Ed Boon Talks Freddy Krueger in Mortal Kombat, Secret Origins of DLC Characters

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Ed Boon Talks Freddy Krueger in Mortal Kombat, Secret Origins of DLC Characters

You’ve seen the video. Now read what compelled Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon to bring 80s horror icon Freddy Kruger to Mortal Kombat as a downloadable guest character this August. In discussing the news with the PlayStation.Blog, Boon shed light on the long, sometimes tangled genesis of Mortal’s Kombat’s other DLC characters — namely Rain, Skarlet, and Kenshi. One began as a joke, one was an incorrect rumor, and one…well, you’ll see.

Look for Freddy to hit PSN on August 9th for $4.99, and read on for my full chat with Ed Boon.

PlayStation.Blog: So what is the inspiration for bringing Freddy Krueger to Mortal Kombat as a DLC character?
Ed Boon, Creative Director, Netherrealm Studios: It was a number of things. It’s kind of hard to choose a character who would fit well into the Mortal Kombat universe, with the blood and violence that’s so associated with it. Kratos from God of War is a brutal, bloody character, so he makes sense. When we had the discussions about the DLC characters, we knew that we wanted to add a returning character, a new character, but also a guest character. That was one of the goals right from the beginning. A number of names were run by us: Jason, Michael Myers and all those guys. Freddy Kreuger, we felt, was the most instantly recognizable and he fits in with Mortal Kombat with his claws. It just seemed like the best fit.

PSB: Did you base Freddy off the 80s films or the reboot movie from a few years back?
Well…that’s a good question. We didn’t try to make him look like the actor Robert Englund, I don’t even know if we would be allowed to….Admittedly, I didn’t see the latest movie, the remake. But obviously the first few movies were huge — they left an undeniable mark on pop culture. When I look at him, I think of the original Freddy: he’s got the striped sweater and is instantly recognizable. He’s Freddy in general, we don’t really identify him as one version or another.

PSB: Freddy isn’t exactly a martial artist. How does he keep up with the kombatants?
[laughs] He doesn’t fight like a martial artist, either! We gave him two claws, which we explain in his character bio, so you can almost imagine a Baraka with shorter blades that are always out. He’s got lots of swipes, he can send his claws creepy-crawling on the ground or flying through the air. He can dig into the ground and the claws will come up under his opponent. He’s very claw-centric.

PSB: Will Freddy’s ability to invade his victims’ dreams play into his Mortal Kombat incarnation in any way?
Yeah, you’ll see some of that. His story ending really plays into that. In the middle of a fight, you won’t see him entering a guy’s head in a dream sequence or anything, but there is plenty of dream-related stuff in his introduction animation, his victory stance, his fatalities and so forth.

PSB: Ten, 15 years ago when Mortal Kombat was early in its lifespan, did you ever fantasize about getting Freddy Krueger into MK?
Yeah, yeah. Over the years, we’ve certainly had a number of conversations about guest characters. At one point, we had a conversation about having a group — imagine Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers, Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre — of all these killers from the 80s and 90s flicks come in as a group of characters. We never got a grip on how we would do it, whether they’d be DLC characters or what. But yes, we’ve had lots of conversations over the years. We also wanted to introduce a character who was unexpected. This DLC thing opens the doors to realizing these ideas. Kratos was one we discussed as a DLC character a number of times, but luckily we could include him as the initial cast of characters [in the PS3 version]. With Freddy, we felt like the stars had aligned — it was time to do it.

Mortal Kombat: SkarletMortal Kombat: Kenshi

PSB: What is your process for choosing DLC characters? Why did you begin with Kenshi, who was the only character from the Deadly Alliance games to make the jump?
I’ve personally always big a big fan of Kenshi, as were many of the guys on the MK team. So we gravitated to Kenshi. We always knew we’d add Rain right from the beginning. I was bombarded for weeks on Twitter with fans begging for Rain, so I had a little fun with it. Each DLC character, I believe, satisfies a certain group of our audience that we knew was clamoring for it.

