Board Thread:Mortal Kombat Wiki/@comment-25163804-20150630080221

It's been forever since I've written an MKX analysis, partially because there was no need to after April 14th. But in line with the most recent leaks, it was time to dust off the analytical parts of my mind and crack open... The Predator.

There are a few things to note. 1: According to Shoryuken.com, he's only visible as a Tower opponent as of yet, and 2: it seems all of my footage is from the Xbox One version of Mortal Kombat X. So, sadly, PS4 folks will have to wait a bit before seeing this killer moving about on their screens. Also, this loading screen was shown, and he is one ugly... you know what comes next.

Before I go any further, it should be worth noting that, as he is the opponent in a tower, only one Predator Intro is shown; he uncloaks and, from a point of view shot, presses some buttons on the wrist computer and looks up at the foe. Worth noting is that, depending on the variation, you will see the foe in thermal vision or the Predator's normal, all-red vision.

First up to bat is the Hish-Qu-Ten variation. As a Wikia Contributor noted, the Hish moniker came from 'Predator: Forever Midnight', a novel that brought a storyline so bad that Fox itself had to intervene and stop the 'Hish' references and bring Predator back as Yautja.

But, in MKX, there seems to be no true mention of the Hish outside of the name, as one of the defining features of the 'Hish' was a sort of 'kill gland' that put the 'Hish' in a fury that would see it kill any other living thing nearby, including other Predators. While none of the footage I have on hand for the Hish-Qu-Ten variation shows anything like this 'kill fury', it appears to be the only variation that feature's the Predator's iconic Shoulder Cannon.

The Shoulder Cannon can fire in multiple directions, including at three different ranges aimed at a



foe's feet. If Meter-burned, this particular attack fires up three plasma blasts at the three ranges. The Predator then tries for a powerful attack that changes how he faces the opponent, with the back facing the camera,



the Shoulder Cannon slides across to the right shoulder.

He then tosses a Smart Disc upwards, and it hovers above the



opponent briefly before slamming down. This can be meter-burned into two discs, which can be placed in different angles or in the same angle and fired down at the foe. This Special Attack is common across all variations, as well. The Smart-Disc is essentially a giant remote-controlled chainsaw-chakram that some Predators use to slice prey up at a distance.



The Predator also has access to his Combi-Stick in certain combos across all variations. The Combi-Stick is an exotic Predator weapon that amounts to an extendable spear, often thrown at opponents. As far as I know, this is the first time the Combi-Stick is used as a melee weapon by a Predator, although my memory as of late hasn't been very stellar.

Another move common across all variations is a pouncing stab attack featuring the Predator's wrist

blade. He leaps approx. 3/4ths of the screen and stabs the foe, lifting them up, then slamming them down either in front or behind him. The Predator can meter-burn this attack and slam them down for a pop-up. A deadly combo-ender or means to get in close, this attack should be taken seriously. After playing on the defensive for quite some time, Jason finally attacks Predator viciously. In the bloodbath, one can see that the Predator's blood is the bright green we know and love it for. The Predator's camo also returns, in all variations. As of yet, it is unknown what benefits the camo will have. The Predator does have a straight shot with the Plasma Caster as well, but because of how high the projectile is, I'm certain smaller characters like Jacqui or Sonya would simply stand under the projectile, but it remains to be seen.

The Predator's throw is a brutal one. He stabs into the foe with his Wrist Blade after hoisting them up, then rakes the blades back down before tossing the foe aside. There is a Brutality variant of this move, but that will come later. The Predator's backing away animation has him clean the blade with a sort of laser from his Wrist Computer, before retracting the blade. After this, he becomes visible again, only to Meter-Burn the invisibility and throw Jason. Jason combos the Predator, which does not fade



the camo away and nullifies damage like Reptile's; instead, electrical effects spark across the cloaked Predator, with no noticeable change in damage, no super drain, nothing. Perhaps the data for the Invisibility is incomplete, and thus no effects become apparent, or perhaps Invisibility will just be a novelty move. Predator retaliates from the assault by firing three blasts of Plasma from the Caster in a straight line, doing 13% damage.

The Predator then fires an anti-air Plasma Caster blast which completely misses Jason, but it is



worth noting that the Caster will be a formidable weapon, with firing options from almost any angle. After trading blows for a while, I spotted something about the Caster. It has next to no recovery time between shots, meaning the Predator might be able to trade different types of shots back and forth to keep the foe zoned. Be wary of the Hish variation, lest you get zoned.



Jason eventually loses, and Predator does not finish the immortal killer... at least, in the conventional sense. After punching Jason during the 'Finish Him!' prompt, the Predator walks to the downed Jason and rips out his spine and skull, roaring in triumph. We then get treated to a shot of the inside of the Predator's ship, which is almost identical to the ship interior seen in Predator 2, complete with all the skulls seen there.



The Predator adds Jason's skull to the collection, and walks away. Let me re-iterate; the Predator will never not kill you if you lose to him; even if he does not perform a Brutality or Fatality, he'll just turn you into a trophy...ality?

The next variation shown is the Warrior variation, and is the



maskless variation; Predator's ugly mug is shown in its full glory, complete with blood-red vision as he looks at his foe, in this case, Tanya. After some very impressive combat from both the Predator and Tanya, The Predator laughs like in the first Predator film briefly as he crackles with electricity, eventually releasing a blast of energy that, with the pounce done to Tanya, knocks her very high into the air. There is a Brutality called Final Kountdown whose screenshot (that was on Reddit, but now taken down) had the same crackling energy around him, seems to point to a Brutality where he takes his



own life to kill the foe, like in several Predator films, like the first one. And if you are wondering, it does damage the Predator by a hefty amount.



Tanya ends the fight by using her X-Ray at the 'Finish Him!' prompt, and we get to see the Predator's skull. It is exquisitely preserved from the source material, including the odd divots in the skull where I think the 'dreads' attach. Something I did notice was I didn't see anything unique about the Warrior variation, although I suspect that the Explosion attack might be unique to it.

Before I continue on, I will note that a second match with Tanya is shown, but nothing new that way



comes excluding the Predator winning and taking Tanya's skull as a trophy. I only point this out as an excuse to show you the interior of the ship and the other skulls. Hope you guys don't mind :).

And finally, we come to the Hunter Variation, which features a black mask instead of the grey one the Hish variation wears. Also unique to this variation is a mine-like device he can plant that



remains active as long as Predator doesn't take a direct hit, once a brief activation period is finished. Bonus; this fight is against Carl Weathers Jax. Anyway, this mine-like device has two functions. The Predator can remote-detonate it, or use it to activate a snare that sets up the foe for a free hit. Interestingly, while initial analysis seemed to indicate two detonation functions for non-meter-burned mines, slowing the footage down shows the



snare function triggers before the Predator actually detonates the mine, meaning it automatically snares the opponent, but Predator can choose to make the mine explode. Asides from this, nothing special happens until the end.



We first get a glimpse at Predator's Fatality here. Predator stabs Jax and hoists him up, then plants a Smart Disc in his face. Predator's blades retract, allowing the foe to fall and the disc to slice Jax's skull open, revealing the brain. Not too impressive, to be quite honest, especially compared to the brutal non-fatality victory animation. The Brutality's alright, too. Predator rips upward with his blades, then rips down, taking the head with it.



The blades retract, the head falls, and Predator cloaks and leaves, laughing maniacally. And that concludes the analysis. What do you guys think? Lemme know, and as always, thanks for reading :) 