In an interview with Game Informer, Boon was asked about Fujin and how NetherRealm decided on adding him to MK11. Boon responds with a somewhat fragmented statement. " I think over the years, we have 80 Mortal Kombat characters in some capacity," Boon starts, perhaps to acknowledge that Mortal Kombat is always expanding with new fighters. “The reason we added Fujin was because he hasn’t been seen in a game for so long.”

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“If we just did Mileena, Kitana, Jade, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Rain, you know, all these characters, I think it would get stale after a while,” is how Boon characterizes the underlying issue. He believes that it’s necessary to “give characters a rest” from time to time, which makes their eventual return in another Mortal Kombat DLC or sequel a big deal. “It’s a novelty, and so we’re just kind of spreading it.”

But while Boon explains that the diverse roster of MK11 is the best thing for the game and for fans, he also says it’s good for NetherRealm’s developers, too. He explains how Fujin’s designers started by saying they thought they could do “something really cool with this character with wind and running on the wind and doing stuff with his sword.” For MK11’s developers, being able to experiment with gameplay and do something new and fun is a priority.

Obviously, NetherRealm has gone out of its way to add a lot of more traditional Mortal Kombat characters to MK11, too. But when the roster is already so big and the team is working on its umpteenth DLC character, it’s hard to blame them for doing something different.

That’s not to say that these characters, Reptile and Mileena and others, won’t be back in the future. They may even be back in Mortal Kombat 11, since the game’s future DLC plans have yet to be announced. For the time being though, hopefully Mortal Kombat 11 fans enjoy Fujin, RoboCop, and Sheeva, given the clear thought and effort that’s gone into the Aftermath expansion. Aftermath releases on May 26.

Mortal Kombat 11 is available now PC, PS4, Stadia, Switch, and Xbox One.

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Source: Game Informer