The Mortal Kombat Plot Canon Guide Ver. 4.0
Plot guide of all games that officially exist within the canon Mortal
Kombat storyline, and how they fit into what has been officially
confirmed as canon by Midway via the creators and more importantly, the
games themselves. This FAQ has been written by Gavok. Please do not post
it to other sites without permission. Or claim credit for writing it,
unless you're one of the people in the credits section, of course. And
yes, Tiamat, writer of the Street Fighter FAQ, knows I'm ripping him off.
Acronyms
MK1 = Mortal Kombat 1
MK2 = Mortal Kombat II
MK3 = Mortal Kombat 3
UMK3 = Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. UMK3's storyline overrides MK3.
MKT = Mortal Kombat Trilogy. MKT's storyline overrides UMK3 and MK3.
MKM = Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero
MK4 = Mortal Kombat 4
MKG = Mortal Kombat Gold. MKG's storyline overrides MK4.
MK:SF = Mortal Kombat: Special Forces
MK:DA = Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (aka Mortal Kombat 5)
MK:TE = Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition. Adds to the story of MK:DA
MK:D = Mortal Kombat: Deception (aka Mortal Kombat 6)
Contents
Revision History
Introduction and Opening Statement
I. Timeline and Canon Games
II. Konquest
III. Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero
IV. Mortal Kombat: Special Forces
V. Mortal Kombat 1
VI. Mortal Kombat II
VII. Mortal Kombat 3 Series
a. Mortal Kombat 3
b. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
c. Mortal Kombat Trilogy
VIII. Mortal Kombat 4 Series
a. Mortal Kombat 4
b. Mortal Kombat Gold
IX. Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance Series
a. Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
b. Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition
X. Mortal Kombat: Deception
XI. Master Character List (the meat and potatoes of this FAQ)
XII. Realms
XIII. Factions
XIV. Species
XV. Fatalities
XVI. Miscellaneous Questions
XVII. Special Thanks and Author Contact Info
**********************************
Revision History
10/16/04 - Version 4.0 -Mortal Kombat: Deception is out and so it's only
natural that I update this jalopy. Also added Konquest
as its own game for simplicity sake. Lots of updates
here and there, including the merging of profiles for
Older Sub-Zero and Noob Saibot. Enjoy!
9/3/04 - Version 3.5 - So funny thing happened to me a few months ago. I got
an email from *the* John Vogel, the guy currently in
charge of the MK story. Other than a little praise
and correction (Johnny Cage stuff), he told me that he
felt sorry for how much stuff I was going to have to
change once Deception came out. Stuff from the MK:DA
endings that *should* be canon won't be canon. And
that's why I'm not going to tell you specifically
what's been updated so far. Changes here and there
for almost every section based on the new storyline
information from the upcoming Mortal Kombat:
Deception. I barely touched the
Realms/Factions/Species sections since I might as well
wait until the game is released for that. The styles
for the new characters are left empty as I'm waiting
for the final version of the game to tell us who has
what (after all, Sub-Zero originally had tae kwon do
in MK:DA before the final version). Also, for the
moment, I'm considering the cameos in the MK:D Prison
Stage to be non-canon easter eggs. Anyway, thanks
again to John Vogel and to all you readers out there
for your support in this collosal waste of time.
3/4/04 - Version 3.1 - Mortal Kombat: Deception has been announced and that's
reason enough for me to update. So far the confirmed
cast are as follows: Ashrah, Baraka, Bo' Rai Cho,
Dragon King, Ermac, Hotaru, Kenshi, Kitana, Mileena,
Nightwolf, Noob Saibot, Quan Chi, Scorpion, Sindel
and Sub-Zero. Human Smoke appears in arena concept
art, so he's probably in there too. Also updates for
Cyrax, Kabal, Kai, Liu Kang, Sareena and the mutants.
Thanks for this update go to ]{ombat, Sakura316,
Andrew Wilgus and the fine people at PSM.
1/18/04 - Version 3.0 - Hey, it's the first anniversary of this wonderful FAQ!
how awesome is that?! Updates with some interesting
miscellaneous facts about Sub-Zero, Sindel, Moloch,
Johnny Cage and Shang Tsung, while fixing some
spelling errors. Wait until you see what Sindel's
original name was going to be. Oh man.
9/19/03 - Version 2.7 - Mostly fixing some minor errors. Nothing big.
9/3/03 - Version 2.6 - Full story info for Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition
added. Sections for Sareena, Sektor, Noob Saibot,
Goro and Sub-Zero updated. The Tekunin added to
Factions. Probably won't have much in updates until
we get some story info on Mortal Kombat 6.
6/11/03 - Version 2.5 - Added some info on Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition,
which adds Sareena, Sektor and Noob Saibot to the
MK:DA storyline. Plus lots of random fixes and minor
additions.
2/14/03 - Version 2.1 - Celebrating Crippling Depression Day with an update.
I've read through the MK2 comic and updated the MK1
and MK2 sections, as well as the sections for
Raiden, younger Sub-Zero, Quan Chi, Scorpion, Goro,
Jax, Kano, Sonya, Kitana and probably some others.
Also an update to the Black Dragon section and a lot
of spelling errors.
2/3/03 - Version 2.0 - Lots and lots of stuff. I've been given information
on the MK2 comic which means updates to the MK1 and
MK2 sections. I was reminded that Raptors are also
called Saurians and that Motaro's race is called
Centaurians, not Centaurs. Plus updates in the
sections for Goro, Johnny Cage, Kano, Kintaro, Liu
Kang, Raiden, Rain, Scorpion, Sektor, Sindel, Smoke,
Sonya, Stryker, and both Sub-Zeros. Plus an update
in the Special Thanks.
