Things that I have been thinking and bothers me

General Discussion
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First, many of us probably have been thinking about Thunder’s story from KI (1994)
In game’s lore he lost in tournament and didnt find out about Eagle, in comics he found out that Eagle actually was Fulgore (or at least one of those Fulgores) and in his ending in game, he visited at Eagles grave, and there was Spinal. So this is confusing. Is Spinal Eagle? Or does Spinal has something to do with Thunder and Eagle or with Eagles possible death?

Second, now when talking about Spinal, I dont think Rare ever has stated what is Spinal’s ethinity? Finnish wikipedia says, that he was japanese war lord. KI Wiki says that he was a war lord, but nothing about him being asian. Maybe if something could imply for Spinal being asian, could be his height (169cm) because asian people usually aren’t very tall, but thats not always like that. (Im finnish/gipsy and Im only 155cm, usually finnish women arent that short so…)
Well, Jago in the first game is not very tall either, but its possible that he really is asian, stated that he is tibetian monk and lives at Himalayas, but then what about his sister Orchid? English wikipedia says that in the KI comic issues its stated that she is european african (well I havent notice that even I have read all comics)

Finnish wikipedia also says, that Sabrewulf is a doctor and was employee of Ultratech. Well, Rare has never said that he was a doctor or Ultratech’s employee (neither has that said in game or guide book, nowhere actually expect in finnish wiki). Finnish wiki also says, that he suffers from genetic disorder that makes him that werewolf-like creature.
In Killer Instinct wiki in his KI1 extended lore it’s said that werewolf bit him, but in the comics Sabrewulf said that lycantropy has plagued his family for years. So, which one is true?

Finnish wiki also says that Cinder was suspected dead and that Orchid’s and Combo’s lores are in conflict with each other. These are not true either. Finnish wiki doesnt even have sources.

Yes, I really have overthought about a videogame and it’s lore and characters. :smiley: Im just a huge fan and I have loved Killer Instinct since the first time I played it as a little girl. So I would love to talk about this game with other KI fans.
Also, sorry if there’s mistakes in writing, but english is not my mother language.

Merry Christmas to all Killer Instinct fans!

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Welcome to the forums, dude! :smiley: Always a pleasure meeting a fellow KI fan. :slight_smile:

To answer your question, Spinal is not Eagle. He was the one who supposedly killed Eagle, but he is not Eagle. I think the idea Rare was trying to convey at the time was that Eagle’s spirit wasn’t at peace in the original game, that he would come back as some sort of undead being. That, or Spinal wasn’t dead and still had some hold over Eagle. I think the more likely explanation was that Rare wanted the former explanation, but, due to time or whatever, they wanted to reuse an asset, thus, Spinal was repurposed as “Eagle”.
In terms of Spinal’s “ethnicity”, in Season 1, he was this Lovecraftian warrior that’s like millions of years old and what inspired myths of the Kraken and other skeletal figures in mythology, but then in Season 2, they changed his background into this bandit from ancient Babylon who was punished (HATED that change).

Jago and Orchid, from my understanding, are stepsiblings, but it’s possible that Orchid is half-Asian.
In terms of Sabrewulf, Sabrewulf was never bitten by a wolf in the games - in the manual and other materials, it was a genetic disorder that he had that made him into a werewolf. Season 3 sort of changed his background by stating that he was a drunkard moron who had cut himself with a werewolf claw that his family had as a trophy, but to me the genetic disorder is far more interesting and tragic imo.
In terms of Sabrewulf’s connection to Ultratech, interestingly, that part was kept extremely vague in the games. A lot of the creatures in some form or fashion were Ultratech’s creations, but Sabrewulf was the odd one out along with Eyedol.

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Thank you! And yeah, its pleasure meet a fellow KI fan! (especially when here in Finland Killer Instinct is not very known, unfortunately). Im glad I found this forum too.

Yeah, that Spinal Eagle thing is really contradictory. But your theories are good. Oh, I didnt know that they changed Spinal’s backstory in season two. :o His ethnicity (whops I spelled it wrong earlier) is not sure in this reboot either, he’s now a bandit from ancient Babylon, but his theme song is sung by swedish. Is he possibly Mesopotamian like Kan-Ra or maybe Swedish?

I understood that Jago and Orchid are half siblings, they share the same mother or father. But yeah, Rare never stated neither of them actual ethnicity.

I haven’t read Sabrewulf’s reboot lore yet, I should probably do it. Okay, I dont know why KI wiki says that wolf bit Sabrewulf then, that’s weird.
That reboot revealed to us at least Sabrewulf’s ethnicity. I dont know if they decided to reveal it almost 20 years later or if they just made it up now. If I remember right, at least one of the original Killer Instinct’s developers are now occupied at this reboot. I thought maybe they wanted to reveal things to us now?

Have you played only this new Killer Instinct? And thank you, Im glad that at least one person responded me. :smiley:

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Yeah, I preferred his being a Lovecraftian horror as indicated in Season 1 myself since his prehistoric set was supposed to indicate how old he was.

No prob! :slight_smile: And no, I played the originals as well, although KI1 to this day still remains my favorite, if not the best. Not to say that KI2013 is bad or anything - it’s not - but it’s not as good as KI1 in terms of its look or story. It’s better than KI2/Gold, but nowhere near as good as the original imo.

If you’re interested, I’ve actually written a KI fanfic called “Zahn Und Klaue” that is a sort of prequel to KI1 that reconciles some of the things that happens in KI2013 with KI1.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13096584/1/Zahn-Und-Klaue

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Yeah, why they changed his story anyway?

I agree with you, reboot is good but first Killer Instinct is best. Do you have that Snes version?

