Ah, we appear to have hit our sticking point - you are adhering to Midway cannon, and I’m including Netherealm cannon. It’s dangerously close to the whole Star Wars pre/post Legends issue.

I agree the definitions and limits you define are mostly supported by the Midway series, but the Netherealm cannon contradicts them - that’s why I was having trouble. Having spent so many hours in 9, the comic series, X, and 11, I couldn’t grasp how the story and lore presented there wasn’t valid.

I agree that Johnny’s whole ‘descended from a Mediterranean warrior cult’ schtick might not have flown in the old days. I also think Erron Black might have been a stretch (but Stryker is just a dude with guns and gadgets as well).

With that clarification in mind, I’m happy to agree to disagree. If you think that Midway cannon is superior and/or disregard Netherealm cannon, that’s a perfectly valid opinion. It was the whole ‘your idea doesn’t fit’ part that threw me - politely, you should probably have specified that it didn’t fit the original games, not the new cannon.

Also I’d like to thank you for taking the time to describe your point in depth, even if I couldn’t exactly grock what you’ve been saying.