1/22/03 - Version 1.2 - Khameleon, Jade, Smoke and older Sub-Zero sections
updated. Also updates in the Misc. Questions and
Special Thanks.
1/20/03 - Version 1.1 - Just fixing some grammatical errors.
1/18/03 - Version 1.0 - Everything is new! Whee!
**********************************
Introduction and Opening Statement
(If you read the Opening Statement for the Street Fighter Plot Canon
Guide, you might as well move along to the next section)
The purpose of this FAQ is to finally give a coherent presentation of
the storyline of Midway's Mortal Kombat series, and all the many games
that tie into it. This FAQ relies on official statements and
confirmations from stuff that is canon, as well as using info from the
games to determine stuff that is PROBABLY part of the official canon
storyline. If I don't have a complete 100% assurance, even if it's only
a slight bit of doubt on a bit of info, that bit of info shall be marked
as such.
Unlike the Street Fighter, King of Fighters and Tekken series, Mortal
Kombat comes from an American company, meaning there's less confusion due
to translation. Also, unlike Capcom and SNK, Midway has not published
any books officially giving information on characters and events. This
makes the events of the series a lot more vague, considering they have
to be perceived from the games or the creators, who rarely ever give much
information.
Midway has been known to retroactively change ("retcon") their storylines
and established canon, mostly due to the inclusion of more characters in
the upgrades (i.e. MKT and MKG). Due to this, if you see something in an
older game and there's a new version of it in a newer game, take the new
version and forget the old. This FAQ goes by the latest, most up to date
version of the storyline, which is the currently official one, and it
shall continue to try to keep up to date. However, I will definitely
mention times when Midway has retroactively changed already established
parts of the storyline.
Another note, because for some reason, people don't seem to realize this:
THERE ARE NO CARTOONS, MOVIES, COMIC BOOKS, OR NOVELS THAT OFFICIALLY ARE
PART OF THE CANON (with the exception of the MK1, MK2 and probably MK4
comic books which were made by John Tobias himself). Midway did not MAKE
any of those things. They simply licensed out the Mortal Kombat name and
characters to others, but they DID NOT review any of the storylines of
what the people did with said license (for the express purpose of making
it comply with the canon. Obviously, they'd check to make sure the
content wasn't say... too 'inappropriate'). They are not canon in any
way, though as I will mention in various places, the movies did help
inspire parts of the MK:DA storyline. Their events are not canon, their
relations between characters are not canon, and the artistic license
portrayal of the characters' personalities within them aren't canon,
even.
So in other words: Scorpion is not "Yong Park" and he doesn't have a
Piranha Plant living in his hand. Noob Saibot did not spawn from Ermac in
the heat of battle. Sub-Zero never palled around with Hydro. Nightwolf
is NOT a computer nerd who merges with a wolf. And if you even think I'm
going to do a section of this FAQ about Siro, then click that X in the
top right corner of your window.
**********************************
I. Timeline and Canon Games
This is the order that the games within the Mortal Kombat plot's universe
take place. For the main games, I'm going to assume that each game takes
place in the year it was released. Considering Kenshi's story claims that
he lost his sight a decade ago by old Shang Tsung, it's safe
to say that the story takes place in real time.
Konquest (spans over the course of about 60 years, ending at the time of
Deception)
Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero (1990: Two years prior to MK1)
Mortal Kombat: Special Forces (Date unknown, though it has to be
before MK1)
Mortal Kombat 1 (1992)
Mortal Kombat II (1993)
Mortal Kombat Trilogy (1995)
Mortal Kombat Gold (1997)
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance/Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition (2002)
Mortal Kombat: Deception (Takes place immediately after MK:DA)
There were official comics released for MK1, MK2 and MK4 that portrayed
the prologue for their respective games. The first two are almost
definitely canon. They were written and illustrated by John Tobias
himself, available through order as advertised in the arcade games
themselves. The art and character profiles from the first one were
adopted for the console manuals.
The MK4 comic was available with the purchase of the PC version of the
game (though a friend hooked me up with a free copy a long time ago). I
no longer have it and don't know how much Tobias had to do with it. So I
can't really say how official it is compared to the story. It does not
really contradict much of anything, though. I have been shown a scan of
the older Sub-Zero's appearance in the comic, which turns out to be nothing
more than a one-frame flashback, meaning his appearance is not a
contradiction.
Even though I'd like to think that there's nobody who would believe
otherwise, the comedic renders in MK:DA are nothing more than jokes that
aren't canon, except maybe Johnny Cage's VHS collection. So Quan Chi
doesn't have a jazz album coming out, Shang Tsung doesn't sell shoes and
Kano doesn't have his own cereal named after him. Just wanted to cover
that.
**********************************
II. Konquest
Gameplay: Konquest was part of MK:D. It was a side-game that elaborated on
the similarly-named training mode from MK:DA. Playing the role of Shujinko,
players would span various realms, looking for six artifacts known as the
Komidogu. During the adventure, Shujinko would run into various Mortal Kombat
characters and train alongside them in order to learn their attacks. Filled
with cameos, Konquest features an appearance by just about every Mortal Kombat
character to ever appear in a fighting game. It also featured the means to
unlock secret characters and arenas in the MK:D Krypt. (note: I don't count
the sidequest cameos as canon for good reason. By that I mean stuff like Jarek
hanging out in the Netherealm before he was even born)
Story: A child named Shujinko was strongly interested in the Mortal Kombat
tournament. He wished that one day he might be able to defeat Shang Tsung and
save Earthrealm. One day, a ball of light appeared before him. It called
itself Damashi. It was a herald of the Elder Gods and needed Shujinko's help.
