I remembered back when I was in elementary (and yes, it's funny how arcades just didn't have that strict rule about M17 games) when Mortal Kombat II came out. One of the points of interest was how there was the Pit II - a new stage that introduced a stage fatality where the opponent fell a bird's eye view. An interesting thing was there were two characters. One was called "Hornbuckle" and the other was "Blaze". It was even rumored that you could fight both characters aside from a character dubbed as "Blood" or "Skarlet". However, Mortal Kombat II only had three hidden bosses namely Jade, Smoke, and Noob Saibot.
Blaze started out as a background character and was finally made playable in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. I still feel Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance is a junk game at best. There were interesting concepts such as the Red Dragon clan where the Black Dragon originated. However, neither Mavado nor Hsu Hao could beat Kano's popularity with the fans. Kano was so popular that he still made it into three of the reboot trilogy even if he wasn't so selected during the first game. Blaze was introduced as a hidden playable character. However, it gets so LAME that he has NO FATALITY whatsoever even when he was ported into the PSP-exclusive Mortal Kombat Unchained. It's just so lame really with what they did with Blaze.
The plot of Mortal Kombat Armageddon is well, the end of all things. Blaze was trapped guarding the dragon egg that contained Onaga's soul. Taven was introduced as another boring "new protagonist" which I felt was unnecessary. Blaze was supposed to be defeated by either one of Argus' and Delia's sons. The first outcome was to kill all kombatants. The second outcome was to strip them of their powers. The third outcome was that everyone got so powerful it led to the end. Taven supposedly ascended godhood but wait...
It turns out that Shao Kahn (retroactively) defeated Blaze and not Taven. I find it to be several dirty fingers from the developers and the fans. The original ending of Mortal Kombat Armageddon had Taven defeat Blaze and a third unexpected outcome happened. I felt that the beginning of Mortal Kombat (2011) was when Shao Kahn emerged victorious from the third unexpected outcome. Previously, Shao Kahn was carried away by Onaga. However, Shao Kahn returns and emerges the winner of Armageddon. I still feel that I wanted Taven to win and Shao Kahn came out as the winner of the third outcome. Blaze's plot as the final boss was that he wasn't an evil character. Blaze was just a plot device to lure kombatants and keep the balance of the universe. The endings had different what-if possibilities if certain characters defeated him and the prize was claimed.
It seems the developers still look at the 3D era in disgrace. Why do you think Mortal Kombat (2011) decided to go back to the 2D fighting plane? Why do you think the Mortal Kombat X comics give such sad ends to several 3D-era characters such as Kitana beheading Moloch, Mavado dying at the hands of Cassie and Jacqui, and Hsu Hao not surprisingly killed by Scorpion? Kenshi was popular enough though to make it to the reboot. However, some were made into background characters such as how Frost (who was only playable in Mortal Kombat 11 but a background in Mortal Kombat X). Most of them were just made cameos such as Taven and Daegon. Shujinko made a really bad cameo in Cassie Cage's ending in Mortal Kombat X even if it isn't canon. I think Blaze was no different from the junk characters - he was simply disliked.
I guess the best way to deal with Blaze was to get FAN FAVORITE SHAO KAHN to kill him. I guess Onaga's defeat at Shao Kahn's hands (again) was to cement why he just wasn't the best emperor for Outworld. Shao Kahn ended up defeating Onaga then BLAZE which presumably also killed Taven as well along the way. If ever, I guess Shao Kahn killing Blaze was meant to say that the developers probably regretted Blaze. Blaze was reduced to but a cameo in Mortal Kombat X at the Pit X and Mortal Kombat 11 at Krypt Mode on Shang Tsung's island.
Overall, I felt Blaze could've been interesting. However, it seems that he wasn't developed enough that fans just felt he was just there to be there. I guess we may never see him again in any future games outside of a cameo.
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