Minorities in Comics and Other Media, etc

[Agent Z]

Villain tend to be extremely popular (or loathed) character among certain groups, so I'm not surprised that they're staying power or narrative alterations tend to stick longer (even if it ends up damaging what people liked about them in the first place) than a established superhero getting a temporary change of scenery, esp. since the a lot of what dictates the heroes is "if it ain't broke, don't mess with it".



Yeah, that's basically the crux of the issue. Regardless of complaints about Jean's god-tier strength, the character has been given chance after chance to be and do things in mainstream storylines where her OPness is irrelevant almost. Monica Rambeau's was denied that opportunity to the point where it's basically a punchline to an inside joke only die-hard comic book readers would know.



I never understood RNS preoccupation with Johnny Cage, or Sonya Blade for that matter. I get people liked Cage because the Paul W.S. Anderson movie basically made him the funny complain-a-lot guy where he was just a white guy with shades that low-blowed you in the earlier video games, but MKX demonstrated a particular obsessiveness for those characters that irked me. Especially since MKX wanted or tried to be a "ensemble story" (and failed).

The fact that they're basically the de-facto protagonists of the current MK era bothers me to no end, because the bias toward them highlights how poorly their non-white characters are treated in the narrative. I can't take anyone who says "Jacqui's role is better than it was in MKX" serious.

Johnny became extremely popular after MK 9 and his daughter was well received in X. Sonya's been a fan favorite since her debut so NRS pushing them makes sense.

spoilers:

Also, Liu Kang ends up being the one who defeats Kronika in the story's climax. Not to mention Kitana killing Shao Kahn.

end of spoilers

I liked Jacqui in X but she didn't get much character development in that game compared to this one.

[Handsome men don't lose fights]

Johnny has always been my dude since MK1. Shadow kick, lowblow, triple decapitation finisher, 12 year old me has always been on the cage train. He and Kano were the only ones of the original fighters with any personality. People legitimately forget that Liu Kang and Raiden are boring as fuuuuuuuuuug. When folks say that Cage pushed Liu out of the spotlight, I have to counter that being a dull ethnic stereotype with no personality beyond being a generic 'chosen one' did more damage to Liu Kang than anything else.

There's no comparison regarding the depth of their personalities. Johnny is a skirt chasing ******* narcissist with a hidden heart of gold who just wants to be respected for his abilities. Liu Kang is a young warrior monk who wants to fight strong enemies and defend the world. He's a shonen jump character. Give him a nimbus cloud, and an extending pole already!

[RoxanneBluePots]

Honestly, I would've argued Scorpion and Sub-Zero's combined popularity over the years had more to do with the presumed decrease in Liu Kang's spotlight than Johnny Cage. Then there's the fact that NRS clearly did not know what to do with Liu as the years rolled on because they were so stuck on the "well, he's the chosen one" (which isn't a real issue unless you as a writer/creator make it one). I honestly wasn't expecting half the things they did with him in MK11. It felt like they finally got their act together with him and Kitana. If only to address the running joke of "Raiden ruins everything". (Now if they can do the same for his homie Kung Lao...)

As for Jacqui, she's conceptually a cool in both MKX and MK11, but the fact that she constantly faded into the background like a incidental character bothered me. They pair her off with Cassie often, but they don't afford any time to creating a dynamic for them like they [kinda] did for Sonya and Jax (who feel like legitimate friends/partners despite how briefly they're on-screen). Jacqui and Cassie are more like co-workers who have parents that are BFFs. It's sort've like the dynamic the kids in Digimon's second season had - friendly, but not really friends in the same sense as their predecessors.

The most I can say is that I hope NRS keeps trying to improve their character management.

[Agent Z]

Honestly, I would've argued Scorpion and Sub-Zero's combined popularity over the years had more to do with the presumed decrease in Liu Kang's spotlight than Johnny Cage. Then there's the fact that NRS clearly did not know what to do with Liu as the years rolled on because they were so stuck on the "well, he's the chosen one" (which isn't a real issue unless you as a writer/creator make it one). I honestly wasn't expecting half the things they did with him in MK11. It felt like they finally got their act together with him and Kitana. If only to address the running joke of "Raiden ruins everything". (Now if they can do the same for his homie Kung Lao...)

As for Jacqui, she's conceptually a cool in both MKX and MK11, but the fact that she constantly faded into the background like a incidental character bothered me. They pair her off with Cassie often, but they don't afford any time to creating a dynamic for them like they [kinda] did for Sonya and Jax (who feel like legitimate friends/partners despite how briefly they're on-screen). Jacqui and Cassie are more like co-workers who have parents that are BFFs. It's sort've like the dynamic the kids in Digimon's second season had - friendly, but not really friends in the same sense as their predecessors.

The most I can say is that I hope NRS keeps trying to improve their character management.

Scorpion and Sub-Zero have been the undisputed breakout characters of the MK franchise since the first game. Midway even created Ultimate MK 3 in response to complaints from fans of Scorpion's absence from the original edition.

[Vic Vega]

Scorpion and Sub-Zero have been the undisputed breakout characters of the MK franchise since the first game. Midway even created Ultimate MK 3 in response to complaints from fans of Scorpion's absence from the original edition.

This.

Ed Boon and them really have a hard on for the Ninjas and the Cyber versions on them.

It's one of the reasons I always liked Street Fighter better.

I could never take a character that started out as a palette swap seriously no matter what redesign they later got.

[Agent Z]

This.

Ed Boon and them really have a hard on for the Ninjas and the Cyber versions on them.

It's one of the reasons I always liked Street Fighter better.

I could never take a character that started out as a palette swap seriously no matter what redesign they later got.

