Concept Art, Screenshots, and Details About Cinder’s Return to Killer Instinct

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Over on the official Killer Instinct forums, new information and images have been released for Cinder, A.K.A. Ben Ferris, the only holdout from the original Killer Instinct.

The first image below is of Cinder as he was last year, during the very early concepting for him; this concept informed the silhouette that appeared in marketing material.


However, he’s since changed a lot, as the second image below reveals. In this screenshot (which has visual effects turned off) we can see that his physiology looks a lot more human, including a normal waist and hands, and his codpiece is gone. The developers have even continued to tweak him since his reveal in Hisako’s trailer, the latest change being to bulk him up some. The back and neck, shoulder, and leg armor pieces seen act as his accessories, and the color of his flames will change depending on the palette players pick.

The last two images are of Cinder with his mask off, and the fighter’s retro skin, meant to recall the original design in the first Killer Instinct.

Cinder’s backstory highlights that this reboot’s story isn’t connected to the original KIs. In the original game, Ben was a prisoner for whom Ultratech arranged early parole in exchange for his volunteering to be experimented upon. However, Iron Galaxy Studios didn’t want Ben to be in prison, as that would imply he wasn’t as elite as he believes himself to be.

Instead, this time around, after a successful military career, Ben entered paramilitary contracting, and eventually accepted a contract to infiltrate Ultratech and steal data related to something called “Project Cinder”. After more than a year of trying to find Project Cinder, he had only hints—all of which pointed toward the project somehow being extraterrestrial in origin. He was soon uncovered by ARIA and Ultratetch, and given an ultimatum: join ARIA and further her agenda, or die.

There will be more on Cinder in the weeks to come. In the meantime, you can catch up on Killer Instinct news through the archive links below.

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With over ten years' experience as an editor, Dimi is Niche Gamer's Managing Editor. He has indefinitely put a legal career on hold in favor of a life of video games: priorities.


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