In a recent Q&A session on Twitter, Ed Boon responded to a fan’s question that inquired about the possibility of more 3D era characters returning in Mortal Kombat 12. “Yes, you will,” boldly proclaimed Boon over Twitter in response to the question.

With this in mind, which 3D era characters — Mortal Kombat 4, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Mortal Kombat: Deception and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon — could we potentially see in Mortal Kombat 12? For the sake of this list, we’ll be excluding Quan Chi, Kenshi, Shinnok, Tanya, Bo’ Rai Cho, Frost and Fujin since all of these characters have appeared in either Mortal Kombat 9, Mortal Kombat X or Mortal Kombat 11.

Yes you will.

— Ed Boon (@noobde) December 11, 2022

Let’s take a look at five 3D era Mortal Kombat characters that we haven’t seen in a long time. It should also be noted that I’ll be attempting to include at least one candidate from each of the Mortal Kombat games from the 3D era.

Reiko made his debut appearance in Mortal Kombat 4. At first, there were plenty of mysteries surrounding Reiko in Mortal Kombat 4, especially with regards to his endings in Mortal Kombat 4 and Mortal Kombat Gold.

Some of Reiko’s special moves include the Assassin Throwing Stars, a teleport, a flip kick and a shoulder ram that’s intended to be reminiscent of Shao Kahn’s iconic attack. For his weapon, Reiko has been known to pull out a crude hammer that’s functionally similar to Shao Kahn’s Wrath Hammer.

Essentially, Reiko’s goal is for him to become Shao Kahn’s successor. As such, Reiko is often trying to emulate what Shao Kahn is most known for.

First appearing in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Nitara is effectively the only vampire that’s been playable throughout Mortal Kombat’s history. At one point, there were plans for a male vampire character to join Nitara in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, but this was supposedly scrapped due to a lack of time.

Nitara’s attacks include the Blood Spit projectile, a flip kick and the ability to fly (via her wings). Despite being a vampire, Nitara is noted for being morally neutral in the Mortal Kombat lore, although there’s a need for her to feast of blood to sustain herself.

Making her debut appearance in Mortal Kombat: Deception, Ashrah gives off the appearance of an attractive young woman. However, appearances can be deceptive as she is actually a demon who originated from the NetherRealm.

Notable attacks for Ashrah include the Lightning Blast, Heavenly Light, Spin Cycle and Nature’s Torpedo special moves. Returning Ashrah to the Mortal kombat lore could give us better insight about her demonic origins.

Shujinko was effectively the main protagonist of Mortal Kombat: Deception and is the character most at fault for Onaga’s return in that game. Thanks to a supernatural ‘gift of the gods,’ Shujinko is able to perfectly copy moves from other fighters.

Throughout his time as a playable character, Shujinko has been able to acquire Scorpion’s Spear Throw, Sub-Zero’s Icy Breeze, Kobra’s Flaming Fist, Liu Kang’s Bicycle Kick and more. Essentially, Shujinko is Shang Tsung without the transformation part.

Taven made his debut appearance in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon as one of the very few newcomers in that game (since all the old characters had returned). Notably, Taven was also the protagonist of the game’s Konquest mode.

As an Edenian Demi-God, Taven has the Inner Fire, Ring of Hatred, Godly Charge, Speed of Light and other specials in his arsenal. Exclusively in the Konquest mode, Taven even had the ability to briefly stop time.