Mortal Kombat 1’s New Era means a wealth of opportunity and while many of NetherRealm’s beloved fighting game characters have debuted in this timeline already, a lot of them have fairly basic looks that honor their roots and give them room for iteration in future sequels. Default appearances are always paramount because a character needs to be readily identifiable, especially in a jam-packed fighting game roster such as Mortal Kombat 1’s, and have a color scheme that doesn’t clash with someone else’s. Some characters are fortunate enough to be distinct in their initial appearance, but that can also lead to disappointment if they’re a recurring character whose next appearance fails to meet the quality of what came before.

Scorpion and Sub-Zero will always have iconic appearances regardless of how basic, but some characters are far more niche or unique in their aesthetic. NetherRealm has found increasingly exciting ways to portray Reptile despite him being another solid-color-clad ninja, for example, while Baraka stands out brazenly thanks to him being Tarkatan. Few characters fill the role of a classic archetype superbly, though, and Mortal Kombat’s Erron Black does so with a stunning amount of detail that it’s difficult to pin him down as simply a cowboy, at least in MKX. He’s more or less an ordinary cowboy now with some odd gimmicks and NetherRealm would do well to give him back a layered appearance if he ever returns.

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The next character coming to Mortal Kombat 1 as DLC is Ermac, and players have already seen part of his moveset in the game's story mode.

Mortal Kombat X’s Erron Black Design is Textured and Nuanced

MKX’s Erron had an intimidatingly creepy if not edgy tone to his gunslinger persona, whereas in MK11 he’s more or less a normal-looking man role-playing as a cowboy. MKX’s Erron is arguably more Mad Max than A Fistful of Dollars, but that was the beauty of his original look being more distinguished and authentic rather than the basic cowboy archetype he’d later adopt. Road-weary and sunkissed, MKX’s Erron is a perfect match for the game’s already dark, grungy atmosphere alongside hideous abominations like Ferra/Torr and D’Vorah.

Something about his MKX look is like a blend between Red Dead Redemption’s John Marston and Mortal Kombat’s Kabal, evoking almost a Winter Soldier undercurrent. There’s enough about Erron’s MKX design to make him aesthetically multidimensional and that’s incredibly important for giving him character without context of what his particular origins are.

The fact that Troy Baker voiced him didn’t hurt, either, and his eccentric sand grenades were a nice touch alongside the gnarly Tarkatan arm blade he wields as a sword.

Mortal Kombat 11’s Erron Black Design is Milquetoast and Reductive

Meanwhile, MK11 arguably made Erron as visually basic as possible, failing to iterate on the character, though a game as bright and campy as MK11 probably wasn’t the best home for him anyhow. This look isn’t necessarily horrible, it just doesn’t hit the same notes that made him charismatic or intimidating. He’s instead redesigned to meet MK11’s visual style and suffers for it.

If MKX Erron is part John Marston, for instance, MK11 Erron is Arthur Morgan—just way less interesting. Erron would’ve arguably felt like a fish out of water in MK1 as well, but having him play a role could’ve at least shown renewed interest in the character. Thankfully, NetherRealm has all the time in the world to debut a brand-new Erron as part of the New Era MK1 inherits and there’s always a chance he shows up as a Kombatant or Kameo in a future Kombat Pack. If not, Erron might be a great addition to Mortal Kombat 2 as long as the sequel revisits the vile, desaturated wasteland flavor of MKX.