Killer Instinct/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Introduced in Killer Instinct

Chief Thunder

During the previous Killer Instinct tournament, Chief Thunder's brother, Eagle, was one of the combatants. When Eagle did not return, Thunder entered the next tournament hoping to either return or avenge Eagle.

Cinder

Ultratech promised they would release Cinder from prison early if he would allow them to experiment on him. When their chemical weapons experiment failed, it mutated him into living flame. If he wants to become normal once more, he must defeat Glacius.

Fulgore

A prototype cybernetic soldier created by Ultratech. He was put into the Killer Instinct to test his abilities. If he proves effective, mass production will begin. He was killed by Jago in the tournament, but robots don't die that easily.

After the original's death, Ultratech builds a new, deadlier Fulgore. When Ultratech HQ is sent into the past, he is released with one order: kill Jago.

Glacius

An alien from who-knows-where captured by Ultratech and forced to fight in Killer Instinct, supposedly to prove aliens' inferiority. He eventually defeated Cinder and escaped to his homeworld.

But 2000 years in the past, the remaining combatants have been thrust back in time, and Glacius's ancestors are all trapped on Earth. One of them, also named Glacius, seeks to free them and return home.

Jago

A Tibetian monk mentored by the Tiger Spirit who believes it his destiny to destroy Ultratech.

Black Orchid

  • Action Girl: The most badass character in the series, bar none. She took on a god and killed it! Not even Jago could truly end Gargos!
  • Baleful Polymorph: Her finisher in which the fighter is turned into a frog and stomped on.
  • Brown Note/Death by Sex/You Can Leave Your Hat On: Her flashing finisher. Subverted when performed in a mirror match, as the other Orchid... just throws a temper-tantrum, really. She lacks this fatality in the second game where there are two other females.
  • Combat Stilettos: Her footwear in the original Killer Instinct and Killer Instinct 2 were straighter examples. Her Killer Instinct 2013 incarnation is more realistic with this trope, giving her combat boots that, while still high-heeled, had thicker heels for stability.
  • Dual-Wielding: Whatever weapon she has, she'll always have it in both hands.
  • Hurricane Kick
  • Dual Tonfas: Her weapon of choice in Killer Instinct 2.
  • It's Personal/You Killed My Father: All There in the Manual states that she, as a grown-up, saw the murder of her (and Jago's) parents during the events of Killer Instinct 2, something which made her hatred of the Fulgore cyborgs to be extremely intense.
  • Jiggle Physics: Probably the greatest victim of this, considering how her costumes tend to lack any support. The new game has toned it down with one exception.
  • Luke, I Am Your Father: She's Jago's older sister.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Between her Orgasmic Combat and her Leotard of Power that looks practically painted-on, you bet that this trope is in force. Toned down, but still present in Killer Instinct 2013.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: After she destroyed UltraTech, the surviving characters from the first game are thrown into a time vortex in the second.
    • Oh, and she also got rid of Gargos's competition by killing Eyedol.
  • Shotoclone: In first two games, she was the Ken to Jago's Ryu, the only difference being that her "shoryuken" was actually a rising knee strike. She no longer qualifies in 2013, since she has lost her projectile and was retooled into more rushdown-focused character.
  • Thong of Shielding: Shown in full glory by her cartwheel and slide attacks in the second game.

Riptor

Sabrewulf

  • Aristocrats Are Evil: Until his transformation.
  • Butt Monkey: He got the crap beaten out of him in the tournament.
  • The Cameo: He's loosely based on a character of the same name, invented by Rare for a puzzle-platformer they had released for computers (and remade for the Game Boy Advance) known as Sabre Wulf.
  • Extremity Extremist: A majority of his attacks tend to only focus on his arms or his bite, with only a small number of moves actually involving kicking.
  • Jack of All Stats: He has a decent mix of strength and speed.
  • Magic Pants: Subverted with his ending. He's only shown from the waist up after returning to human form. One guess as to why.
  • Our Werewolves Are Different: Unless the ability to throw flaming bats has become standard.
  • Painting the Fourth Wall: He has a finisher which smack his opponents into the screen.
  • Wolf Man

Spinal

  • Dem Bones: He's a sword-and-shield-bearing skeleton who effectively broke Nintendo's longstanding taboo against undead protagonists. He's rather unique with his magical attacks, some of which require the expenditure of a flaming skull; three encircle his body, and they must be cast ahead of time. No other character has a mechanic like this.
  • Eye Pop: A totally ridiculous one if Orchid uses her flash No Mercy finisher on him.
  • Mega Manning: He could include copies of his current opponent's moves in his combo finishers.
  • Pirate: He was one 200 years ago. He even had a ship and a huge crew of fellow skeletons!
  • Shield-Bash: Taken to ridiculous extremes. He can stab, levitate and electrocute people with his shield.
  • Shout-Out: Along with Eyedol, to The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.
  • Sub Boss: He is always third-to-last on the ladder in the first game.
  • Teleport Spam: His Skeleport.

T.J. Combo

  • Bare-Fisted Monk: Even though Jago is an actual monk, T.J. fits this particular trope better as a heavyweight boxer and the only fighter without an obvious weapon or superpower. His arms contain cybernetic enhancements, but he's often overlooked in favor of the flashier characters despite his strengths.
  • Combat Pragmatist: His backstory shows that he uses cybernetic implants. He also has a Machine Gun!
  • Estrogen Brigade Bait: Like Jago, he too is quite ripped in both muscle and clothing.
  • Expy: Of Balrog, Jerkass and everything. His movesets are also an expy of Guile taken up to eleven, as EVERY move requires the player Charge back or forward (except the Super moves).
  • Extremity Extremist: He's a boxer, after all.
  • Fallen Hero: He fights in the first tournament to get his heavyweight title back.
  • Jack of All Stats: He has a decent mix of strength and speed.
  • More Dakka: See Combat Pragmatist above.
  • Neck Snap: One of his finishers.
  • Painting the Fourth Wall: He has a finisher which smack his opponents into the screen.
  • Sociopathic Hero: In the comic book, he's not above quite brutally maiming foes, threatening non-fighters to get what he wants and cheating in tournaments. He also reacts with confusion when he sees Jago choosing not to kill an opponent. He's one of the protagonists.
  • A Twinkle in the Sky: One of his finishers.

Eyedol

  • The Dragon: Ultratech likely sees him this way, since they freed him to fight in their tournament.
  • Evil Versus Evil: In his backstory, we find he was imprisoned while fighting another warlord. This is revealed to be Gargos in Killer Instinct 2.
  • Final Boss: For the first game, at least.
  • Humanoid Abomination: Besides his two-headed appearance, he is also described as a mystical warlord from ancient times.
  • I Am Legion: Well, maybe. When he speaks in his ending, he first uses "I" and "My", but then at the end switches to "we".
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: Ultratech breaks him out.
  • Secret Character: Only available through a secret code in Killer Instinct 1.
  • Shout-Out: In the first part of his ending, a woman in purple approaches him claiming that he's her long lost son Billy, lost in a car incident. This is almost the same scene which mirrors the ending of Blanka (also note that Blanka's real name is Jimmy... Billy? Jimmy? Anyone?).
  • SNK Boss: A pretty merciless bastard between his healing taunt and his insane attack priority.

Introduced in Killer Instinct II/Gold

Kim Wu

Maya

Tusk

Gargos

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