Since Frost, Li Mei and Sareena haven't been seen in the franchise for a while we wanted to give them updated looks that reflected not only their roles in the story of Mortal Kombat X, but where they've been in the meantime.

Frost, being a member of the Lin Keui clan, has a look that closely mirrors Sub-Zero's prime costume. We carried over the main design elements but took care to give them a more streamlined, feminine feel. Li Mei has aged and been through a lot since we saw her last so we have her in a more practical outfit suited to leading the refugees of Outworld, but we still wanted to keep the rich fabrics and details that have always defined her look. Although she's been freed from Quan Chi's control and is now working with the heroes, Sareena's look stays true to her Netherrealm origins with lots of black and red leather and demonic details.

Since Tanya has a larger role both in the franchise and in this game, we wanted to push her design a little bit more. We wanted to keep the rich textures and details the reflect her royal Edenian origins but add a little more danger appropriate for someone who's lived most of her life in the shadows.

In this game, we get to see some of the groups that we've heard a lot about over the years but haven't seen much of like the monks of the Shaolin order and the Shirai Ryu clan of ninjas.

The challenge with designing the Shaolin Monks lies in one their defining principles -- the yin and the yang. They are both holy men and warriors, strong and supple, peaceful and violent. We wanted to make sure we conveyed both in their designs. We also wanted to give them a timeless look since the Shaolin have been defending Earthrealm from outside attacks for millennia.

We wanted to achieve the same timeless look for the Shirai Ryu ninjas. Much like their enemies, the Lin Kuei, the Shirai Ryu are an ancient clan built on tradition. But while the Lin Kuei have incorporated modern technologies into their methodology, the Shirai Ryu have stayed pure in their practices. We also wanted to bring in more Japanese influences to their designs, further differentiating them from the Chinese based Lin Kuei.

In Mortal Kombat X we see several characters returning in more story based roles, Baraka, Bo' Rai Cho, Fujin, and Rain.

Baraka appears as a loyal general to Mileena, so we gave him a more armored, military look while still maintaining his wild, feral essence. His costume also has subtle references to Shao Kahn and Mileena.

Although Bo' Rai Cho has traditionally provided comedy relief, in Mortal Kombat X he stands with Raiden to fight off the forces of Shinnok. With that in mind, we took a more serious approach to his design. We trimmed him up a little bit and used very earthy colors and textures in his costume design.

Fujin has a very action oriented role in the story, so we kept his design very streamlined. Everything is designed for maximal protection and maximal movement without any extra ornamentation. We kept his long braid though so that we had something to blow around when he uses his wind powers.

Since we just saw Rain in our last game, we wanted to take him in a different direction. This time, we played up his royal Edenian heritage, giving him a mysterious and exotic look. Less like a ninja and more like a contender for the throne.

This is the first time we've really had the chance to flesh out the types of creatures that inhabit the Netherrealm, and we had a lot of fun designing all of the vile and evil things that lurk in the dark recesses of the realm.

Early on in the story we get to see an army of Netherrealm Oni attacking the forces of Earthrealm. Originally, we wanted to have three types of Oni -- human sized ground forces, slightly larger winged Oni, and some massive tanks to lead the charge. Unfortunately, the battle got so big and complex that we had to cut the tanks, but we hope the remaining Oni make up for it.

We also get to see the demonic beasts that act as steeds for Quan Chi and the other denizens of the Netherrealm. We really wanted to push the idea of a 'Night Mare' so we designed the nastiest, creepiest looking undead horses we could. We started with oozing, rotting flesh, laid that atop a red hot glowing skeleton and topped it off with some demonic horns.