Damashi convinced Shujinko into believing that he was the Champion of the
Elder Gods and that he had to track down six powerful artifacts known as the
Komidogu. Shujinko agreed and was granted the power to copy the fighting
ability of those he would fight or train with.
Shujinko's quest began with years of vigorous training with Bo' Rai Cho.
Master Cho was truly impressed with Shujinko's ability to learn so quickly.
One day, Master Cho asked Shujinko to find his warrior's medallion that he had
lost. Shujinko wandered off and found it, but Damashi told him to keep it for
the time being. Shujinko then traveled to the Lin Kuei's training ground,
using Bo' Rai Cho's medallion to convince them that he was a worthy warrior.
Under the grandfather of the Sub-Zero brothers, Shujinko expanded his
fighting repetoir. He was a member of the Lin Kuei now. His first mission was
to deliver an artifact without being caught by the Red Dragon, but as Damashi
was quick to point out, it was the Earthrealm Komidogu. Damashi led Shujinko
to the Nexus, where he was able to insert the first Komidogu. From there he
went to the Netherealm.
The Netherealm was not a friendly place, but eventually Shujinko found a
friend in Ashrah. They trained together, followed up by Shujinko testing his
skills against a Tarkatan warrior. Ashrah asked Shujinko to help her find
Ermac so that she could slay him. Shujinko eventually came across Ermac, not
realizing his name. Ermac knew that Ashrah was looking for him and was
concerned. His magical power was diminishing in the Netherealm and he needed
something called the Soul Stone to help keep his powers in check. Shujinko
assisted him in finding the stone and in return, Ermac trained Shujinko. Once
they were finished, Ashrah appeared and the two battled. Ermac became the
victor, but Ashrah continued to fight. Shujinko found the Netherealm Komidogu
and left.
As he set the second Komidogu in place, something interesting happened. A
being known only as Monster showed up, angry at Shujinko. He and Shujinko
disagreed over who was the Champion of the Elder Gods, leading into a fight.
Shujinko defeated Monster, who was never heard from again. Damashi had no real
answers behind the incident. Off to Chaosrealm...
In Chaosrealm, Shujinko had to earn the right to exist there by fighting a
guard. During his journeys, he came across a cemetery that was being taken
over by a Netherealm wraith. Shujinko showed off his skills by defeating the
Hell spawn. He eventually ran into Havik, who needed help. Four Seidan
Guardsmen had taken over the Chaosrealm water supply and needed to be stopped.
If Shujinko could defeat them all and open their minds to the ways of chaos
(through a special medallion supplied by Havik), Havik would train him in the
ways of his bizarre fighting style. Shujinko defeated the four warriors, but
Havik refused to honor such a stupid thing as a contract. It wasn't his style.
Instead, he trained Shujinko through experience. Mainly by trying to kill
him. Shujinko realized the meaning in Havik's actions and moved on. He found
a labyrinth that led to the Orderealm Komidogu. To get it, he had to wade
through a pool of strange liquid. After running into Damashi, an older
Shujinko realized that the liquid slowed down time for him and years had
passed since he first stepped into the pool. He returned the Komidogu to the
Nexus and moved on to Outworld...
Shujinko's search in Outworld was fairly quick. He ran into Mileena and the
Tarkatan army, settled outside a rebellious village. Mileena attacked
Shujinko, though he fended her off and studied her onslaught so that he could
copy her attacks. Mileena decided to have Shujinko join Kahn's side and told
him of the village that refused to give up its rule to Kahn. If Overlord
Zeffeero, the ruler of Lei Chen, would not give up his head, everyone would
die. Shujinko didn't want to see that and tried to negotiate. Zeffeero refused
to give up his head and instead told Shujinko of the Seidan Guard, who would
jump at the chance of messing with Shao Kahn. He told Shujinko of an artifact
in the Living Forest that would work as pay for the Guard. Shujinko wandered
through the forest and met with Jade, who had found the artifact first. She
assumed that Shujinko was an enemy and attacked. Shujinko knocked her out and
took the artifact, which was actually the Outworld Komidogu. Damashi
congratulated him and told him to continue the quest, but Shujinko's
conscience nagged him. He wanted to help out Lei Chen, but he knew he couldn't
use the Komidogu as a bargaining chip. Damashi explained the ways of Seido to
Shujinko and said that while they could help drive away Kahn's forces, they
would also take over the town as their own.
After a stop at the Nexus to drop off the Outworld Komidogu, Shujinko ventured
into Seido. He found Hotaru and told him of the village's plight. Hotaru
considered helping, but then told Shujinko that they were busy dealing with
one of Darrius' riots. Shujinko ran off to stop Darrius himself. He was
successful. Hotaru was impressed and trained Shujinko to be part of the Seidan
Guard. From there, they returned to Outworld. The town had been liberated, but
Hotaru was now the man in charge. Shujinko left and ran into Baraka, who was
rightfully furious at Shujinko. They fought and Shujinko won. He complimented
Baraka and convinced him to teach him how to fight. Afterwards, Shujinko was
visited once more by Damashi, who told Shujinko to return to Earthrealm so
that he could take part in the Mortal Kombat tournament. After all, Damashi
sensed Shujinko's hatred for Shang Tsung and felt that he deserved a chance
at destroying the sorcerer.