PSB: Speaking of Rain, he was originally hinted at in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. What was the genesis of Rain?
Rain was me being a jerk, basically. [laughs] When we were working on Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, I was thinking “what ninja color have we not done yet?” … and I’m a huge Prince fan, so I was thinking Purple Rain. I was probably still listening to the album. There was no time to actually make a character, because the game was done. So I hacked into the attract screen a quick little sequence of this purple ninja running at Shao Kahn. We didn’t even have the word “Rain” in the powerbar, so I manually built it using our font. So I included this quick glimpse just to drive people crazy. Once Mortal Kombat Trilogy came out, we gave Rain new moves and he finally became a real character. Later we brought him back for Mortal Kombat Armageddon. That’s one of the things about Mortal Kombat: many of the characters have these goofy development histories. Noob Saibot, Reptile…all of these odd origin stories.

Mortal Kombat: RainMortal Kombat: Freddy Krueger DLC

PSB: What about Skarlet? She was a rumored secret character from MKII, right?
She was a completely rumored character. She never existed, she was born out of a rumor. It got such legs that a name actually came out of it; there was never a glitch that turned Kitana red, that never existed. That was just an urban legend like Animalities and Ermac — a rumor that we eventually wanted to make true.

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111 Comments

14 Author Replies

  • Woah Mortal Kombat Collection for PSN?

    Getting my wallet ready.

    I’m gonna grab Freddy, already grabbed Kenshi and Rain.

  • Nobody commented on the obvious, why does he have 2 gloves?

  • why 2 gloves?!?!??!!?

  • Awesome, didn’t expect to seem him in MK. Looks like 1/2 of the Halloween DLC is coming a little early :-)

    @50
    MK Trilogy = Most broken 2D MK game

    That’s why they didn’t include it. UMK3 is far more balanced.

  • now im complete thank u WB,NRS,PS,and My job for giving me such a childhood icon of mine. now come august 9th and i’ll show u all how the ” Power Glove” works

  • @those asking about 2 gloves. – Its for balance. If he has one glove that means only one button would work his glove. So every time Freddy switched stances, his glove button would change from FP to BP.

  • You can obviously tell who the older people are here that watched A Nightmare on Elm Street growing up and who was born way after. Freddy is freaking awesome (except for the reboot Freddy) and I think he is a perfect fit in the line up. Instead of [DELETED] and complaining, why don’t you people that don’t like this DLC just not buy it. It’s real simple. Don’t listen to em Ed, I have enjoyed every DLC character you guys have released and I can’t wait to pick this one up as well. Keep up the great work and I really hope you release more DLC characters or maybe some other new Kontent (Outfits, Fatalities and or game modes).

  • As a guess star why doesn’t Ed Boon put my avatar character as a DLC I mean they have other crazy characters why doesn’t he put the monkey from Ape Escape.

  • I saw Nightmare on Elm Street for the first time when I was 12-13 years old when it came out on VHS. The scene where he’s chasing Tina (the blonde that ends up as red paint roller on the ceiling), during the sleepover, and he walks out of the shadows saying her name “Tiiiina”, chuckling, scratching his claw on the trash cans, and his arms are about 20 feet long…that severely messed me up for a looooong time. This gives me a reason to put the disc back in my console. Thank you.

  • @ Ramza_x

    Thanks for representin’ for us gamers in nursing homes (almost). You’re right though. Freddy is an absolutely perfect fit.

  • I think the thing I’ve always respected most about the MK games is that the creators are willing to do whatever they want to make the game more fun. Rain being a good example of just having fun with an idea and running with it.

  • I agree with the request for Ash from Evil Dead! and you know they could get some Bruce Campbell voice work in there.. easy character to dump into the MK universe too.. would need the chainsaw+shotgun combo though.. please!?

    any of this getting shown to Boon and crew?

  • @ Norlim

    Would the combo shotgun+chainsaw be duct taped to his severed arm?

    “Who’s laughing now!!!!!!”

