5 Characters we want to see in Mortal Kombat 11

#1 Smoke/Noob Saibot

With Raiden attempting to prevent invasions, Noob could be a deadly foe for the Thunder God

Prior to 2011, not many people cared about Noob Saibot or Smoke. In fact, those in control of the series cared so little about them that they decided to combine them into one character in later games, only using up one character slot.

However, with the release of Mortal Kombat 2011, fans were treated to something completely different. Once throwaway characters, Smoke and Noob were now their own unique ninjas. Mortal Kombat 9 focused on the story of Noob, the original Sub-Zero, Bi-Han, who was assassinated by Scorpion, who had been led to believe that Bi-Han had murdered his entire village and family by the Netherrealm sorcerer Quan Chi.

This was all part of Quan Chi's plan, as he turned the violently murdered soul of Bi-Han into a wraith known as Noob Saibot. Now a deadly Netherrealm assassin loyal only to himself, Noob vowed to one day rule over the realm.

Smoke, who by the time he was playable in the original timeline was a cyborg, was playable as a human in the current timeline. Smoke's current incarnation was pretty unique considering he used to be a carbon copy clone of Scorpion/Sub-Zero and later on Cyrax/Sektor, given long locks of silver hair that covered his face.

Smoke's story revolved around Raiden and the rest of his warriors attempting to prevent the future from happening, including preventing Smoke from being turned into a cyborg. While they were unable to save Bi-Han, they were able to prevent Smoke from meeting his original destiny, though the new Sub-Zero Kuai Liang would take his place.

Both of these characters, now with more fleshed out backstories, were also given some updated special attacks.

Noob's playstyle focused around summoning a shadow version of himself, sending him out like a projectile. For example, he turned his old Sub-Zero techniques into more wraithlike versions of them, turning the Lin Kuei Slide into the Shadow Slide. Fighting Noob Saibot became a 2-on-1 affair, but one that felt more intriguing and deadly than when Noob and Smoke were a package deal.

Smoke's new abilities revolved around deception, smoke, and teleportation. The Lin Kuei assassin could turn into a cloud of smoke and move around the opponent, teleport behind them to get a free hit or throw a smoke cloud at his opponent's feet, which would teleport them into the air closer to Smoke, allowing him to connect with a combo.

Both of these characters were left out of Mortal Kombat X, save for a few mentions in the story and a few appearances here and there. But they weren't playable, and that was a disservice to the work that was done to make them worthwhile in Mortal Kombat 2011.

It's time to bring these two back to our consoles this year.

Who do you want to see return to the roster in Mortal Kombat 11? Let us know in the comments below!