Thanks, I will certainly read it!

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From what I gathered, it was to establish more of a connection to Kan-Ra, if not make Kan-Ra a more pivotal player imo.

Indeed I do, along with the original KI comic and soundtrack. :smiley:

I hope you like it. :slight_smile:

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Maybe. I like Kan-ra tho, but they still could let Spinal have his original lore.

Cool! I have SNES version too. Oh, that nostalgia.

What are your favourite characters?

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I think Kan-Ra is a good fit as well, especially in terms of his merchant-like role in s3.

Riptor, Fulgore, Sabrewulf, Cinder and Jago. How about you?

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I agree.

I like many characters, but favourites are Orchid, Spinal, Hisako and Kan-ra.

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Orchid and Hisako are really cool. Spinal, I was never really into him in the early games, but I loved his 2013 design with the Cthulhu shield - I hope the shield stays with him.

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Yeah, Orchid was first game’s hero, strong and beautiful woman who defeated Eyedol. Its a shame that comics didn’t reveal lot about her.

Then let’s hope he can keep his shield. :smiley:
His 2013 theme song is also cool.

It would be nice if Rare revealed more things about characters.

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Indeed. Interestingly, Orchid was the first female character in any fighting game to actually win a tournament within the fighting game genre.

I actually like that they hadn’t tbh; I don’t know, to me, Orchid is sort of like a female version of the Man With No Name - a character whose intrigue comes from her being a complete mystery. I kind of felt like with the 2013 game in S3 they made the mistake of diving too much into her backstory, so much so that it pretty much stripped the character of that enticing sense of mystique. It also seems to have made the eyebrow-raising mistake of defanging her by not having her as the one who kills Eyedol, placing far more emphasis on Jago and Tusk.

Here’s hoping.

I LOVED his KI2013 theme. Mick really knocked that theme out of the park. Shame that his Riptor theme wasn’t at all great, though. :frowning:

Indeed. Out of curiosity, have you seen some of videos by the original KI artist, Kev Bayliss? He has a video where he breaks down some of his concepts for KI1, including the vampire character that was originally planned for KI2.

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It could be possible that Spinal is actually Swedish, and had this sort of semi-permenant settlement in Babylon (being a bandit and a gang leader). I make it out that his theme song is sung by his followers and fellow bandits. Perhaps this bit is obvious. It’s not a bad story, it does inject a little personality into his character, but it’s still kinda vague and I too prefer Spinal being a prehistoric, eldritch Lovecraftian entity.

Rare back then apparently confirmed that Orchid was a mulatto (half African half European/American). That’s not the case in the 2013 reboot, however.
She might be Asian American or a Latina. Judging from her 2013 model, I think she might be Latina, but that’s just my opinion.
As for Jago, he’s definitely half Asian I think that’s pretty obvious.

And welcome to the forums! :smile:
It’s honestly real exciting meeting a fellow female KI fan! Maybe I might be wrong to assume but we don’t have alot of us, as much as I’d like to have atleast.

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I guess Mesopotamian sense he had a connection with Kan-Ra

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Yeah, way to go Rare! :smiley:

When you put it in that way, you have a point. I guess I still would want to know more about her, actually about all the characters. I don’t know, I just have always loved Killer Instinct and been very interested about lore and characters. Yes, despite it’s all fictional but still something just gets me. And I agree with that too that Orchid should have been more in evidence at the story in that reboot.

I LOVED his KI2013 theme. Mick really knocked that theme out of the park. Shame that his Riptor theme wasn’t at all great, though. :frowning:
I love his theme too! Mick surely knows how to make music! Yeah, Riptor’s new theme wasn’t my thing too.
And hey, not to mention 90’s Killer Cuts too! I don’t know about you, but I love them too.

Yeah, I found that. There was early design of some characters and he mentioned that vampire character. They were going to make Gargos a vampire, but that idea was scrapped. And Riptor was going to be more like a lizard man and named “Toxin” if I remember right.

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Yeah, he could be swedish who travelled to Babylon or possibly even lives there. It’s all vague. I didn’t even think about that thing that maybe his fellow bandits and followers sung his theme, that was good point to me. And I agree with you two with Spinal prefer being Lovecraftian warlord, but I think that lore is not bad either.

English wikipedia says that Rare has stated Orchid being mulatto in early games, but I haven’t never noticed where they have confirmed that. O.o Jago may be obvious, stated that he is tibetian monk.

Thank you! And yeah, I’m female too! It’s nice to meet you too and other KI fans and talk about KI. (finally)

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Yep, I guess. I think it still wouldn’t be necessary to change Spinal’s background, but that’s not bad change. What do you think?

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The citation on the wiki was
“More Racy Issues”. Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 89. Ziff Davis. December 1996. p. 338.
And here’s the link to the page of that issue:

The more you know!

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Wow… how I haven’t found this out?
Thank you! :heart:
At least I now know, like after 20 years. :smiley:

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I’d say his like some of the other changes were welcomed.

Other changes I felt were welcomed included the connection with Glacius and Cinder. Sense these two were at odds with each other in the original.

In a way the reboot does maintain a lot of what the original had.

Riptor’s change was smoothing that grew on me. Because science was used to make her they had to explain why she is able to use her tail and breath fire which was done cybernetic enhancements sense dromaeosaurs don’t use their tails in combat

though in the original they said human and reptillian DNA. So she had raptor DNA, but also had cobra and I’m guessing varanid lizard dna due to both of these two having venom, a forked tongue. though the cobra has a good and varanid lizards have used their tails to ward off threats.
Varanids ahve also used claws like raptors too.

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