Awesome / Killer Instinct (2013)

This is the Awesome page for the reboot of Killer Instinct from 2013. For the original series, see here.

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• Getting a Combo Breaker is more amazing than ever before due to the revamped combo system. If you can work the system to your advantage and properly match your opponent's inputs, you're rewarded with a "C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!", which can be a lifesaver in tight spots but is also just really cool and sometimes technically impressive.
  • What makes Combo Breakers so much more special in this game is the addition of Lockouts and Counter Breakers. If you don't time your Combo Breaker well enough, you get locked out and can't try again for a while, making every second of the combo count. Additionally, your opponent may attempt to catch your Combo Breaker with a Counter Breaker instead, which will lock you out for even longer and add to the punishment! This makes the mind-game surrounding long combos tense as hell.
• Ultra Combos are now more clearly automated, following a musical beat specific to each character but with instrumentation differing based on the stage's soundtrack. Some especially fun tunes include those of Shadow Jago, Kan-Ra, and General RAAM. The announcer makes it even better, screaming "ULTRAAA COMBOOOOO!" or "ULTRAAAAAAAA!" while the stage explodes around you.
  • They can also be chained into multiple Ultra Combos if you have enough meter, resulting in insanely high hit counts (some can be done literally infinitely, as seen in this video where the player gets 2603 hits.)
  • The Ultra Combos also have special enders you can perform for a stylish or early ending to the combo. There are some pretty cool-looking ones, like Eyedol's shower of lightning and Aganos pulling out a leaping elbow drop.
• Certain characters have incredibly Awesome special moves:
  • Most Shadow Moves fall into this category, being suped-up specials that hit anywhere from four to ten times in a row. Special shout-outs go to Fulgore's aerial Shadow Eye Laser, Shadow Jago's Shadow Dark Demise, Tusk's Shadow Skull Splitter, and Gargos' Shadow Oblivion.
  • Thunder's Call of the Earth is a brutal curb stomp with a sick crunch as he twists his heel on their head.
  • Fulgore's Devastation Beam is amazing, being a Wave-Motion Gun with sick sound design.
  • Omen's Demonic Despair is a command grab laser that deals 100% potential damage. If you can cash all that damage out with a combo ender, you'll end the round instantly.
  • Aganos' Ruin is a giant punch that can bust the target through any stone walls Aganos has erected behind them, leading to massive damage.
  • Hisako's Possession is as cool as it is creepy, turning Demonic Possession into an impressive command grab.
  • Gargos' Oblivion has him punch into a portal, his fist appearing anywhere around the opponent to extend his reach across the screen. He also has Sadistic Drop, where he performs a flying suplex with a satisfying thud.
• Shadow Jago's got MANY reasons to be an Awesome Moment in and of himself:
  • First of all, while it wasn't a secret for long, lots of streamers were scrambling to find Shadow Jago's secret boss. As it turns out, you must get all three endings for the character of your choice and play that character again in Arcade Mode on Medium difficulty without losing a single match (not a round, just for clarification) just to REACH him. Once you successfully complete all those conditions, you skip right over Fulgore (maybe Shadow Jago destroyed him already?) and enter an 8th fight as a shadowy silhouette of Jago appears as your opponent with the name of "???".
  • Once you finally get to him, his intro already blows your mind. He ascends out of this weird shadowy void, before gently levitating back down. He snaps some shadow energy into his hands and shoots his opponent a dirty look.
  • And then you start fighting him, and then you realize you're gonna have a bad time. He's no mere reskin of Jago with hard AI: he's got the hard AI, but with completely new moves, including a divekick, a Sub-Zero like slide, and double fireballs. He will whoop your ass the first time you fight him.
  • Assuming you're not unlucky enough to get hit with an Ultra or a normal move, Shadow Jago will put you out of your misery with a very, VERY unique animation called an "Ultimate Combo". That's right, Killer Instinct's bringing back finishing moves, and what better place to start than with a badass difficult boss? Shadow Jago dashes back and forth around his opponent, slicing them with his sword, before uppercutting them up in the air and pursuing them for one last slice before landing gently, as opposed to his opponent who just SMACKS onto the ground.
  • Shadow Jago's victory pose begins with a scary zoom-in of his disgusted eyes, as parts of the Shadow Tiger's Lair collapse around him. He throws a Shadow Endouken towards his defeated opponent (in first-person). Assuming you were finished with the No Mercy above, you get a bone-chillingly simplistic noise, as a blood-stained and metalic "ULTIMATE" appear on screen.