Back in Earthrealm, Shujinko met with Kenshi. Kenshi explained his background
and what Shang Tsung had done to him. He then taught Shujinko how to fight
without using one's sight. They parted ways with both of them looking for
Shang Tsung. During his travels, Shujinko came across Nightwolf. Nightwolf
noticed much evil in Shujinko's soul, much to Shujinko's surprise. For several
years, Nightwolf trained Shujinko in his fighting style while teaching him how
to control the darkness within. Shujinko moved on and found Shang Tsung. He
asked Tsung for a spot in the upcoming Mortal Kombat tournament. After some
brief sparring, Shang Tsung agreed to it. He also agreed to Kenshi's entry.
Shujinko found Kenshi again and told him about what happened. The two had a
friendly argument over who was going to defeat Shang Tsung and ran off to join
the tournament. On his way, Shujinko was stopped by an angered Damashi.
Damashi was not happy with Shujinko's acts of controlling his inner evil,
since he needed it to enter other realms and finish his quest. Shujinko was
ordered to spend several years in the Netherealm to regain his negativity.
Shujinko gave up his spot in the Mortal Kombat tournament, which Liu Kang
eventually won. On his way to the portal, Raiden stepped in his way. He was
skeptical that Shujinko would be the Champion of the Elder Gods, but after
a battle between the two, Raiden was convinced. He allowed Shujinko to pass,
believing that the Elder Gods would have a good reason to bring in their
Champion.
Back in the Netherealm, Shujinko met Scorpion. Scorpion didn't want anything
to do with Shujinko at first. He only wanted to hunt down Quan Chi and make
him pay. Shujinko convinced Scorpion that if he were to train him, they could
both gain from it. Shujinko would gather enough darkness from Scorpion's rage
and Scorpion would have an ally in tracking down Quan Chi. Scorpion agreed and
the two trained together. Afterwards, Shujinko found Quan Chi for Scorpion.
Scorpion smacked Quan Chi around and chased him off. This led to the intro
sequence of MK:DA. Shujinko returned to the Nexus, where Raiden was waiting
for him. Liu Kang had been killed and the Deadly Alliance needed to be
stopped. Shujinko agreed to help.
He entered Outworld, but was quickly caught by Kano. Shujinko was thrown in
with the people of Li Mei's village, who were forced to construct a fortress
for Shang Tsung. Li Mei told Shujinko that she planned to kill the Deadly
Alliance herself. Shujinko wasn't sure that she could do it on her own, but
trained her with styles Bo' Rai Cho once taught him years ago. Shujinko
escaped the village and went to find Hotaru for help. Unbeknownst to Shujinko,
when asking for help, he had violated Lei Chen's curfew. Hotaru brought
Shujinko back to Seido, where he was imprisoned for some time. On the day of
his trial, elderly Shujinko was saved by Dairou, who was hired by Damashi to
kill the guards. Shujinko broke into a courthouse to find the Seido Komidogu,
but a disappointed Hotaru showed up. Hotaru was going to defend Shujinko in
court, but he had lost faith in his former friend and was going to punish him
himself. Shujinko defeated him and ran off with the Komidogu. He returned it
to the Nexus and left for the final Komidogu in Edenia.
In Edenia, he met Kitana. She told him about how Sindel was captured by Shao
Kahn's henchmen (a bit of a screw up, since Kahn is supposed to be
dead and Kitana's supposed to be in Outworld). Shujinko fought off Tanya and
rescued the imprisoned Sindel. Sindel trained Shujinko, knighted him, and
granted him the Edenia Komidogu. Damashi appeared, proud of Shujinko. He told
him that because of the reuniting of the six Komidogu, he could return to
reality in a body. Shujinko returned to the Nexus one last and prepared to
insert the final Komidogu. But first, he found he had company.
Scorpion had just failed once again in unleashing his rage on Quan Chi. Due
to the events of his defeat at the hands of Moloch and Drahmin, Scorpion had
ended up in the Nexus. He recognized Shujinko, but for reasons Shujinko didn't
realize at the time, Scorpion tried to stop Shujinko. He failed. With Scorpion
knocked out, Shujinko finally completed his lifelong quest. The Komidogu were
set in place. But nothing happened. Onaga, the Dragon King, entered the Nexus,
laughing at Shujinko. It was all a trick. Damashi was not working for the
Elder Gods at all. He was just Onaga's spiritual essense. All Onaga needed for
complete domination was Shinnok's amulet, held by Quan Chi at the time. He
chased off Shujinko and left to find Quan Chi. Shujinko was appalled at what
he had done, but swore he would undo the wrongs brought forth by the Dragon
King's deception.
**********************************
III. Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero (takes place in 1990)
Gameplay: An unpopular sidescroller with the elder Sub-Zero as the
protagonist. He's played in similar fashion as his MKT incarnation,
including special attacks and running combos. The more experience gained,
the more special attacks the ninja gains.
Story: Shinnok, fallen Elder God and ruler of the Netherealm, was
desperate to escape the world of damnation. His high priest Quan Chi had
set out to retrieve the amulet that would allow Shinnok to travel through
realms. But instead of getting his hands dirty, he hired two ninjas to
acquire the map to the amulet's dwelling: Sub-Zero of the Lin Kuei and
Scorpion of the Shirai Ryu. The two met on their way to the map and
fought for supremacy. Sub-Zero came out victorious and removed the head
and spine of his rival.
