Mortal Kombat 1/Kenshi/Introduction

Introduction

Restorer of His Family's Name

"Once one of ancient Japan's most honored families, the Takahashis were decimated in battle. They lost everything, including the emblem of their power: the revered sword, Sento. Those who survived joined the Bakuto, a predecessor of the Yakuza, for its protection. Five centuries later, Kenshi is raised on the stories of his ancient family's exploits. Detesting his corrupt Yakuza life, he pines to free the Takahashis from the Yakuza's grasp and restore their name. But for his family to follow him, Kenshi must first fight to prove that he can lead. His first battle is to find and retrieve Sento."

Kenshi is a Puppet/Stance swordsman designed around playing neutral to set up and/or hit-confirm into his DB1 Summon Ancestor special and trigger “Sento Stance,” which calls a spirit fighter onscreen to be controlled independently of Kenshi. Sento shortly replaces the Kameo fighter allowing the player to hold the Kameo Button and input commands with Negative Edge to control Sento’s movements & attacks, while choosing to control and/or idle Kenshi simultaneously. Sento Stance gives Kenshi access to several new mixup options, as well some unique pressure situations such as extensive blockstrings and/or placing Sento behind the opponent which allows it to avoid being hit (aka “Sento Sandwich”). The spirit will kneel in a cooldown state if it takes a hit from the opponent and will be briefly disabled, leaving Kenshi in a less powerful state until he can refresh the spirit or exit the stance & resummon the spirit (making him more reliant on Kameos once the Sento Timer has depleted).

Strengths

Weaknesses

Fighting Spirit: Summoning the Ancestor is practically a win condition unto itself thanks to its ability to enable extended block strings, damaging mixups, and armor break setups; the "Sento Sandwich" is arguably the worst-case scenario for every opponent to face; Kameo Independent: Kenshi only needs his Kameo until he can setup Sento Stance safely, at which point he has his Ancestor out to continue the fight; Starts Out Simple: Default Stance Kenshi is no slouch, as he has a solid, well-rounded move set to make starting the real party an inevitability.

Two Step Game Plan: Kenshi does not begin the round at his full potential and entering his win condition requires him to score a hit first; a savvy opponent who can steamroll a round is his worst enemy; Swords Work Better Unsheathed: Base Kenshi's damage is pretty weak even with meter or Kameos, highlighting the need to transition into Sento stance; Ow, The Edge: While common setups are available in the in-game kombo trials, mastering Sento Stance requires understanding the concept of Negative Edge, or using the release of a button to activate the Ancestor; no other character requires this kind of input and it is the largest barrier to executing advanced tech with this character; The Last Samurai: While not completely helpless, Sento Stance Kenshi is limited when his Ancestor is out of the fight; when the opponent stuns the Ancestor by hitting it or runs out the timer, Kenshi can't afford to take risks in the same way he could previously and is also briefly locked out of his Kameo.