So, I’ve finally finished it. My ideal roster for a Killer Instinct sequel. The roster is very big, but not that big compared to other popular fighters. I haven’t thought about how I would want it released or anything. I just want a big new gorgeous KI. The most important thing, the roster, can be divided into 4 categories.
First, the returning characters. I kept a majority of KI 2013’s roster but condensed it in a few places. Some characters remain on the roster, but haven’t changed much in the interim. They include.
- Glacius
- Chief Thunder
- Black Orchid
- Spinal
- TJ Combo
- Riptor
- Cinder
- Eyedol
- Maya
- Kim Wu
- Tusk
- Gargos
- Aria
- Mira
- Eagle
They would just need a brand-new costume and maybe a new move or two, but nothing that really changes the general feel of the character. But some have had significant alterations.
• Jago: He has spent time training with his old master, gaining new control over his tiger spirit. He can now engulf all of his attacks in fire, Ken Style, if he shadow enhances them.
• Sabrewulf: Similar to how the Hulk and Bruce Banner eventually make piece and merge into the entity known as “Professor Hulk”, Konrad has merged with the mind of the Wulf, creating a new entity known as “Baron Sabrewulf”. His posture is more refined and human, and he wears a bit more clothing, but he is still a large Wolf Man with very strong arms and very sharp claws. Think The Beast from the Disney movie. Baron Sabrewulf is generally slower and more powerful. No longer a raging monster, he’s calmer, refined, and calculated. Think of it like comparing Balrog to Dudley. His new Instinct mode would be a sort of “Rage Mode” where he gives in a bit and gains a speed increase but becomes much easier to break and punish.
• Fulgore: During the aftermath of the Gargos invasion, as Ultratech rose as the new global superpower, Eagle and Glacius staged a break-in at Ultratech HQ. Finding the experimental Fulgore that has a copy of Eagle’s brain, Glacius forcibly rips this piece of the robot’s neural network away and re-merged it with Eagle. While this results in Eagle soul finally being whole again, Fulgore no longer functions. And more cannot be manufactured without this working template. As a solution, ARIA’s chief engineer Robert Sheridan (We’ll get to him later) turns to ARIA’s “pet” Kilgore. Hooking the two together, Fulgore’s mind is reformed around Kilgore’s. Removing any humanity, the robot may have had. And as a bonus, thanks to a nano-shift transformer installed by Sheridan, Fulgore can change his arms into an upgraded version of Kilgore’s (Basically, he gets a new command move where his stance swaps and his blade attacks are replaced with Kilgore’s gun attacks).
• Sadira: Sadira is losing control of her powers, her new mask is hiding something. She’s resembling a Spider more and more each day. She is becoming a Jorōgumo. She has grown multiple eyes and her webs are now organic. She can even sprout spider legs from her back when needed.
• Kan-Ra: Kan-Ra summoned Aganos back to the mortal plane and stripped him of much of his power as a Light Lord. He now assists the resurrected Shadow Lords, as only a balance of Light and Shadow can allow them to merge the earth with the Astral Plane. Kan-Ra’s appearance is rejuvenated, and dresses in more regal Babylonian clothes, while still wearing bandages to facilitate his attacks. He also has a Shang Tsung-esque move where he can steal either shadow or instinct.
• Omen: Omen was alone. His master vacating this plane of existence to reform and regroup. He needed power, but his access to Shadow Energy was gone. Fortunately, there remained one source of Shadow for him to absorb. He possessed and merged with the entity known as Shadow Jago taking that body as his own. He kept a couple of Shago’s tricks (the areal spin, the slide, his phase-dodge) but maintained all of his devastating Shadow Energy moves, as well as Omen’s stance. He also lost Shago’s sword. He doesn’t need it. I imagine him looking like Shadow Jago wearing Omen’s mask with a shaved head and blue Geese Howard pants.
• Aganos: Aganos now inhabits a stone statue version of his true Light Lord form, He can still form his slam arm, peacemaker, armor, and walls using light constructs and is generally a bit faster. He can also now use his resources to throw a large ball of light as well.
• Hisako: Hisako is now Shin Hisako all the time, but with vanilla Hisako’s counter meter. With her moves adjusted as to not make the fighter completely broken.
Then we have the new characters. And yes, I know I’ve floated some of these ideas before. I just like them and wanted to bring them back for this.
• Kelvin: Mer’ik Deem, alien criminal chased to Earth by Glacius. Uses ice attacks and freezing for a rushdown playstyle. Not much to this one really, he’s just the rushdown Glacius people seam to want.