Quan Chi was happy with Sub-Zero's ability and hired him again to follow
the map into the fortress where the amulet was held. Sub-Zero agreed and
successfully got past the four elemental gods who guarded it: the gods
of earth, wind (Fujin), water and fire. He gave the amulet to Quan Chi,
who cackled and escaped back to the Netherealm. Raiden appeared and
informed Sub-Zero of the big mistake he had just made. Raiden was unable
to enter the Netherealm, but thanks to Sub-Zero's soul being tainted with
evil, he was able to enter. Under Raiden's orders, Sub-Zero went against
his original mission and followed Quan Chi.
In the Netherealm Sub-Zero met the reincarnated soul of Scorpion who was
obviously angry about the whole being dead thing. Sub-Zero won the
rematch and moved on to face Quan Chi's assassin henchwomen Kia, Jataaka
and Sareena. He killed the first two, but let Sareena live. Astounded
that she was spared, Sareena assisted Sub-Zero in defeating Quan Chi.
She pleaded for him to take her with him when leaving the Netherealm, but
then she was attacked from behind. After having Sareena die in his arms,
Sub-Zero saw that it was Shinnok himself who dealt the blow.
The two fought and while Sub-Zero could not outfight Shinnok, he did
succeed in removing the amulet from his hands. Shinnok, enraged,
transformed himself into a giant monster and chased the ninja. Raiden
opened up a portal, which allowed Sub-Zero to escape back to Earthrealm
victorious. Sub-Zero returned the amulet and went back to Lin Kuei
headquarters. Shortly later he was asked by Shang Tsung to enter his
tournament: Mortal Kombat.
John Tobias was hoping MKM would be a success in order to do more
sidegames based on the MK mythos. Though he did work on MK:SF, he also
claimed that he was interested in making games about Liu Kang and Baraka.
Unfortunately those games never came into fruition.
**********************************
IV. Mortal Kombat: Special Forces (takes place a little before MK1)
Gameplay: MK:SF was a 3D action game where the player controls Major
Jackson "Jax" Briggs and has him hunt down criminals using his bare fists
and various weaponry while solving puzzles. The game turned out to be a
complete failure, disliked by even the most hardcore MK fanboys.
Story: After Kano caused the escape of Black Dragon members No Face,
Tasia, Jarek and Tremor from prison, he and his team trapped and
slaughtered Jax's friends and fellow Special Forces agents in an
abandoned warehouse. Jax single-handedly chased each member, taking them
down one by one, with his love interest Gemini giving him orders via
transmissions.
After doing away with Tremor, Jax found that Kano had escaped through a
portal. Despite Gemini's orders to wait for her, Jax entered the portal
and found himself in Outworld for the first time. His search for Kano
ended when he found the criminal in a room with a red gem called the Eye
of Shitian, which apparently had the power of mind control since Kano
insisted Jax would be the first to serve him. The two fought and Jax
came out the winner. He brought Kano and the Eye of Shitian back to
Earthrealm and that's pretty much it.
You might be thinking "Hey, why haven't you mentioned Sonya? Wasn't she
in it?" The answer is: she wasn't. The original plan was to make both Jax
and Sonya available for use. The two even appeared on the cover of a
gaming magazine (forgot which one). But John Tobias left Midway in the
middle of production of Special Forces, leaving the bigwigs at Midway to
have the game finished in a hurry in order to make a couple bucks. This
meant cutting plenty of corners, including the loss of Sonya in the game.
Also, Jax fights with his metal arms that we first saw in MK3. The reason
for this is that they were only prototypes back when MK:SF took place.
**********************************
V. Mortal Kombat (1992)
Gameplay: Using digitized graphics with live action characters, MK1 was
created to jump on the fighting game bandwagon that started with Street
Fighter 2. MK1 was a one-on-one fighting game with an extra helping of
blood and gore that caused soccer moms to have a fit. It was the first
fighter to incorporate directional taps and button holding in order to
pull off special moves. The most famous aspect of the game, as well as
the entire series, was the ability to do away with your opponent after
winning with a "Fatality" move. The SNES version took out the blood, only
to see the Genesis version gain more sales. It also featured the first
mainstream secret character in a fighting game.
Story: Mortal Kombat was a Shaolin tournament held years ago in the name
of honor. But one year the evil sorcerer Shang Tsung brought his
apprentice, Prince Goro of the Shokan race to compete. He killed Kung
Lao, the reigning champion and plunged the tournament's good name into
darkness. Every tournament won by Goro meant the weakening of
Earthrealm's barriers. By "unbalancing the furies", Shang Tsung's lord
Shao Kahn would be able to invade Earthrealm and make it his own.
500 years had past since Goro's victory over Kung Lao. With the entrance
to Earthrealm ready to give after one more Outworld victory, the young
warrior Liu Kang stepped forward to put a stop to Goro and Shang Tsung.
He had been trained by Master Bo' Rai Cho, a skilled fighter who could
only train and not compete because of his Outworld origin (he may be a
good man, but winning would still have the same effect as it did with
Goro). Other warriors included the mysterious ninja Sub-Zero, hired to
assassinate Shang Tsung; Scorpion, the specter form of a man Sub-Zero had
murdered two years before; Kano, a criminal who has heard stories of the
riches in Shang Tsung's fortress; Sonya Blade, the Special Forces agent
out to catch him; and Johnny Cage, a movie star who entered the
tournament out of spite for those who claimed his abilities were nothing
more than camera tricks and special effects. Shang Tsung personally
invited Raiden, the Protector of Earthrealm, to join the tournament.
Shang Tsung kept his bodyguard Reptile hidden away from plain view during
the proceedings. And some swear that they had seen a mysterious red ninja
hiding in the shadows.
