Jacqui Briggs, technical fighter and latest badassery added to the roster of the Mortal Kombat 11.
Let’s break down all the things we know about Jacqui Briggs. She’s Jax’s daughter. A professional kickboxer who has taken it personally to make sure Quan Chi suffers for what he did to her dad as well as avenge his arms which were taken by Ermac. All of this is trivial compared to the scrutiny she fell under for her makeover.
So let’s get a little deeper into her appearance. When Jacqui was introduced in Mortal Kombat X she looked like this.
And now she looks like this. Notice the lighter skin tone, the braid that look over 2 weeks old. The nose and lips are very thin. Everything I just described are considered European features.
Her old design wasn’t appealing to me at all but I was super excited to have a playable Black Woman in MK. Being able to play a strong Black character that doesn’t have any stereotypical lines or behaviours. The hair, as usual, is always a struggle when it comes to Black characters. It’s getting better but there is a lot that needs to be done.
I love Jacqui’s new design. Her skin is darker, her nose is wider and her locs are flawless!
She has a similar facial structure of Nakia. Coincidence? I think not! Finally, wider features are recognized and honestly and sadly enough, in fashion. We’re seeing it more often.
She had another design which was scrapped. This Reddit thread made it clear that they didn’t think it fits her personality and I agree. For as militant and thoughtful she is, this wouldn’t have fit her. This style feels more of a free spirit attitude.
We’ve seen three different designs of Jacqui, old, potential and new. It doesn’t seem like she’s really appreciated. This tweet from Le_Bello4 pretty much sums of the energy around Jacqui.
No matter how many great unambiguous changes and technical moves come to Jacqui people will never be satisfied. Unfortunately, my personal experience of the griping came from Black men. Le sigh.
One person referred to Jacqui’s locs as “Cheef Keef” or comparing her to Ed from Good Burger. Also, Tupac’s mom, which I don’t see anything wrong with that. There’s been a bit of weird culture cultivating around the women in MK. It’s mostly sexual; like wanting Jade to be a sexy zombie and wanting Jacqui to be more sexy.
Why does anyone have to be sexualized in a video game where we rip people’s spin out to prove victory? I love her new hair choice, it showcases different dues and lengths that Black women wear.
We have another variation of Jacqui snagged from RomanovaNRS. Peep the blow-out. The texture is very satisfying. I can’t wait for more skin reveals.
Her amour, I didn’t expect anything less. It’s not sexualized. She kicks butt from sheer strength. I do want to make it clear the positive comments outweigh the negative comments. It’s just weird how Black women are progressively getting more representation and then Black men have the audacity to be like, “Nah, make her look like stuff we’re used to in our video games instead of mirroring real life.” We all need to keep pushing this train further and further. I expect Jacqui to do some real damage and I cannot wait to play her!
One, I didn’t pre-order so I don’t have access to the beta but I learned she’s not playable this weekend. I feel like the more I play video games the less I’m trying to git gud and the more I’m looking at the quality of representation for Black women characters.