• Bruce: A shark monster made from TJ Combo’s DNA in an attempt to create an underwater Riptor/Fulgore. Rushes in biting and follows up with slashes from his webbed claws.
• Sol Dakuri: A Babylonian general cursed by the king he tried to overthrow to never heal his injuries. He entered hiding until Kan-Ra, and his cruel sense of humor, fixed him by turning him into a tree. He was then reanimated into a moveable entity by contact with his legendary hammer. Fights like a mix of Aganos and Thor. Instead of rocks he throws seed pods for a trapping maneuver and uses his new tree-hammer-arm for an unblockable slam attack.
• Wildcard: A fighter with a unique rhythm in life, at a young age Chad Bowman and his family were abducted by the Cult of G’tharka. They killed his parents before his eyes and bound their souls to him using shadow. The trauma inspired him to fight demons when he grew up, renaming himself Wildcard, but as a coping mechanism, he doesn’t take anything seriously. The ritual also granted him enhanced speed and reflexes, as well as the ability to channel Shadow energy for magical spells. Essentially Johnny Cage mixed with John Constantine and Red Hood, Wildcard uses spells for telekinesis and energy beams. He can call apon his parent’s spirits to either grant a strength boost or a speed boost. He also has two small pistols, easily the fastest projectile in the game. He has a magical talisman that can be used like Shinnok’s amulet in MKX, copying one move from his opponent’s move list, however, obvious physical differences between the characters can result in the copied ability not being as effective as the same move on its native character.
• Wendigo Tsar: Long ago, the New tsar was a Babylonian noble who lusted for power. For his treachery, he was cursed with eternal bloodlust by his king. After years of hiding, he founded the Coven and became the New Tsar to seize power over Russia. He used the curse of the wendigo to increase his ranks, however his control of the curse technically made him the successor to the current wendigo king. When he died, the Tsar was transformed. His two curses compounding into a bloodthirsty monster of the night. Heavy rushdown with a health siphon neck-bite. Maybe some warlock-style weather magic too.
• Baal: The djinn of lightning and electricity, Baal was happily creating mischief throughout the middle-east when The Shadow Lords invaded. And if the earth was destroyed, then he would have nothing and no one to play with. So, Baal possessed Abir Toma, a renowned Middle-eastern wrestler, and began plowing his way through Ultratech and Shadow forces. The closest thing Killer Instinct will ever have to a grappler, Baal is extremely strong and surprisingly quick on his feet. Think a mix of of Zangief and Cole MacGrath. He has a running charge which ends in a bear hug that delivers multiple electrical jolts to the oponant. He can channel electricity into his fists to enhance his punches. And can combo directly after throws by channeling lightning through them at the end of the grab. All his potential combo starters have long startup time which leaves him vulnerable.
• Robert Sheridan: Robert Sheridan is the head of research and development at Ultratech. Most of Ultratech’s deadliest weapons, from the improved Fulgore MK III to the upcoming Project: Sharkman, were his brainchild. Sheridan moves to a beat of his own, and just about everything in his lab doubles as some sort of musical instrument. When going into battle, Robert uses his custom built (and patent pending) Ultratech Personal Combat Armor. Fitted with rocket booster legs, laser-guided missile arm cannons, a laser helmet/weakness detecting scanner, and a sonic disruption pulse built into the chest plate. Sheridan is first and foremost a zoner. Most of his attacks are projectiles, and he has very little up-close defense. His rocket boosters let him perform an enhanced back-dash attack which repels him from his opponent, or he can use the sonic pulse to launch them away. When he is far away, his missile-launchers and laser blasts are going to be your best friend.
• Stinger: A mindless insectoid alien from another planet. Stingers are hive-minded organisms who exist only to propagate their species. Stinger’s do this by encasing a lifeform from the target planet in a pod, then infusing said lifeform with Stinger DNA. A Stinger egg was frozen onboard Glacius’s ship, and when the ship crashed it hatched and turned one of Ultratech’s search dogs into the new Stinger Queen. It transformed several Ultratech soldiers before they managed to contain the beasts. The Stinger it now used as a hunter drone by ARIA, sending them to abduct and transform targeted individuals into new Stingers for her to sell. Unbeknownst to her, it is propagating its own hive in the basement. A fast and furious all-rounder, Stinger’s multiple limbs make for quick high-damage combos. It has an acid spit attack, and a forward charge. It also can hover and move around in the air ala Mortal Kombats Sindel.
