Say your final farewell to those ninjas, fighting game fans…

In a recent interview with German outlet Das Voxel, NetherRealm Studios creative directer and Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon suggested that many mainstays of the fighting series’ roster will finally be retired after Mortal Kombat 11.

According to Boon:

“At the beginning, we just threw whatever we had against the wall to see what sticks… John (Tobias) and I were like ‘Hey we should do some ninjas, and remember that electric guy with the hat from that kung fu movie? We should do a character like that.’ It was all kind of thoughtless. Now that we’re all older and more educated about cultural sensitivities and appropriation and all that, I think it’s time that we retired a few of those characters. I mean, we’ve had 30 years with some of these characters now, and I think moving forward without them will be okay, and our fans, the real fans, will probably be okay with that, too.”

While it’s unclear how many or which characters will be dropped in future installments of the Mortal Kombat fighting game series, Boon is clearly referencing the thunder god Raiden and the palette-swapped fighters Scorpion and Sub-Zero.  You can watch Boon’s full comments here.

Are you bummed that your favorite character may not make the cut in future Mortal Kombat games? Let us know in the comments!

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