I love gust characters in fighting games. I love crossovers in general, and love it when two fictional universes collide. And I love Rash and Arbiter, they are perfect characters for KI. That being said, there is one avenue I would like to explore. Guest characters from non-video games.
One of the reasons I love Mortal Kombat is that its guest characters are almost all exclusively from movies (I’m looking at you Kratos), and comics if you count Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. I refuse to believe that Mortal Kombat is the only fighter that can pull this off. While I still struggle to do this with Street Fighter, Killer Instinct is a bit easier to pick for. So below are my opinions as to who is appropriate and why.
Raphael: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an epitome of randomness translating into success, and Ninja Turtles as a property, fits Killer Instinct for the same reason that Battletoads fits (action-adventure super powered anthropomorphic animals). As for choosing which Turtle, it is a matter of process of elimination. We already have two sword fighters, so Leonardo is out. We already have a master of the Nunchaku, so we also have to dismiss Michelangelo, plus his personality is a little to similar to Rash. That leaves Donatello and Raphael, and while Donnie would be cool, there are frankly better and more unique concepts for bo fighters in the community. So that leaves Raphael. A sai wielder is something unique in terms of KI fighting styles. The move-set is easy enough to dream up, just cross Mortal Kombat’s Mileena with Bowser in Smash Bros, and you’ve got Raphael.
Lion-O: When I first posed this question to myself, the first thing I came up with was He-Man (In my opinion, the 90’s in video-gaming is roughly analogous to the 80’s of cartoons, anything goes so long as it’s big an muscular). However, then Tusk happened. Now we already have a musclebound blond guy with a big sword. So the next best thing is to use Master of the Universe’s rival, Thundercats. Lion-O is the mascot, so using him makes the most sense, and while he is a sword-fighter, he also has a set of grappling hooks which could function similarly to Scorpion’s spear, or Triborg Smoke’s trident. He also has a smoke screen, which could function like a stun or a stagger, and Power Beyond Power could work as his instinct mode.
Spawn: I think we all can agree that after Soul Calibur 2, Spawn needs to step into the ring of a fighting game again. Plus, the fact that Todd McFarlane allowed Spawn to be exclusive to the Xbox version of that game, he is willing to promote Microsoft. Spawn’s move-set would be unique to say the least. Guns, chains, necroplasm magic, that sick ax from SoulCal. Plus his suit can actually act on it’s own, so his combat trait could be him being able to do more than one attack at once! Oh, my goodness he needs nerfed and he’s not even in the game!
So those are my thoughts. What characters from non-video games do you want to see in Killer Instinct. Special challenge to think of someone from a movie, cause that’s got me stumped. Post your ideas below.