turned into a playable character. I'd still consider him ok back then because at least his looks still screamed "FINAL BOSS" all time. The mostly wide open torso with very little armor was like a dare from him saying "hurt me if you can". Then 2011 reboot came out (which in my opinion is the one of the best MK games), and his design was getting slightly less scary looking. He still was frightening to fight against. Then MK 11 happened, and he became a joke. Well, at least both in game wise and lore-wise he conquered 2 decades of gamers around the world. Great video btw!
Perfectly articulated Shao in the 90s. MK9 was a great and I think the last great Shao Kahn, although I don’t hate MK11 or MK1 Shao. He is a jobber in both but his design is still solid. I’m glad you like the video! Plenty more on the way!
The Deadly Alliance was my favorite. They we're crazy busted but weren't easy. When I was a noob I'd always swap to Kano or Hsu Hao when fighting Moloch because their B1, F2 weapon stance (they had to same moveset, just different names for the moves and weapons) was easy to land and you could cheese it. Onaga was good, the kamidogu offered an easy way to beat him. You got a damage boost and a free hit when you stunned him.
1:20:20 Let's Hope That The Best Final Boss In Mortal Kombat Deception, Onaga The Dragon 🐉 King 👑 Might Come Back To Mortal Kombat 13 A.K.A. Mortal Kombat 2 I Think 🤔💭 But He Is UnBeatable & The True Final Boss In Mortal Kombat History & I Think The Tease At The End Of Mortal Kombat 1 AfterMath & It Is Indeed Possible That We Get To See Onaga The Dragon 🐉 King 👑 Again
I like Quan Chi as well! ♥ And Shang is my most favourite character, too 😀 I'm tired of the two-party system in the MK community, that if you like one you must automatically hate the other 😂 Writers did both of them dirty at some points, there's no need for rivarly, they're both cool in their own ways, period.
About 3/4 way through the video and I have a few objections; Shang is a great final boss but nowadays I see him more of a sub sub boss. He, and even Shao Kahn, also have the luxury of being exposed to the audience more and have a more fans than most of the remaining bosses. Shannok however, got massively screwed over and a good amount of his low points are entirely his like not realizing his amulet was a fake and losing to Cassie Cage when he got ultimate control knowing that she could’ve had that same halo Johnny had. MK X also felt like it was supposed to be Shinnok’s comeback but he was only relevant for the first and final 2 chapters, his amulet is more important than he is which is not a good sign either. Edit: okay finished with the video and my listing isn’t as different, I’d put Blaze in C behind Onaga for such heavy lore connections but put Quan Chi in B for the sake of being the source of everyone’s misery. Onaga and Blaze need their moment to really shine but Kronika was handled so badly and lost more potential than Shinnok that the only redeeming qualities she has is being an entity of limitless power that needs a new host to exist, something I doubt will ever happen.
How would the minor character tier list look like (minor characters like mokap, Stryker, Kollector, hsu hao basically a character that has little role in the story, don’t really have a big impact on the games like reptile, and don’t appear much but are still playable)
Great list, although I'd rank Quan Chi higher maybe B tier since he alone carried MK Mythologies Sub Zero, MK4 and MK Deadly Alliance. He was also cool in MK9 and MKX. I'll also put Shinnok on D-tier. Even though he had a scary aura if you read his lore, but his actions in the games and defeats made him underwhelming. He had his amulet stolen by Sub Zero in Mythologies, he got outsmarted by Quan Chi in MK4, and he lost to a Hollywood actor with green glow and his teenage daughter. Not to mention, his corrupted Shinnok form in MKX was Azazel (from Tekken 6) level of cheapness
Ya know, I just realized something. It would have made a deeper story if the mileena and kitana stories were merged into one. Mileena having perished somehow, like maybe during the first tournament only to be cloned this way could cause the tension between them and trust factors. What do you guys think?
Shang is by far my favorite villian in MK and in my top 3 favorite characters...but it as a final boss it feels wrong to put him in the S tier. The only game were he truly felt like an S tier final fight to me was Aftermath. He usually feels like a subboss compared to a final and as you mentioned...he gets shit on a lot. Aftermath Shang is an easy S though but with the criteria of the video wouldnt count as he's not an arcade boss.
You make some good points, but I think Shang made such an impact in the OG game. He’s been shit on so much, but he looked better in DA and Aftermath. I could see an argument for A.
You gotta do protagonists next. Rank 1-4 liu kang, mk deadly alliance kung lao, shujinko, taven, mk 2011 raiden, mkx johnny cage and Cassie cage, and god of fire liu kang gor mk 11 and mk1
I still think MK1 is the perfect opportunity to bring "Dark Khan" back. Even as just a kameo. Edit: "Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe" is infact considered canon by developers. Hence why Mortal Kombat (2011), X & 11 are referred to as, well-- "9, X & 11" rather than, "8, 9 & X". The events of the game are even referenced in almost every title afterwards.
Excellent video, great editing, and your rankings seem both fair and accurate. On a somewhat related note, one thing that videos like this remind us of is that despite immense budgets and production cycles/values, MK somehow gets the worst voice acting for its characters. It's almost parody at this point. The only voice work that ever seemed to truly fit for me was Shao Kahn's in MK11.