Everyone who entered and is NOT mentioned in the above paragraph was
killed in the tournament. Among the vagueness of what happened for most
the tournament, here are the only definite matches that had occurred:
Sub-Zero vs. Scorpion: Even though he had lost the first two times
against his sworn enemy, Scorpion finally defeated Sub-Zero in battle. He
returned the favor and killed Sub-Zero, fulfilling his mission. Immediately
after, Scorpion faded to ash. He had no reason to face Goro or Shang Tsung.
His duty was fulfilled.
Liu Kang vs. Goro: Liu Kang believed that he could use Goro's
overconfidence to secure a victory. Luckily for him and the people of
Earthrealm, he did win. Liu Kang did not kill Goro, allowing each of them
to move on to their own battles. And before anyone emails me: Johnny Cage
vs. Goro is nothing more than a fabrication from the movie.
Liu Kang vs. Shang Tsung: Despite Shang Tsung's ability to morph and use
the abilities of other warriors, he still fell to the might of the
Shaolin fighter Liu Kang. Once Shang Tsung received the match ending flying
kick, his island began to crumble. Liu Kang left to escape the island
rather than chase Shang Tsung.
Goro vs. Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade and Kano: This is according to the MK2
comic. The four of them fought at the Pit and the three humans were likely
going to win in the end. But the crumbling of the island separated them and
Raiden could only find Johnny Cage. He flew the movie star away from the
island and dropped him off near a Special Forces boat. Sonya and Kano
found themselves in the forests of Outworld and Goro's whereabouts were
unknown.
Liu Kang left Shang Tsung's island and returned to his Shaolin home, only
to find it in ruins. An army of mutants led by a being named Baraka had
destroyed the ancestral land, leaving only a few survivors (one of which
being Kung Lao). Liu Kang realized that the story had only begun.
**********************************
VI. Mortal Kombat II (1993)
Gameplay: Improving upon its predecessor in every way, MK2 is referred to
as the highlight of the series by many. The game featured more
characters, more Fatalities and more secrets. It also included
Friendships and Babalities, which proved to be popular at the time. The
SNES version had the blood and gore intact, showing that Nintendo was
finally beginning to break the mold of being a PG videogame company.
Story: Upon the wizard's return to Outworld, Shao Kahn immediately
chastised the defeated Shang Tsung. He was going to have him horribly
punished until Shang Tsung offered an idea that would redeem the lost
efforts of Kahn's previous plan. He brought up the fact that if he were to
be able to wander into Earthrealm once more, he would be able to challenge
Raiden to a new tournament in Outworld. The rules said that they had to
accept or else they would lose by forfeit. With Liu Kang and the rest of
Earthrealm's champions defeated, the furies would be unbalanced and
Earthrealm would be Kahn's for the taking.
Shao Kahn loved this plan and in return granted Shang Tsung youth (though
he would not undo Shang Tsung's curse). Kahn would host and take part in
the tournament along with Shang Tsung, his new general Kintaro, Baraka,
Jade, Reptile and the twin assassins Kitana and Mileena.
At the ruins of their beloved temple, Liu Kang and Kung Lao were visited by
another ninja named Sub-Zero. He explained that he was the brother of the
other Sub-Zero and that the Lin Kuei had found out the perpetrators of the
attack thanks to their surveillance of the temple. He asked to join the two
so he could find Shang Tsung and finish the job his brother couldn't
complete. Sub-Zero was also accompanied by his fellow Lin Kuei member
Smoke.
Jackson "Jax" Briggs came across Johnny Cage in the waters near Shang
Tsung's island. Johnny insisted that his story about Shang Tsung's contest
as well as Sonya's whereabouts were true, but Jax refused to believe that
Sonya would ever help Kano and vice-versa. Eventually Jax set him free.
Johnny returned to acting very briefly until being attacked by some of Shao
Kahn's goons while filming a commercial. Jax and a soon-to-be dead Special
Forces agent arrived to lend him a hand. Johnny and Jax got out alive with
the help of the other Earthrealm warriors. Shang Tsung offered the challenge
to Raiden, which was accepted.
Liu Kang and the others arrived into Outworld, led by Raiden. The news of
Sub-Zero's return reached the ears of Scorpion, who rose from the depths of
the Netherealm in order to slay his enemy for good. There was also an
appearance of a shadow-like ninja named Noob Saibot, who seemed to be more
interested in watching the battles as opposed to taking part in them.
So which matches happened or are important? Here's the rundown:
Sub-Zero vs. Unknown Opponent: At one point in the tournament, Sub-Zero
won a match but refused to kill his enemy. This is an important moment
in the series because Scorpion watched this with great confusion. As to
who he let live, we were never told. It is most likely one of the fellow
warriors from Earthrealm.
Sub-Zero vs. Scorpion: There is a chance that this is the moment when
Sub-Zero got that scar over his eye. He lost to Scorpion, but to his
surprise was granted mercy. Scorpion disappeared from the tournament after
that, realizing that the ninja he fought was a different Sub-Zero then the
one he fought in MK1. In fact it was that ninja's younger brother. Though
Scorpion never told Sub-Zero, he vowed to become his protector as an
apology for killing his brother. There is a contradiction between what the
game says and what the MK2 comics says, since the comic had Scorpion on
Sub-Zero's side from the beginning. It isn't totally important, but I'll
side with the game's version of the story here.
Kitana vs. Mileena: Through her years as an assassin, Kitana had found
out that she was really the daughter of the man who ruled Edenia before
Kahn took over. Kahn was afraid of Kitana's motives so he had her fight
her evil twin/clone Mileena. In the end, Kitana came out with the
victory, killing the freak that once considered her a sister.
