Prologue: I don't care where this conversation goes as long as it's about Mortal Kombat. I'm heavily biased until Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Once it went 3D I got infected with a highly contagious string of apathy. The game just sucked. Anyway, this is my first run down of my thoughts about the characters.

Have fun, but don't go off topic.
[/end Prologue]

MK went downhill once it went 3D and adapted cheesy Fatalities... for this reason, my favorites land, at furthest, in UMK3

Kabal. I love this guy. Easy launcher combo, speed, projectile. Powerful in MK3 and UMK3
Johnny Cage. In MK2 he was THE MAN. Straight up combat. This movie star had no stunt double.
Kung Lao. I've been beaten senseless by expert Kung Lao players. If you think he's average or lower, you haven't really played anyone good.
Kitana. MK's original hottie. Sonya, gets bumped back to #2. the first time yusaw her with her mask off. Instant lust.
Shang Tsung. This guy changed fighting games. No Mokujin, no Edge Master, or any last boss who mimics other characters.
Shao Kahn. MK2 kept final bosses actually scary, larger than life, badasses back then. He still is a challenge today.
Scorpion. Hard to appreciate now all this guy has done. He broke rules back in MK1. His spear attack is legendary. His Fatality iconic. Scorpion is groundbreaking, even if his leg sweep special move was not.
Sub-Zero. So obviously, why didn't Capcom think to name a guy that? and with FREEZE attacks? Next to Kano, one of the most controversial with his spine ripping Fatality. Iconic too, but he's mostly been one-dimensional in play style, a weakness they'd tried to fix. MK3 gave him hge Throw priority, then took it away... MK Gods rule supreme.
Raiden. Fun to play, not a lot of depth though. Innovative Fatality as his first ever, and maybe his electric uppercut in MK2, but once MK3 hit the creators just lost passion.
Stryker. Boring. Dumb. A cop wearing a baseball cap? We've got ninjas, we've got SHIVA! Loser.
Goro. This is the guy you were scared of before you fought Shang Tsung for the first time.
Baraka. Not as one dimensional as you think. Behind that handsome, soft, and pretty boy exterior lies the heart of a warrior.
Lui Kang. Chicken fight! Seriously though, he's the real flagship character of the game... sometimes. Anyway, the computer playing him was impossible, most players? A walk in the park. My advice? Duck. Also, the actor that played him played Gen in the new Street Fighter movie. Aged well. Kristin Kreuk is HOT!
Kano. Street Fighter had no real badasses. Luckily, there's the heart ripper, serial killer, mecha-eyed Kano. Before his eye laser was implemented as a move he was overpowered with moderately difficult special moves. A good Kano player was unstoppable. Without Kano, the world of fighting games would be very different.
Sonya Blade. I thought Sonya was HOT(see Kitana). Kitana eventually took one of her moves and she wasn't hugely powerful back in the day, but she changed gaming in her own way. Most look at her and blow her off, but she did a lot for females in gaming. Chun Li would hold only a higher title.
Night Wolf. Infinite combo possibilities, but as a character he was a stereotype. Unexciting because of it. You picked him to show your friends you could win with any character.

That's enough for this post... let me know if you want my jaded opinion on anyone else

Also, Johnny Cage is my #1 character. Brilliantly designed, and his story was ripped by Street Fighter with Fei Long later, but a powerhouse back in the day. The only thing then that would have made him impossible to beat would be huge uppercut priority, of the sort that the girls(Kitana and Mileena) or that Kung Lao had.

Sexton Hardcastle wrote:

If Fei Long wasn't a Bruce Lee rip off, and was a rip off of any one from Mortal Kombat, it would have to be Liu Kang.

I said Johnny Cage's STORY was ripped off to be used for Fei Long. As was mentioend several times, they were both martial arts movie action stars.

Achetypically, Fei Long is a rip off of Bruce Lee, like Forest/Marshal Law in Tekken, and to a small extent Maxi in Soul Calibur. Lui Kang would follow in the Bruce Lee clone area as well,, more so in MK1 than in MK2 and beyond since he seems to have his unique identity in this time period.

I actually really like the cyber-ninjas. Cyrax and Sektor are tons of fun to play. They just have Fatalities that seemed like they were thought up by a 50s monster movie director with $5 to budget to it.