Yeah the Shao VA in MK11 was peak, but I think General Shao is okay too. Theres nothing worse than the MK4 voice acting though. That’s laughable content.
Idk how different this video would be, but I would recommend a video of Mortal Kombat villains rankrd including characters such as Milrena or Reptile. And if you are feeling lazy, you could just make a compilation video of all of the villain characters you have gone over.
Onaga is a real beast...Shao Khan barely managed to overthrow him and it took Shang Tsung, Raiden AND Quan Chi JUST to hold him back in Deception but lets be honest....if he shows up in a new MK today....They'd somehow make him get easily one shotted by Cassie Cage😭💀💀
I feel like MK1-11 shang tsung should be clarified as an entirely different character from the new MK1 shang tsung, they're basically different characters
Kronika gets a really bad rap. Personally I her story is a lot more interesting than everyone except Shang Tsung or Shao Khan. Unfortunately the MK franchise keeps forcing themselves into corner when you have Shang Tsung outsmarting every other villain and Shao Khan overpowering. Yet if they actually had either of those characters get absolutely spanked by a new Boss the fan backlash would be too much. They're literally in a no win situation.
I'd rank Kronika higher than that, somewhere around B tier. Lore wise she is insanely powerful, it literally took a god powers infused Liu Kang (almost like a DBZ Goku/Vegeta fusion) to beat her while he had been able to take on Shang Tsung and Shao Khan in his human form. Her story isn't bad at all. She is however let down by her chara design and move list. They fail to convey how of a powerhouse and a menace she is supposed to be. So despite her immense power she comes as a bit underwhelming overall.
I will go for my favorite design and imposing forms: Shao Kahn Armaggedon Old Shang Tsung MK 1 Motaro MK 3 Onaga Deception Goro MK1 Quan Chi MK4 and Mythologies Cetrion MK X Then the not so good or lame: Shinnok MK Mythologies Moloch MK V Kotal Crap MK XI Mk3 Shang Tsung Satanic Shinnok MK X Dark Kahn MK vs DC Blaze Deception Kintaro MK IX Kronicrap MK XI
Id put Blaze in B. I dont think he's supposed to be supremely powerful. We know he is killable by at least: Shao, Raiden, and therefore, its safe to say ppl like Liu and Onaga could beat him as well. I consider Onaga the strongest in the original TL, even tho Shao bested him. But I do agree with the sentiment of wanting Onaga to be S, but showing restraint because the fact is NRS just haven't done him justice since the MK4-6 arc, where he was built up to and revealed masterfully. You always go into these tier lists expecting to disagree with most of it, but I think this is excellently done
Hey thanks man! I try to put rational thoughts behind this rather than just picking an S tier for the sake of it. There are some definite outliers like when I ranked Skarlet and Triborg in A tier, but sometimes the bias does come into play. Overall, though, S tier is reserved for the best of the best.
@FAiRWAYx I def agree about Skarlet and Triborg, but I haven't watched the Cyborg vid yet so I'll just say I hope Cyber Smoke gets S Tier, tho I do agree, it's thrown around too much on these kinds of lists. I should also clarify that FULL POWER Onaga is, imo, the strongest. If Shao had to poison him WITHOUT the Kamidogu, then I can't imagine him having them all and still being weaker than Blaze. My headcanon is that his connection to Shujinko used a lot of his power, which is why, once he was Kamidogu-less, Shao was able to survive that ambush in the Armageddon intro. Also, super props for putting Motaro in A Tier. Ppl who didn't grow up with MK3 will never know the fear of fighting him for the first time, and then that being immediately followed by the even greater fear that you have to try again 🤣🤣
Shinnok was easily the strongest always up until kronica la introduction. Shinnok tanked a blast stronger than the Big Bang that created the universe I don’t think a mere emperor of outworld regardless of Onaga or Kahn would be able to survive that Shinnok has now successfully made both Onaga and Shao Kahn his minions. He doesn’t fear them they fear him with his fully power. Onaga was strong in terms of being an emperor like shao Kahn but like shao Kahn he wasn’t naturally the strongest that goes to shinnok by a lot he’s much Stronger than Onaga or shao Kahn the problem is Onaga gathered the kamidogu which temporarily did elevate Onaga above Shinnok in power but he needed the kamidogu to surpass Shinnok and therefore he’s not actually the strongest if he needed that giant aid. Blaze shouldn’t be far off from onagas power level without the kamidogu,they were both killed by shao Kahn so Blaze and onagas power are probably much more evenly matched. Ppl underestimate shao Kahn he became much stronger after he became emperor and this is why he was able to defeat Onaga in Armageddon bcuz he surpassed his master so Kahn became stronger outgrowing Onaga in their original power levels. Onaga only once again surpasses shao Kahn with the kamidogu but that doesn’t make the character of onaga the strongest it means he’s not if je needs to depend on that to be stronger. Onaga did achieve the strongest power in the series to his credit but it was never his own power like shinnok who almost undid the realms with his own might. KRONICA should be the only true one naturally more powerful than shinnnok but she should know everything Without kronica nothing would be allowed she’s too arrogant