Raiden vs. Kintaro: According to Motaro's rarely used MK3 bio, Kintaro
faced off against Raiden in MK2 and was vaporized by the god's immense
power. So let's hear it for the series' most underdeveloped character,
everybody!
Liu Kang vs. Shao Kahn: Though there are some who believe otherwise, Shao
Kahn did NOT win MK2. If he did, he wouldn't have needed that plan from
the MK3 intro. He was defeated, and according to Liu Kang's story intro
in MK3, it was Liu Kang who had won. The intro text claims that Liu Kang
had thwarted more than one of Kahn's schemes and that getting rid of Liu
Kang was the Extermination Squad's main priority. Defeating Shang Tsung
in MK1 was quite a feat, but if Shao Kahn lost to somebody else, you'd
think that he would be more interested in eliminating him or her instead.
Shao Kahn had been defeated, but he wasn't killed. Since his reign was
still in tact in MK3, he likely used his armies to chase his enemies out
of his precious realm. In the chaos, Jax had released Sonya and Kano from
the chains that Kahn had bound them to. Kano escaped custody and eluded
his Special Forces enemies. But Jax and Sonya were more concerned with
the strong possibility that Kahn could somehow invade their home world
eventually. Johnny Cage returned to Hollywood where he made Mortal
Kombat: The Movie, revitalizing his career. Sub-Zero returned to Lin Kuei
headquarters for further instructions as Scorpion returned to his home in
the Netherealm. Kitana disappeared into the night, on the run from her
furious stepfather. The Shaolin combatants Liu Kang and Kung Lao returned
to the ruins of their devastated temple to pay their respects. Liu Kang
accepted the events as part of his destiny, but Kung Lao was sure that
their challenges were far from over.
**********************************
VII a. Mortal Kombat 3 (1995)
Gameplay: Mortal Kombat 3's engine was faster paced than MK2 and included
the unpopular Run button, which caused the player to run forward in order
to unleash a dial-a-button combo. The Fatalities were sloppy and lacked
the edge of the predecessor's finishing moves. It also added the ability
to grant your opponent Mercy, letting them fight with only a scant amount
of health. One needed to use the Mercy option in order to gain the
ability to use his or her character's Animality. Cyrax's Animality was a
shark, which fits considering many videogame fans consider MK3 to be the
moment where the franchise "Jumped the Shark".
Story: As mentioned before, MK3 never really happened as it was upgraded
into UMK3 and finally MKT. So I'll use this area for the story
established in MK3 and bring up the changes in the UMK3 and MKT sections.
Sound good? All right.
Ever since Sindel's abrupt death 10,000 years before, Kahn had had a plan
to use Shang Tsung and his band of shadow priests to eventually resurrect
her body, but in Earthrealm. This act would weaken the dimensional gates
enough that he would finally be able to invade the realm. And to no
surprise, it was a complete success. He and his armies invaded Earthrealm
and he immediately devoured billions of human souls, growing even more
powerful. The entire realm began to merge with Outworld, allowing Kahn to
feed off its resources. But there were a select few mortals whose souls
were protected thanks to Raiden. Unfortunately, Raiden would have to sit
this one out, as he wasn't allowed to physically face Shao Kahn.
To counter Raiden's act, Shao Kahn had his new general Motaro lead his
Extermination Squads across the realm with orders to destroy any
survivors. Motaro and his men succeeded in taking care of most of their
targets, including the horrible mutilation of Black Dragon member Kabal. But
some survived, including Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Jax, Sonya, Nightwolf,
Kurtis Stryker and the younger Sub-Zero.
For Sub-Zero, it could not have come at a worse time. The Lin Kuei had
selected him to undergo cybernetic advancements that would make him a
mindless weapon. With the robotic versions of Sektor, Cyrax and his best
friend Smoke, Sub-Zero has to elude his hunters while helping out his
comrades.
While Kahn brought Motaro, Shang Tsung and Sheeva with him, it was a
surprise to many that he had acquired the services of Kano, whose
knowledge of Earth's weaponry would come in handy for Kahn's army.
Unlike MK1 and MK2, MK3 was not a traditional tournament. Instead it
escalated into a war between two sides.
**********************************
VII b. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (1995)
Gameplay: Make no mistake: Scorpion is probably the franchise's most
popular character (just ask Pac Man). So it's no surprise that fans were
disappointed in MK3's lack of the yellow ninja specter. Not to mention
the fact that Kitana was missing as well. UMK3 was nothing more than an
upgrade, adding more characters, all of them palette swaps (an overuse of
the two ninja outfits). There were also a few more backgrounds and the
Endurance mode that had been missing since MK1.
Story: The story pretty much stays the same as with MK3. There are only a
couple additions.
First off, Shao Kahn also had the support of Mileena, who he had
apparently resurrected. Kahn was also concerned with Kitana's audacity to
revolt against him. He sent Reptile and Jade to eliminate her. This was hard
on Jade who considered Kitana to be her best friend since childhood.
Kahn made an attempt to steal the souls from the Netherealm, only to
fail. But it did allow Scorpion to escape its grasp. Without a mission at
the time, Scorpion was enlisted into Shao Kahn's army.
Note: I don't mention Human Smoke, Ermac or Classic Sub-Zero here. Human
Smoke isn't canon, Classic Sub-Zero is either not canon or not important
and Ermac isn't given any story in this version of the game.