• Yeyzas: Assuming that Glacius had perished on Earth, the Alliance of Worlds dispatched an agent to Earth to apprehend Mer’ik Deem and capture the Stingers. Yeyzas is the most feared being on her homeworld and master of the laser whip. Her kelridium body armor is stronger and lighter than titanium and is typically used to craft starship hulls. She obeys the person with the most cash and will stop at nothing to accomplish her goals. Killer Instinct’s Omega Red, Yeyzas uses her whip for fast strikes and long-distance throws. One of her attacks involves her curling the whip around her opponent and rapidly unwinding it, turning her enemy into a top. She can strike the ground to generate a wave of sparks. She can also call in support from her spaceship ala Cassie Cage.
• Son Wu-Kong: Born centuries earlier, Son Wu-Kong lives for battle. However, unlike other entities that thrive on combat, Son Wu-Kong has a strong sense of honor and always seeks a fair fight. Sense opponents of his caliber have long sense disappeared, he went into a hibernative state. Then Gargos invaded and changed all that. Yearning for battle once more, he has come to America to enter Ultratech’s New Killer Instinct Tournament. His attacks revolve around his staff, chi manipulation, and his transformations. His staff has long reach, and he supplements that with blasts of chi energy, which get more powerful the more successful combos (with enders) that he executes. He can morph into a tiger, eagle, or an ox for three different level charges. He also has a Shadow Jago teleport move, but it is attached to no attack and works best as a dodge.
• Master Abbot: The master martial artist monk who trained Jago. He can curve his fireballs up and down, as well as rapid fire them. Instead of a wind kick, he has a triple spinning stomp attack. He lacks an uppercut due to his old age but has gained a special rising head-charge attack. He also has a parry/grab attack.
• Kara: Kara began her life as an assassin at age 16, when Ultratech took her in off the streets. They trained her in close quarters combat and shaped her into a deadly killing machine that they could use to eliminate public enemies of the corporation. During her time there, she grew close to lead engineer Robert Sheridan. After she was slayed in battle, the grief-stricken Sheridan brought her back to like as a Frankenstein like monster. She plays like a very strong Raiden. Electric streams, voltage punches, electric jolts, and lightning traps. Very setup heavy.
• Baba Yaga: An ancient and powerful witch from Russia. Baba Yaga has been entrapped by Ultratech to replace Kan-Ra as the organization’s sorcery expert. Her magic and crippled stature makes her a zoning and environment character. A bit like Injustice’s Dr. Fate. She can throw small bottles of witch’s brew, create hex circles as damage patches, and almost every normal is a magical bolt.
• Ditso the Clown: Before becoming head of R&D, Robert Sheridan was an engineer in the entertainment wing of Ultratech. While there, he designed a series of robots which would perform at restaurants for children. The star performer being a female clown robot named Ditso (Robert Sheridan is very much a chauvinistic pig). However, to save time on programing, he used movement data from the Kilgore prototypes to build the animatronics movement patterns. This resulted in Ditso murdering a small child, Lacy Caddick, who happened to resemble a known advocate against Ultratech. After the incident, Ditso was decommissioned and locked in a warehouse. Unbeknownst to anyone however, Lacy’s spirit was inhabiting the robot. Driven crazy by isolation, and an inability to say anything other than thinly veiled innuendoes, Ditso enhanced herself with components from other scrapped weapons in the warehouse and broke out to seek her revenge. Essentially Alisa from Tekken gone wrong, Ditso has a chainsaw on one hand and a flamethrower on the other. Her head is on fire and she has machine guns in her breast plates (isolation and innuendoes will do that to you). She has a scream attack which causes a stagger and has a jumping slash attack which covers a lot of distance. The downside being a general slow walking speed.
• Babs Young: Barbara Melody Young, Babs for short, is a teenage time master from the year 2094. Part of an order tasked with protecting the time stream from damage, and ensuring history unfolds the way it should. Babs is currently assigned to make sure the Shadow Lords do not destroy the planet in the distant past of 2019. Babs is obsessed with skating culture from the early 21st century, and always travels around on high-tech hover-blades. She also carries a temporal distorter, allowing her to create localized time anomalies while fighting. Babs has unparalleled mobility, having the fastest walking speed in the game. She has a parry attack that functions like Bayonetta’s with time in Super Smash Brothers. Her distorter allows her to enhance her own speed and slow down the oponant, essentially making her a speedster. She has a pair of blasters as well. She’s very much a Tracer-style hit-and-run character.
• G’tharka: Another ancient Shadow Lord like Gargos and Eyedol. G’tharka was imprisoned at the bottom of Earth’s ocean by the Ichoriens before Gargos slayed the others. Far stronger than Gargos ever was, G’tharka was reawakened by the Shadow Lord’s invasion. He has long reaching tentacles and telepathic attacks. He doesn’t look physically intimidating, he’s actually very slender, but he is extremely strong and dangerous.
