Ed Boon Again Teases Shaggy For Mortal Kombat 11; Twitter Responds
Mortal Kombat 11 came out last month, but that doesn't mean director Ed Boon is done making waves when it comes to the game's roster. In a Twitter post yesterday, Boon retweeted an image of a Shaggy cosplayer, once again raising the possibility that the Scooby-Doo character could make his way into Mortal Kombat 11.
Except not really. This was pretty obviously a joke by Boon, who — under normal circumstances — might not have responded at all to the Twitter user who again pitched him this idea. But this Twitter user happened to be Boogie2988, the popular YouTube creator (4.5 million subscribers) and Twitch streamer (nearly 462,000 followers). So Boon entertained the thought once more.
"Oh wow, that's an idea," Boon responded. "Maybe we should consider and discuss this? Do people want this? Hmmmm?"
Twitter users, who can identify a dead meme from a mile away, were not having it.
"Imagine thinking Shaggy memes are funny," responded one user. "Don't start this again," said another. "People requesting Shaggy has basically become the Mortal Kombat equivalent of people requesting Goku for Smash Brothers," replied a third. "If only you said the same thing about Rain," lamented yet another, noting that some fan-favorite Mortal Kombat characters are still missing from the roster.
Some even took the opportunity to hit Boon on Mortal Kombat's divisive microtransactions, which have come under fire since the game's release.
"Remember when we bought the game and actually received the entire game? Those were the days," said one. "Why is this even a thing in the game?" asked another, posting a photo of an unlock page for Frost which showed that the character could be obtained for $5.99.
It seems the world is far different now than it was just a few weeks ago, when fans were eagerly awaiting Mortal Kombat 11's release. The game reviewed fairly well with most outlets, but as stated earlier, some took issue with Mortal Kombat 11's in-game economy and its microtransactions, wishing for the days of complete rosters and minimal grinding. And PC players have had troubles of their own. Just a few days ago, those playing on PC couldn't even make progress in the game's Krypt, a problem that required NetherRealm Studios — the developer of Mortal Kombat 11 — to quickly distribute a patch.
Mortal Kombat 11 still has some work to do when it comes to finding a happy medium between free content and paid content. So it's understandable that some of the people who paid $60 for the title might not be in the mood for jokes. Especially one that, by all indications, had been laid to rest months ago.
The "Shaggy in Mortal Kombat" meme can be traced back to another gag that made the rounds online a few years ago, depicting Shaggy as a sort of all-powerful god who could smite even the deadliest of enemies. That, of course, stood in stark contrast to the actual character of Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, who is often scared of his own shadow. The joke caught on with enough people that artwork honoring this "Ultra Instinct Shaggy" found its way onto the internet, shared by many on social networks like Twitter and websites like Reddit.
And when Mortal Kombat 11 was announced, the meme found a new home. A petition was posted online that begged for Shaggy to become a Mortal Kombat character, and Ed Boon — much to the chagrin of serious Mortal Kombat fans — fanned the flames by referencing the meme repeatedly.
Fortunately, someone had the wisdom to shut the whole thing down. Back in early February, NetherRealm Studios community manager Tyler Landsdown directly addressed the idea that Shaggy might actually appear in Mortal Kombat 11, fielding a question on the topic during a Q&A.
"Shaggy will not be in the game, at all, ever," Landsdown stated. "Sorry. Dead meme."
So there you have it. Mortal Kombat 11 is out in the wild. The studio behind it is hard at work supporting the game. And there are plenty of missing Mortal Kombat characters who could feasibly be added as DLC at some point. We can't state emphatically enough that Shaggy is not coming to Mortal Kombat 11, no matter how many times people tweet Ed Boon about it.
It's time to let it go.