Eh, Street Fighter isn't without its palette swaps either. They recently just added a character who is another Ryu clone but evil.

MK has it's ninjas and SF has it's anatsuken fighters.

[Surf]

I have to counter that being a dull ethnic stereotype with no personality beyond being a generic 'chosen one' did more damage to Liu Kang than anything else.

Yeeeaaa but that's good work if you can get it relatively speaking on the dull ethnic stereotype front. If your of a certain age, that may come across as an overused stereotype but these young kids don't have that same frame of reference I don't think. I feel the young folks have more kinship with Jackie Chan versus what we had with Bruce Lee. Hell, to some of 'us' the name Bruce Leroy still has a click of some pop.

I set out to beat MK with everybody right thorough MK4, yea 4 so that prolly disqualifies me from the discussion out the gate but I had no issue with Liu Kang being the man. THE Dragon. The whole thing was his journey and everyone else was a brutal assed accessory. He always had more legitimacy for me for the top of the pop than Ryu ever did fwiw.

Scorpion always did it for me btw.

[RoxanneBluePots]

Scorpion and Sub-Zero have been the undisputed breakout characters of the MK franchise since the first game. Midway even created Ultimate MK 3 in response to complaints from fans of Scorpion's absence from the original edition.

I'm not arguing that at all (my sister and I used to play those two characters almost exclusively as kids after Mileena and Kitana), but the franchise's constant up-and-down revivals over the console generations certainly drew more people toward the characters to the point where I believe Liu Kang's popularity was effected. I had no doubts that Sub Zero and Scorpion were shoe-ins for MKX, but I was surprised that Liu Kang and Kitana were even playable considering that they seemed to fade into the background and stopped being part of the conversation of characters MK fans talked about. But, I'll be upfront and admit that MK was only something I vaguely paid attention to at that point and Jacqui Briggs' mere creation was what got me back into the series and thinking about stuff like this.

[MindofShadow]

Endgame...

spoilers:

Cap is black Only iron man left is black queen of asgard is black female bisexual (maybe) smartest person in the MCU is black female leader of ultimates or new avengers or whatever is likely to be female (cm) or black (bp) kinda weird lol

end of spoilers

[El_Gato]

I'm not arguing that at all (my sister and I used to play those two characters almost exclusively as kids after Mileena and Kitana), but the franchise's constant up-and-down revivals over the console generations certainly drew more people toward the characters to the point where I believe Liu Kang's popularity was effected. I had no doubts that Sub Zero and Scorpion were shoe-ins for MKX, but I was surprised that Liu Kang and Kitana were even playable considering that they seemed to fade into the background and stopped being part of the conversation of characters MK fans talked about. But, I'll be upfront and admit that MK was only something I vaguely paid attention to at that point and Jacqui Briggs' mere creation was what got me back into the series and thinking about stuff like this.

Mileena! I'm still very salty she isn't in MK11 and that they gave her sai to Kitana. She's one of the MK mainstays! Kitana and Mileena are the female equivalents to Sub-Zero and Scorpion. They should always be playable

[Handsome men don't lose fights]

So, I've discovered that Shao Kahn is my id. There is something very liberating about playing such an unapologeticly evil *******. This dude...if you were sad because you lost someone to cancer, he'd say: "They died because they were WEAK!"

And then he'd hit you with his hammer. Because he's a dick.

[skyvolt2000]

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...231605548.html

Larry “Flash” Jenkins, who had a long career as an actor, writer and producer, died Thursday of an apparent heart attack in Los Angeles. He was 63.

Among his most memorable roles was a parking garage attendant who goes joyriding in the vintage Ferrari owned by Cameron’s dad in the 1980s classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,

Born on Long Island, NY, in 1955, Jenkins appeared frequently as.a student on the TV show The White Shadow. He went on to appear in such shows as M*A*S*H, Lou Grant, Bay City Blues, Finder of Lost Loves, among many others.

[Agent Z]

So, I've discovered that Shao Kahn is my id. There is something very liberating about playing such an unapologeticly evil *******. This dude...if you were sad because you lost someone to cancer, he'd say: "They died because they were WEAK!"

And then he'd hit you with his hammer. Because he's a dick.

Speaking of Shao Kahn, I'm going to bring up this pre-fight dialogue next time someone rants about "SJWs taking over Mortal Kombat".

Jax: You're old news Shao Kahn.

Shao Kahn: I won't be insulted!

Jax: Need a safe space?

[Handsome men don't lose fights]

Speaking of Shao Kahn, I'm going to bring up this pre-fight dialogue next time someone rants about "SJWs taking over Mortal Kombat".

Jax: You're old news Shao Kahn.

Shao Kahn: I won't be insulted!

Jax: Need a safe space?

Those droogs make me feel so very sad for them. The designs for the women characters are great in this game, and feel like practical combat gear, but these idiots are like "Can't see no boobie windows, this is THE COLLAPSE OF FREEDOM."

I was watching some let's plays of MK9 the other day, and the gear the chicks were wearing was so very, very embarassing. Sonja looked like a Navy Seal in a lesbian porno. Thong armor has always been a cynical cash grab designed to exploit youthful male interest in sexuality, and its corrupting pervasiveness has led too many people to think **** like that is normal and desireable. Talk about raising your kids with the Spice channel.

[RoxanneBluePots]

Mileena! I'm still very salty she isn't in MK11 and that they gave her sai to Kitana. She's one of the MK mainstays! Kitana and Mileena are the female equivalents to Sub-Zero and Scorpion. They should always be playable

Definitely. I figured with the time travel nonsense that would inevitably occur, Mileena would be one of the characters to show up, or that she'd be playable in the arcade modes.