  • @ 28 years old and a gamer since i was like 5 and a Kombat die-hard I never would have believed that Freddy would be a playable character let alone in a Kombat game!! But now for a cool finna I get to pit him against the likes of Scorpion and SubZero. Outstanding job fella’s! Keep the fresh idea’s coming and hopefully much more dlc’s. Maybe more fatalities or reintroduce anaimalities or Brutalities…

  • LOL@msgnull617 comments thats just comedy right there. jigglypuff from pokemon as a dlc dont give em ideas dude :)

  • I knew that Rain was inspired by Prince’s “Purple Rain” but I can’t bring myself to imagine Ed Boon singing a Prince song, lmao! I’m very happy that Freddy is in MK, and yes he does look more like new Freddy and nothing like Robert Englund’s classic. But that’s understandble they probably wouldn’t have been able to (like Ed said) due to WB getting the rights after Freddy vs Jason. Anyway I’ll be dwnlding this day 1!!!

  • why is 1/3 of the trailer wasted on intros for characters that came in the game?

    When I was a kid Nightmare on Elm Street and Mortal Kombat were my two favorite franchises so this DLC is really hard to pass up

  • BAD_COMPANY_LEAD

    its completely obvious that its the reboot freddy. you can tell by the voice, by the face. Robert Englund’s version of freddy was the best and easily reconizable by anyone who has seen even one of the the original movies. dont get me wrong this is gonna be awesome to play as freddy krueger, and its revolutionary to bring 80’s horror movie villains into video games. theres never been a game based on freddy, jason, micheal myers, or leather face. they combined the best 2 thing in the world, mortal kombat and 80’s horror movies lol. either way this jus sealed the deal i have to go buy this game now.

  • wish it came out already

  • Freddy is the worst DLC character ever. He’s so bad that I won’t even bother downloading the compatibility pack for him. Why not actually give characters that the fans want?

    Even Tremor (which a lot of people requested) would’ve been better.

    Also, there should be a discount on the characters either making them $3 each or have a bundle of just Skarlet, Kenshi, & Rain for $10. I don’t want Freddy and I don’t even wanna see him being played online. In fact, I’d love it if he was banned from all future tournaments too.

  • I too agree with the request for ASH from Evil Dead. He is awesome with his one liners and the chainsaw/shotgun combo.

    I don’t have the current MK atm. but that would def. make me want to go out and buy it.

  • Freddy? Ok, this new addition makes no damn sense…. Even Kratos didnt fit, now its getting just plain stupid

  • That’s awesome. I love the Freddy Krueger character, and his inclusion in Mortal Kombat is exciting. I don’t own the game yet but when it goes down in price I will get it. Also $5 for a character is an insult. I will wait for a sale here as well.

  • that was good move to add freddy sense he kill in ur dream for real lol ;)

  • Can we have some jason action.

  • Sid it’s the scarring that makes him the new Freddy. As a long time Nightmare fan Englund had darker make up and that distinctive hook nose. Jackie Haley has lighter make up with no long nose. His make up is almost more akin to an actual burn victim. Where as Englund’s make up has always been more over the top.

  • What a joke of DLC character! The prices are bad enough. And let’s not even get into the online mode… (damn you GameSpy!) What’s next for DLC? The PowerRangers? The NinjaTurtles??
    Canadians???

  • Two clawed gloves on the MK Krueger? :/

    So is that a lazy “symmetrical characters are easier” thing or did you really think a dream demon whose powers are derived from fear and the mental dominion of imagination really needed another clawed glove?

    He’s a much better fit for Mortal Kombat than that tool Kratos, but you guys shot yourselves in the foot with that one little detail.

  • @68

    This might have been before your time, but there was a Friday the 13th game for the NES. And it was pretty brutally difficult.

  • Sid, just look at it this way, new freddy looks like a real burn. old freddy looks like bacon!! or pizza!! old freddy is so awesome

  • Predator would be a good addition or am I the only one who thinks so? ^_^

  • What a total LIE that is totally reboot Rorschach Freddy, you can’t even get around the fact that it’s reboot Freddy. His face is totally Jackie earl Haley. Of all the MK characters deserving to be in the game why make with the joke novelty characters now. Wish it would have been the real Freddy at least ad Rorschach Freddy is not Freddy.