  Announcer: Ulllltimaaaate...
  • All of his amazing boss attributes were later given to the playable "Real Boy Edition" of Shadow Jago between Season 2 and Season 3, including some extra tricks like teleporting divekicks and spinning sword uppercuts. While he does gain his own Ultra Combo like the rest of the cast (which many argue is the coolest Ultra, by the way), he even keeps his Ultimate, something that no other playable character has (a downgraded version of his Ultimate called "Annihilation" can also be used in Instinct Mode).
• Sleep NS Vs. My God at EVO 2015. By far the best comeback in Killer Instinct history.
• Not only is Season 3 happening, but Rash from Battletoads IS A PLAYABLE CHARACTER.
  • And Rash wasn't the only guest character, much like one of the devs promised. KI is also getting a Halo character: The Arbiter himself. Time will tell if he's the last for Season 3...
  • He's not. Enter General RAAM.
• For anyone who was afraid that Kim Wu wouldn't be saved from scrappydom by coming back to KI, all fears can be assuaged from her trailer. She nonchalantly kicks Shadow Jago's ass all while spinning her nunchucks like a badass and spouting one-liner after one-liner.
• The Sanghelios stage ultra is truly a beautiful thing; if you do it right, you knock your opponent down only for them to get up and get one brief glimpse of the Banshee crashing towards them! At least, that's all they get to do before it squashes them flat.
• After 22 years, Eyedol has returned at long last!
• The Ultimates are back! Iron Galaxy are bring them back for 15 fighters save for Shadow Jago seeing how he has one already when he became a real fighter for Post Season 3. Let's go over the list:
  • Jago: Starts off simple enough with a trifecta of Laser Blade hits with the third one launching his foe upwards before Jago punches him back down and charges a Endokuken the size of a Spirit Bomb to throw at the still downed fighter, leaving them as a burnt carcass as the Warrior Monk comes back down to the ground like a badass.
  • Fulgore: Ultratech's killer cyborg gets to show off the full force of his Devastation Beam as he kicks his opponent back and takes off to the air before charging up and unleashing the full force of his chest laser on the poor foe, disintegrating them to ash.
  • Killgore: Fulgore's prototype launches a homing missile before leaping over his foe to grab them. At first it looks like Killgore is going to make sure his foe isn't going to escape but at the last second, Killgore explodes himself, launching himself out of the blast zone and making sure the helpless fighter eats missile.
  • Thunder: Thunder's Ult starts with him getting up close and personal to his foe thanks to a crow dash that makes it look like he just flash stepped to them, they barely have time to react to him before getting a headbutt, a slam to the ground, a jumping stomp to their body, and finally lightning to flash fry them.
  • Sabrewulf: After letting out a savage growl, Sabrewulf just starts tearing up his opponent with speedy claw strikes before finishing it off with one more claw strike, aimed at the eyes.
  • Combo: If you ever needed a reason why TJ was a badass boxer, this Ultimate shows it off. Combo lets loose with a 4-hit assault that finishes with a Haymaker with so much force behind it, it knocks them back before they fall to the ground as TJ walks off like a badass.
  • Maya: The Night Guard Warrior shows off how much control she has over her daggers as she sends them off to slice up her foe before landing on the ground right next to them... Blades up... As Maya is about to heel stomp their body right into them.
  • Tusk: Maybe the most impressive of the bunch, Tusk slams Warg-gram into the ground, covering his sword and the ground in flames as the ageless Watchman rushes with a series of slashes, finishing with a stab while not even looking at his opponent for the final hit.
  • Sadira: Her Ult starts with a backflip kick to launch her foe before sticking them to a web, She then spends a moment looking like she's enjoying just how helpless they are before finishing them off with a clean slice to their throat.
  • Riptor: Crossing over with funny, Riptor launches her foe high up before trying to bite them... And missing by inches. She then gets angry and spits out fire before noticing her foe is still moving and burns them alive just so she has a fire nearby to take a nap.
  • Aria: Aria spits into her three drones to unleash precise attacks on her foe before combining to her form when you use her Instinct mode for one last stab.
  • Aganos: The war golem entraps his foe in a tight ring of walls before rolling after them, making a ramp to launch himself upwards and into the ring... And the helpless opponent that's about to get squished.
