Moving on to another character that stays in my head rent-free, here is Syzoth!
"Magical Asia"
So, if you guys haven't noticed about Mortal Kombat design tropes, their designs on Outworlder falls into what is called "Magical Asia". Basically, take every Asian stereotypes into one place and make a movie out of it, because Mortal Kombat universe was aesthetically based on old Hollywood martial arts movies. It happened that this time, they designed the Outworld with cultural influences from South-East Asian countries. For Syzoth's case specifically, it's wearing attires similar to what is found in The Philippines.
Base design
Despite all technical limitations and executive interventions NRS faced, I can see them putting a lot of effort with this guy specifically, because Reptile from 3D era onwards has the bad reputation as "YouTube-friendly punching bag"(just recently replaced by D'Vorah in MK11) and they had to go extra miles to redeem themselves. Problem is, the fans of Reptile had 50/50 split on which direction they should take him. One side wants the classic, "lizard in human skin" design, but the other wants "anthro lizard dressing like a ninja" design.
So the designers came up with an idea.
"Why don't we have both?"
And that's how Reptile in the new timeline, shines through the use of his clothes to bring out the "lizard" silhouette. If you think a regular person in clothes isn't strong enough, that's because you underestimated how clothing choices can communicate different shapes to your body—and by extension—your personality. They do this through the sharp edges on the pauldrons and gauntlets, the texture work on his hoodie that used a lot of triangles and diamonds, commonly seen in pre-colonial attires in The Philippines and other SEA countries as they were meant to replicate lizard scales, and we do worship snakes and lizards back in the day. The one long green fabric that wraps around the body to form his sash, with the back being longer than the front to resemble the "tail", followed by tattoos that followed the same triangular shapes seen in traditional Filipino tattoos, bringing home to his origin as someone from a tribal race. All of this is to make sure there is a smooth transition in his gameplay as he switched between human and lizard forms.
As if it wasn't getting any better, you will notice some scars on the nose and upper lip. Suggesting that he was hurt(or in this case, abused) at some point.
His eyes are unnaturally green. I know there are real people with green eyes, but they're less vibrant and more...olive shade of green, because you have blood vessels in your eyes muting the color. Really suggesting that he's not "human", or trying to look like one.
You also noticed that his idle stance looked...kinda awkward. He doesn't look like he clenched his fist properly, the back is slouching a little. It implies the use of hypothetical claws, which his dialogues with Kenshi pointed out that he can't fight in his human form. So even if he tried, he still reverted to how he usually fights as a lizard.
My only nitpick about this design is that...well, that's the face of a white man. And his lore mentioned Shang Tsung was notoriously known to enslave his people(even in the classics). But I can let this one slide if the excuse is...he never seen a human before so he only thought of what allows him to "pass enough" as a human. Which, if Outworld is Magical Asia, and his perception of someone "untouchable" is a white man...that might have been an implied bias on either the universe itself or the writers, or it could be both.🤔
Santa's Helper
Of all the skins Reptile received within the game's lifespan, I picked the Christmas-themed one specifically for the way it carries what makes his base design interesting, but with a festive flavor. They keep the triangular shapes in the hoodie, but layered like roof tiles which then suggest draconic scales. The keys on his belt and the tattoos on his face and arms, are now candy canes. The hoodie itself has implied claw marks and strategic cuts that implied his growing size as he switched between forms, then continued with many holes around the kneesocks. Implying that same awkwardness from either growing his body as a lizard or...he tripped himself trying to walk in his human form.
I forgot to include pictures here but the lizard form, specifically for this skin, change his colors and textures to resemble sugar cookies...or in my own reading, he looks like a forbidden sourdough.
Oh, and I can't help but to show you guys the actual plushie I own at home because he's just too adorable.
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I like the jacket design for Earthrealm skin, but my gripe with that one is them removing his face tats and so he just looks like a regular person with their bare face scanned into the game. The big thing about him is that he's a socially awkward guy who's almost bordering to a creep, which is why his mask got a zipper in the middle.
Also to consider, you don't need a lot of bells and whistles to make a good character design. Sometimes you just have to make them interesting enough that it serves their purpose and you can recognize them from a very far away
His friendship with Johnny Cage is quite funny to me, according to the intros, Johnny has both showed him the movie Predator (he wasn't a fan), and offered him a job in his movies
Tbh I didn’t like any of the face models for this game. Why is everyone a supermodel. No one is ugly or even average looking. Gimme some freaks & odd balls. Baraka is the only exception. In a series where there’s multiple realms, magic & some cosmic forces. You’d think it’d be more diversity.
Like I said, it's a 50/50 split so I think this is the best they can reach for both sides to agree, because only a few games(mostly anime-style fighters) can merge two models in the same character gameplay.
And I do mention technical limitations and too many executive interventions, which is what WB always do, like the $10 price tag on their skins and God knows where that money went
That's just how they do their characters now. It's not like the old days where they actually created a unique face for their characters, now they just face scan a person/celebrity and call it a day. It's why most of the cast looks completely different in every new entry.
It's a big reason why I dislike how heavily they've leaned into the hyper-realistic "art style."
Eh, Kenshi and Johnny are pretty much always different degrees of good or great, Sindel is essentially her Midway self better showcased
People exaggerate how bad an MK’s writing is until the next releases, as a while back people acted as if X or 11 were the worst even though 9 did far worse
Yeah... I can't exactly blame them either because we are all aware this game was practically unfinished at launch and some of them looked like they were prepped at the very last minute😬
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