• Mollusca: Basically, G’tharka’s Mindless Ones. Molluscas are humans transformed into hulking snail monsters by the Shadow Lord’s powers. Repurposed from Kevin Baylis’s old design.
• Hannya: Hannya, the Shadow Lady from Japan, was kept in check by Hisako’s presence in the region. But as she travelled on her vengeance quest, the magical safeguards keeping her imprisoned weakened and eventually failed. Hannya has joined up with her Shadow Brothers to finally gain control of the world. Hannya has three stages. Her normal form is a Japanese woman wearing a hannya mask who wields a pair of Tessen fans. Depending on how well she does, (Keeping high combos and doing high damage and vice versa), she gets stronger or weaker. At full power she is a full Aku-esque Yokai, she also has an in-between phase that’s sort of half and half. Basically, she starts as a very basic and powerful character, and as she progresses she becomes more and more of a glass canon.
• Bhalnon: The final Shadow Lord, and a Dark Souls/Sauron esque fighter. He’s a medieval European warlord who became a Shadow Lord because of the sheer amount of slaughter he wrought. His sword is almost as large as Cloud Strife or Gut’s swords. He holds it over his shoulder and he can swing it with extraordinary strength. He also has a few dark magic attacks that stun or stagger. He’s all about defense and strategy, manipulating the fight in his favor so he doesn’t have to try.
Now, we come to something I think would be pretty cool. Make Battletoads cannon and treat it like KI’s Final Fight. Battletoads has some really cool character designs that I think would really work in KI. Rash would return and be mostly the same, but here are some other characters I think could be imported over.
• Zitz: Zitz, the team’s leader. I had an idea for him’ but someone in the comments came up with a better one, so I’m linking it here.
• Pimple: Pimple is slow and strong. He uses sledge hammers, anvils, giant boots, and a stomp where he turns into a 10-tonne weight.
• Robo-Manus: Robo-Manus is referred to as a Mutant Biogen: a half-organic, half-machine mutant monstrosity, armed with a potent array of weapons. Manus serves as one of the Dark Queen’s two main guardians, the other being Big Blag. He is armed with a rapid-fire laser blaster, a pair of blaster cannons on his arms and capable of launching flaming, mortar-like projectiles from his body, and a command full screen jump that can follow up with a stomp crush.
• General Slaughter: General Slaughter is a bull that serves as one of the main villains that works for the Dark Queen. He’s a tall bull with a muscular physique and purple mohawk. His outfit is mainly black leather, including boots, briefs, a spiked collar, spiked shoulder pads, and a metal Viking helmet. His strategy consists of pounding you, charging, and ramming you offscreen.
• Dark Queen: The Dark Queen, also known as just Dark Queen, is the main antagonist in the Battletoads series. She can spin into a tornado, attack with her brand-new whip, throw fireballs, and transform into a flame to move across the floor.
The story reason for their inclusion is that the toad’s chased The Dark Queen and her forces to Earth, where she plans to harness Shadow energy to create a super-soldier army.
We also have a couple guest characters who act as genuine guests.
• Joanna Dark Quick strikes, but better for zoning. Starts with standard weapons, but can call in weapon drops to get other/more powerful attacks with varying drop rates.
• Agent 4: @TempusChaoti said is best here.
The only thing I added was naming him Agent 4, as that is what they called the Agent guest character in Perfect Dark HD.
• Scorpion: Mostly Mortal Kombat’s scorpion with his speed cranked up to allow for better comboing. He can also whip people around using his spears instead of just pulling them in. Like his Injustice super move.
• Cyber Demon: Considered to be the most significant marker of success in the development of Argent-Organic research, the Cyber Demon is the flagship creation of the Lazarus Project. The symbiotic union of a Baalgar demon found during the second Project Lazarus Manned Expedition (MTC 2148/177) and an Argent Accumulator, this beast is capable of withstanding so much punishment that the creature must be kept in permanent suspended animation. It has a special Rocket Launcher which can launch many smaller missiles at the Player and has the capability to charge up and shoot a massive and powerful laser. It also has an aerial bombardment weapon on its back which can be used to bomb the stage. It will also charge in a defensive or offensive action, either moving away from fire or dashing towards the opponent. It also has the ability to throw walls of fire towards the opponent.
Please tell me what you guys think. Suggest improvements if you want. Just please don’t post a simple “I don’t like that” because it doesn’t help me understand your point or improve my own designs.