  • Mira: Simple but effective, Mira does two hits to weaken her foe before giving them a vampire's "kiss" on their neck.
  • Hisako: Maybe the most creepy of the Ultimates, Hisako rushes her foe before suddenly sinking into the ground, only to slowly pop up behind them to take over their body and painfully contort their body to death. And yes, this does end with Hisako jump scaring both players.
  • Glacius: Glacius makes his hands into ice rocks to punch his foe a few times before launching them into the air with a ice spike, then makes many more ice spikes for them to land on as the screen slowly freezes over after the impact.
  • Shadow Jago: Finally, we have Shadow Jago's updated Ultimate since his old one (Annihilation) became a Instinct-only move. Basically, it takes Annihilation and turns it up to 11 with even more hits at faster speeds, and finishes it off by having Shadow Jago slice the neck of the poor foe after coming back down.
• Usually intro quote combinations yield Funny Moments, as the Soul Series and Street Fighter IV pages can attest, but here they managed to unintentionally create a Badass Boast:
  General RAAM: Sssserve the Queen.
  Eyedol: I... serve... NO ONE!^note (granted, originally this was a response to Kan-Ra's claims that he could control Eyedol after resurrecting him, but the effect is the same)
• The Post-Season 3 inclusion of Eagle. After years of him staying in the background of Killer Instinct Lore, he comes forth as a badass Archer.
• Another Post-Season 3 character was introduced in the form of Shin Hisako. Taking up her father's sword, the guardian presence within clears Hisako's mind of the bloodthirsty haze that had clouded her mind as a vengeful specter. Now, she's got a clear head and is more than ready to take on those who would defile the graves of her village.
• Maximilian Dood and the team did a fantastic job on the game's trailers, of which there were plenty due to the scheduled character releases for each Season. Some special recognition goes to:
  • Spinal's trailer is absolutely godlike. It completely blew all the trailers before it out of the water by expertly showcasing not only Spinal's gameplay, but also his bombastic theme, his meticulously-designed stage, and his wicked new personality. According to Word of God, Microsoft continuously told Maximilian to use his Spinal trailer as a reference for all future material and frequently cited it as the best trailer the game ever had.
  • Fulgore's trailer is also fantastic, sharing a very similar style to Spinal's with its emphasis on the new stage, Fulgore's theme music, and basically looking and sounding cool as hell. The moment where Fulgore showcases his Devastation Beam for the first time is just orgasmic.
  • Kan-Ra's trailer does a great job of showing off the new sorcerer. It was here that the fans got to see what Iron Galaxy was all about, and left them assured that the game was in good hands.
  • Riptor's trailer is an interesting one, instead framing the entire trailer as a commercial for potential military buyers. It's a unique take that tells us more about the mysterious Ultratech and even has some subtle comedy.
  • Aganos' trailer is suitably epic, showing him Walking the Earth and tearing through the other fighters to chase down Kan-Ra, his stunning theme Polemos blaring throughout as Kan-Ra entices the golem to come face him.
  • Hisako's trailer is undeniably creepy with Hisako's emotional Japanese narration, but also manages to get the hype flowing as she takes on the machinations of Ultratech.
  • Cinder's trailer is hammy as hell, but Cinder is just so cocky that it's hard not to find it endearing and cool.
  • ARIA's trailer really brings you into the mind of this insane AI, and by the end of it, you'd be forgiven for admitting that the logic behind her actions is completely understandable.
  • Rash's trailer is hilariously awesome, heavily referencing his original appearance in Battletoads with a Retraux Art Shift. It then transitions into glorious 3D, showing Rash in all his glory as he decimates the Killer Instinct cast with style.
  • For Eyedol's trailer we get to see his backstory, showing Kan-Ra resurrecting him. However, he immediately disregards his "master" and goes on a brutal rampage to find Gargos, ending in a shot of him and the dreaded Shadow Lord lunging at each other.
• Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, for your viewing pleasure, the KI2013 Season 3 Launch trailer. Featuring such delightful reveals as the Shadow Lords mode where you undertake missions across the globe and fight other people's shadow characters, cross-play between the Xbox One and Windows 10 versions of the game, updated visuals on all stages and characters, new accessories and costumes, and the confirmation of Mira as a character and the world reveal of the return of Gargos himself! Now is the perfect time to get hype, my friends.