Many of you by now should know that NetherRealm Studios openly stated that they would not be adding “scantily clad items” to Mortal Kombat 11 for the females, because they felt that females shouldn’t be baring so much skin during a fight to the death.

Well, some gamers have decided to petition NetherRealm and Warner Bros. Entertainment to bring back the Mortal Kombat 9 costumes as alternate outfits for the female characters in Mortal Kombat 11.

The petition was started over on Change.org by a certain Brian Hughes. He explains…

“I and many other long term fans are petitioning the creators of Mortal Kombat, NetherRealm Studios, to bring the iconic female character designs from 2011’s Mortal Kombat reboot (aka MK9), as they were in MK9 (remodeled obviously, but keep the designs close) to Mortal Kombat 11 as an option for the female characters such as Jade, Skarlet and Kitana along with more idealized body shapes like the one allegedly being utilized for the “Kold War Skarlet” skin that’s being made exclusive to Russian gamers. “The reason we are petitioning for this is not for gratification, but because many of us are beginning to feel that NetherRealm studios has caved in to political correctness and the neutering of the Mortal Kombat franchise is well underway and it needs to be addressed. I, and many other fans, felt that the scantily clad women added to the overall, over-the-top atmosphere of MK2-MK9.”

It’s true that the women have purposefully been toned down, as admitted to by art director Steve Beran. He bluntly said that they needed to be more “mature” and “respectful” by covering up the female characters in the game. This meant that a lot of the female fighters won’t be receiving their classic costumes from the previous games before Mortal Kombat 9, save for Sonya’s throwback Mortal Kombat 3 workout outfit. They changed Jade’s classic to a covered up hijab looking thing, and Kitana is now in a full bodysuit.

They did attempt to showcase a bit of cleavage with the new character Cetrion, but she’s far from a looker.

Smith et al basically that if NetherRealms can add the classic costumes for the men from Mortal Kombat 2 up through Mortal Kombat 9, they should at least be able to do the same for the women, too.They’re not asking for NetherRealm to remove the burqas and hijabs from Mortal Kombat 11, but they are asking for the option to play as the females in thongs and bikini armor. I mean, the men get loin cloths and shirtless options galore, so why can’t the women get bikinis?

It’s a reasonable request, especially when considering that Smith believes that this is just the slippery slope of censorship. He believes that while it starts with bikinis and thongs, it will eventually bleed over into the violence and gore, too. Smith writes…

“Why do the male characters in Mortal Kombat 11 run around shirtless and even half-naked while female characters are decked out head-to-toe? Will the blood and gore content be toned down in MK12 to appease parents, politicians and church groups? When does the pandering and kneeling to people that more than likely will never play an MK game stop? “NRS, if you do this, go all out, bring back the babes in thongs to MK11. Give us the option if we want it. After all, Soul Caliber and Street Fighter have idealized female characters, their games are still taken seriously by the public regardless and our money and time could very well go to them instead of MK11.”

This is another good point.

SoulCalibur VI still sold well and is popular in the e-sports community even while many of the female characters have options to fight in thongs. The same also applies for Street Fighter V and even Tekken 7. Take note that all three of those games are rated ‘T’ for Teen, where-as Mortal Kombat 11 is rated ‘M’ for Mature.

Signing the petition probably won’t change anything given that NetherRealm Studios seems to be fully committed to their “benevolent sexism”, but if you want to contribute to Smith’s cause you can do so by visiting the Change.org petition.

Maybe Ed Boon might be able to pull some strings and add some thongs and brassieres as gear pieces after the game launches on April 23rd later this month for the Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

(Thanks for the news tip anon)