Who is the face of the Killer Instinct franchise?

I think your poll will end up being the deciding factor :wink:

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It depends on the game, really.
To fall back on the example of Mortal Kombat. When you ask someone about Mortal Kombat, chances are they’re going to present you with one 3 lines:
ā€œFINISH HIMā€, ā€œFATALITYā€, and ā€œGET OVER HERE!ā€
You can see where that’s going. Even with several iconic characters that helped to define the game’s iconic status, Scorpion’s signature line has become as synonymous with the game as the Fatality.

I can agree that Killer Instinct is a lot more open ended than MK in terms of Mascots, but at the same time it’s clear that certain characters are likely have more authority than others.
For example, not every character in the game has been there for the whole franchise.
Furthermore, several characters have undergone drastic redesigns, such as Jago, Riptor, Cinder, Orchid, Maya, and Spinal. More often than not these were for the better, but then when it comes to other characters, their designs have remained timeless, unchanged…

And this is where I turn attention once more to Fulgore, who’s been here since the beginning, and who’s design as remained iconic for over 20 years, so much so that he hasn’t undergone nearly the same level of change.


Much like Scorpion’s trademark ā€œyellow ninjaā€ look, Fulgore has maintained his appearance for over 20 years. It’s not impossible to assume that he’s far more recognizable than the modern incarnations of other classic characters -I mean, you could take someone who played the old games and had no idea there was a new KI; you could show them Fulgore and you could show them the redesigned Orchid, chances are they’ll recognize Fulgore much easier than Orchid- so it serves to bolster the idea that Fulgore himself would serve as KI’s most prominent figurehead.
Just my observations and opinions based on the evidence available.

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I don’t think he is. But I do want to know if they are trying to do that to bring in new fans to KI.

Hahha maybe i should poll this too haha.



Looks like fulgore is featured mostly. Considering Fulgore is Kevin bayliss’s favorite thats no suprise BUT id say spinal and orchid holding ki 1 and ki 2 arcade units were HUGE.

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I just HAD to use this pic,lol:

  • Sabrewulf and Jago on the TE2 box in the background
  • Jago/Thunder/Wulf/Glacius on the arcade stick

sorry for borrowing this pic @CrazyLCD but you look good :sunglasses:
(send me a pm and I’ll take down the pic if you want)

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Lool lcd looks so young there

I don’t think KI has a poster child in todays world. When MS promotes KI it’s usually just the logo KI. No actual character promotes the game unless its in a trailer. Personally what I think makes a character the poster child is if regular non players know the name. Like in SF everyone knows Ryu. I don’t think any KI character is a household name.

Face of the franchise is usually a highly popular AND highly effective character int he game, that sticks out when you see usage rates.

It’s easy when you’re thinking about Scorpion and Ryu sticking out in their large rosters.

KI… well this KI2013 and KI2, they’re both built to be highly balanced, so it is indeed a lot more difficult to find a face. But generally it’s gonna be in the first crop of characters and promo art, so you gotta stick with S1 characters.

I’d stick with Jago. I mean… who else can you pick for dojo mode :stuck_out_tongue:

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XB1 Elite Controller Vs Fight sticks

Tough to argue with @Fwufikins on this one. Historically, Fulgore is without a doubt the face of KI. They saved him for last in S1 for this reason. But I think for KI2013 you could make a case for Jago as well. There really isn’t that strong branding for the game because there isn’t all that much physical material. You don’t see KI posters in game stores and arcade cabinets and the like.

Um… We don’t talk about controller and fightstick.

Fulgore and Spinal tend to get the most facetime in the older games. Probably Fulgore now.

Fulgore was the traditional face of KI. After that, I’d say Spinal.

I’m just saying having one or two characters representing ki as a whole is taking a step back sure there are standout characters but in the end it’s still Ultratech vs The World

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To quote myself: [quote=ā€œBoJima404, post:1, topic:1686ā€]
However lately, with so many great new characters, I actually think this image I held has gone away and that KI doesn’t really have ā€œa face of the franchiseā€ anymore. Am I wrong? It seems all characters can be on the cover and make KI look cool.
[/quote]
I do understand the history with Fulgore, Orchid, Spinal as many already explained, but I now tend to agree with those who say that more recently the logo of KI has more presence than a single character when it comes to promoting KI. Also, that the whole character cast stars and it is less about one or two characters these days.

Whether that is good or bad for recognizing the KI franchise, I don’t know but I much rather have a face again that is consistently used. For example I would like Season 3 to have an opening CG trailer that features Fulgore or someone. Of course apart from any character reveal trailer.

I really wonder what our MS/IG friends think.

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fulgore is the face or mascot of the franchise. But orchid is HANDS DOWN the most popular and recognizable character.

IDK why Scorpion is the face of MKX…if anything it should have been Shinnok, since he is the main antogonist of MKX. I think he is one of the weaker designed characters so I can understand why they didn’t use him. Why they didn’t use the Iconic MK Dragon logo IDK? Maybe they think scorpion is so iconic they thought or think that having him on the cover would push more copies. It doesn’t make sense though, scorpion is such a small part in the whole MK universe really. He is just an assasin, not a leading role in any MK.

I see where you’re coming from, but for these 20+ year franchises he has the nifty legacy factor. The ā€œcome hereā€ spear is a cultural icon that sells games to casuals… even though it’s never been anything to high level players.

But yeah, to your point… they don’t do anything with him in the story. at all. They have scorp on all the media and then choose to shove Johnny ā– ā– ā– ā– ā– ā– ā–  Cage down our throats. I mean really? Johnny Cage? who the ā– ā– ā– ā–  ever cared about Johnny Cage…

The face of KI is Kan-Ra…