10 Mortal Kombat Characters You Should Never, Ever Play As

With Mortal Kombat X right around the corner a lot of gamers are debating about the final roster. Who makes the cut, who doesn't and why. Well, there are obviously some pugilists that didn't make the cut and gamers should be thankful that they're not in the game.

Mortal Kombat has a long and storied history of gathering a lot of diverse and unique characters from across a wide spectrum of preferences. However, not every character is worth the time of day and there are some characters that you should never, ever play as. Hence, here's a list of the characters you should be thankful aren't making it into Mortal Kombat X and even if you decide to go back and play some of these older titles, be sure to skip right over them in the character selection screen.

Mavado

If Dracula had a son he never wanted you to know about, Mavado would be that son. This guy is terribly lame and seems to have been painted over with an emo brush and given left over superpowers that no other character wanted. His black clothes, trench coat and dark demeanor gives the impression of a really tough hard case, but Mavado is quite the opposite once he gets into the arena. Mavado has no real superpowers, just some special grappling hooks he can use to get around the stage or attack his opponents with. As an AI opponent he's not very challenging since almost all of his hard-hitting moves are telegraphed from a mile away, and when other players man him there's little to fear given that few of his moves link up enough to make him a devastating foe in the close, mid or long range combo game.

Tanya

Do you remember Tanya? No? Well, you're not alone. Tanya is one of the many Kitana clones from the Mortal Kombat series that managed to become exhaustively forgettable character. Why exhaustive? Because of the amount of time and effort it takes to remember her. She has a fairly generic movelist, nothing special; she has a fairly generic story to match and she has a fairly generic look, other than the fact that she's a few shades darker than Kitana and wears yellow instead of blue. The worst part about Tanya is that there's nothing special about her abilities, her fighting or her fatalities. She's only worth playing if you enjoy losing and then having your opponent quickly forget they even fought you in the first place.

Stryker

There's a soft spot in my heart for Stryker, but that doesn't make him any less hated. After making his debut in Mortal Kombat 3 as a sort of pseudo-replacement for Johnny Cage, and being a mix of Jax and Sonya with a random, slightly-chubby-cop fighting style jammed in between, fans instantly hated him. The thing is, there wasn't much to like. He was pretty lame, pretty generic, and he was a cop... an average cop. Worse yet is that he seemed to stick around long enough to become one of the most despised characters on the roster. Even though his outfits got better and his nightstick combos improved as the series went on, he was still that guy who replaced Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat 3 and then went on to become a hated, lame, mostly useless character throughout the series.

Mokap

Here's another character with a soft spot in my heart. Mokap is a comedy character played straight. He has a story (albeit a goofy one) and a somewhat endearing journey that came to a heroic conclusion in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. Mokap has the ability to switch between fighting styles mid-match, and he actually manages to carry his weight as a mid-screen combo fighter, but it doesn't absolve the fact that Mokap is a motion-capture martial arts actor trapped in the world of Mortal Kombat. He's the kind of character you['ll want to avoid playing simply because he's not that great, and he has no real power maneuvers to dominate the game. As I said, he's endearing for his earnest story and passable moves, but he's ultimately useless.

Hsu Hao

Hsu Hao is not only one of the most ugly characters in the Mortal Kombat universe, but also one of the lamest. The guy uses a sumo fighting style and is completely reliant on close-quarters combat. It's not surprising that Hsu Hao has connections with Mavado; the two of them can be lame together in their Red Dragon clan. But the worst part about Hao isn't just that he's ugly, has a lame fighting style and can't dominate the screen real estate very much, it's that he also has a lame story. He's essentially a lackey with nothing terribly noteworthy about his story. Is there anything really worse than a guy you can't care about with a piss-poor fighting style and he's ugly to boot? No... no there is not.

Drahmin

You know, Drahmin actually has some qualities about him. His rapid club-fist makes for some hilarious combos where you can just keep club-smacking people on the ground and watch them bounce around like a rubber ball on a steel floor, but beyond his clubbing smacks, he's not one that carries a lot of weight in the fight game. He has some scalability as far as skills go – you can, at some point, turn Drahmin into somewhat of a dangerous foe with enough practice. However, Drahmin is like a low-tier character with a high-tier iron club. He also has the unfortunate look of a Netherrealm goon, someone to be picked off and killed without second notice. In fact, that's kind of how he's treated in the story: A passably forgettable goon.

Taven

My goodness, Taven. This kid was one of the most useless characters in all of Mortal Kombat. Generic specials, generic, limited combos, and one of the most uninspired designs I've ever seen. This spot was a toss up between Taven and Daegon, but I at least have to give Daegon points for being part of the Red Dragon Clan, and at least he has some scars and a look that stands out. Taven on the other hand... he's pretty worthless in the actual fighting arena. While Mortal Kombat: Armageddon's Konquest mode centered around the brotherly rivalry of Taven and Daegon, Taven was an insufferably lame character to play with due to his inconvenient and clunky fighting style. If you want to win, win often and win stylishly, Taven is the one character you really want to avoid playing.

Meat

Meat is another one of those characters that you kind of have to love a little bit, even though you know he's a useless sack of meat. The thing is, Meat isn't a real character and his storyline follows through with pretty much that line of thought: he's not real. Beginners or experts alike won't find a decent winning streak in Meat, but they will find a bit of hilarity with his gore-based movelist. Sliding around the ground with blood splatters everywhere and body parts hanging out every where, Meat isn't one of those characters you play to win, he's the kind of character you play to lose and lose while giggling and laughing all the way back to the character select screen. Other than seeing how ridiculous Meat is designed and checking out his gross move-set, there isn't much more to Meat worth playing.

Onaga

During our discussions about characters who needed to make this list, Onaga's name came up and a description of a Disney villain came with it. It's hard to say that Onaga doesn't belong in the Disney villain hall of fame, but it is easy to appreciate his daunting stature. The problem is that Onaga's towering frame as the last of the Dragon Kings makes him an easy target for pummeling... lots and lots and lots of pummeling. Onaga is slow, lumbering and difficult to maneuver around the screen. Even the most advanced players will find themselves frustrated trying to play as the Dragon King. His limited fighting skill and reliance on cheap tactics makes him one of the most inconvenient characters to play in Mortal Kombat history.

Moloch

What the heck were they thinking when they made Moloch? I don't think there's a more bumbling character than Moloch. The thing is, Moloch has no cheap moves. He's not really a funny character and you can't maneuver him well around the stages. He's big, slow and clunky... and he's ugly. It's no surprise that Moloch's story intertwines with Drahmin. Two lame characters stuck in a lame story with each other. Moloch is briefly alluded to in Mortal Kombat X, but not in a good way, and he's obviously not a playable character in the newest game. Moloch would probably best be described as the offspring of a mutated dog and a gargoyle, with the move-set of a paralyzed boxer. Stay away at all costs.