  • Actually there already was a game with all of your great Horror Icons.Freddy,Jason,Ash,Chucky,Pinhead,Tallman etc.I was one of the lucky few who got the free demo before Warner Brothers made them yank freddy and jason from the roster,which killed the project.The game was a fighting game and it was done really well,the Freddy in it was the original and I wish they would use that Freddy instead.Check out the Screenshots at http://www.terrordrome-thegame.com/.The demo was great I hope MK takes some time to look into the ideas they had.

  • Actually there already was a game with all of your great Horror Icons.Freddy,Jason,Ash,Chucky,Pinhead,Tallman etc.I was one of the lucky few who got the free demo before Warner Brothers made them yank freddy and jason from the roster,which killed the project.The game was a fighting game and it was done really well,the Freddy in it was the original and I wish they would use that Freddy instead.Check out the Screenshots at Terrordrome the game site.I hope MK takes some time and looks into what they were doing it was really good.

  • Should of went with Chameleon…./nuff said

  • All I Want Is Tanya, Is That 2 Much 2 Ask 4 When She’s Obviously N The Background During The Shao Khan Fight ? She’s My Fav MK Female, I Thought She’s Was Gonna B DLC But Instead It’s Freddy -_- He Wouldn’t Last Against 90% Of MK’s Roster “Even In A Dream World”

  • Alright people, here is the list of Mortal Kombat characters that got denied by Ed Boon on his Twitter.

    Shinnok
    Fujin
    Tremor
    Drahmin
    Bo’ Rai Cho
    Motaro
    Mokap
    Li Mei
    Kira
    Mavado
    Havik
    Chameleon
    Hsu Hao
    Frost

    However, here is the list of Mortal Kombat characters that might be available as a DLC.

    Reiko
    Tanya
    Meat
    Daegon
    Sareena
    Cyber Smoke
    Shadow Priest

  • Love it

  • is there gonna be just 4 DLC characters??

  • Who’s next? Jason? =p For the true Freddy vs. Jason?

    @24 Duke Nukem on this game would be perfect XD

    @50 Yeah MKT HD would be greater

  • Freakin awesome, but two claws? That’s just stupid.

  • HD Mortal Kombat sony new ?

  • This is a very interesting post….they should put Michael Myers on it too!!!

    I just noticed something…..Why dont ppl post report about all the other fighting games like SoulCalibur5….ssf4….and Tekken….????

  • woow I never expect this…freddy as DLC damn…this is awesome.I will buy for sure.

  • Great idea to include Freddy! I do agree though with many that new / reboot Freddy is not as good as classic Robert England Freddy. Would it be possible to also include classic Freddy as an alternative costume (even though the model would have to be different!) ?

    Also agree with the above comment that the Predator would be amazing in MK! He reminds me of Cyrax!

  • Cyber Smoke and Reiko please.

  • $5 for a character? the video game industry could be heading down a very dark and greedy place if we keep buying into all these dirty and greedy methods. Not only does this game have online pass but it also charges $5 for each character! when each character should be free! Things are only going to get worse if we don’t say anything to the companies and keep buying and accepting these dirty and greedy methods.

  • As much as I like Freddy as a DLC, I would prefer to have actual MK characaters instead of guest characters…

    Maybe Boon and his team will get us more DLC stuff.

    I’d love to see like:

    Cyborg Reptile (costume)
    Frost
    Fujin
    Goro
    Kintaro
    Motaro
    Shao Khan
    Shinnok
    Zombie Liu Kang (costume)
    …etc.

    Oh and I hope that Boon and his team remastered Mortal Kombat Trilogy w/ the PS1 version’s roster and adds Khamaleon and make it like Ultimate Mortal Kombat Trilogy. =P

    I think that’d be awesome especially if they redid the gameplay balance and smoothed up the 2D digitized sprites.

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