**********************************
VII c. Mortal Kombat Trilogy (1995)
Gameplay: Who wants more characters? Well that's what you're getting.
That along with Brutalities and the Aggression bar, which causes your
character to become faster with a shadow effect. There are also classic
versions of some of the characters and a few old backgrounds.
Story: Okay, so they changed the story a little more. Let's recap. Kahn
did his thing with resurrecting Sindel and invaded Earthrealm. But this
time Raiden was not only able to protect the souls of a few Earthrealm
warriors, but fought among them, giving up his immortality.
Sub-Zero was still being chased by the three cyber ninjas and Kitana was
still being chased by Jade and Reptile. Also, Mileena was able to read
Kitana's thoughts, making her a great asset to Kahn. A female ninja named
Khameleon appeared, searching for Reptile for some reason.
So finally, Kahn's legion was made up of: Shao Kahn, Motaro, Sindel,
Shang Tsung, Sheeva, Kano, Mileena, Reptile, Jade, Baraka, Rain, Noob
Saibot and Scorpion.
So here are the fights that happened:
Sub-Zero vs. Cyrax: While Smoke regained his senses and fought alongside
Sub-Zero, the unmasked ninja defeated one of his remaining hunters in one
on one combat. Rather than killing Cyrax, the Sub-Zero messed with his
programming, changing Cyrax's orders to "Eliminate Shao Kahn."
Jade vs. Reptile: At some point, Jade realized that she would rather
turn on her master than kill her best friend. So, she attacked her travel
companion Reptile. Jade succeeded in allowing Kitana to escape the grasp of
her scaly pursuer.
Kitana vs. Sindel: Okay, so this one is mostly speculation, but Kitana
was the one who helped Sindel regain her memory. Considering Sindel's
evil intent before that, I don't think she was the kind of person to
stand there, listening to what Kitana had to say while refraining from
using any violence.
Shao Kahn or a Minion vs. Scorpion: At one point, Scorpion realized that
the younger Sub-Zero was one of the Chosen Ones. He remembered his vow to
protect and went after Shao Kahn. We know that a representative of
Earthrealm defeated Kahn, so Scorpion beating Kahn is not in the cards.
It's likely that Kahn defeated the traitor and sent him back to the
depths of the Netherealm. Then again, there's the possibility that
someone like Motaro or Shang Tsung did it first.
Shao Kahn vs. Kung Lao: Originally this was meant to be Kung Lao's big
death scene, but it was eventually retconned for MKG. Shao Kahn took Kung
Lao's challenge and gained a decisive victory. It was believed that Kung
Lao had died, but in actuality he faded from the world of violence in
order to live in peace.
Raiden vs. Shao Kahn: It's almost totally certain that Raiden battled Shao
Kahn at one point in MKT as it is referenced in other endings (mostly that
Kahn's henchmen waited for him to be weakened from the fight so that they
could capitalize). If it did happen, then Raiden got his ass handed to him.
If Raiden won, then Kahn was
forced back into Outworld. If Raiden lost, then
Liu Kang vs. Shao Kahn: It was Liu Kang who defeated Shao Kahn, fueled by
Kung Lao's "death". So says the profile for Liu Kang's Tomb in MK:D. After
Kahn's loss, he escaped back to Outworld, trying to at least salvage his rule
there.
Sonya Blade vs. Kano: The two fought on top a skyscraper with Kano
winning for the most part. He tore off a lock of Sonya's hair, which left
him open. She grabbed him with her legs and threw him off the building to
his death. Motaro saw the fight and picked up Kano's dying body for Kahn,
who would eventually revive Kano.
Sheeva vs. Motaro: Kano was brought back to full health through magic and
kept locked up as punishment for his failure in killing Sonya. But just
outside his jail cell, Sheeva attacked and killed Motaro with plans to do
the same to Kahn. Kano offered to help her if she would let him out. She
did, but when Kano was supposed to cause a diversion for Sheeva to attack
Kahn, he instead informed him of Sheeva's plan. Kahn killed the female
Shokan with a sword and immediately made Kano his new general.
After the two realms split thanks to Shao Kahn's failure, he and some of
his minions lowered their profile and took a back seat for a few years.
Baraka moved on from Kahn's faction and Reptile believed him to be dead.
But Mileena and Noob Saibot were in fact spies for something equally as
evil and powerful as Shao Kahn.
Jax and Sonya were thanked for their efforts by heading a new department
of the Special Forces: The Outerworld Investigation Agency, which would
use science to create portals used for excursions into other realms.
Johnny Cage returned to the world of movies. The former Black Dragon member
Kabal moved on from the adventure, deciding to carve his own path.
Cyrax's new mission to eliminate Shao Kahn was seemingly over. But he began
to malfunction and found himself buried in a desert. Smoke was captured by
Kahn's forces at one point and was kept in one of Kahn's dungeons. Sektor
was still functioning, much to Sub-Zero's dismay.
Kitana had succeeded in bringing back her mother's memory. Sindel and
Kitana ruled their world of Edenia, which was also separated from
Outworld.
Note: I did not mention "Classic" versions of characters, Human Smoke,
Chameleon (who is different from Khameleon), Goro, Kintaro or Classic
Sub-Zero. They are all non-canon additions who are there only for
completion. Human Smoke's ending even states that he is non-canon. There
is a chance that Classic Sub-Zero is an exception to this.
**********************************
VIII a. Mortal Kombat 4 (1997)
Gameplay: Mortal Kombat had hopped the 3D barrier, ditching the live
action actors. While the game included a weak weapon system and the
ability to sidestep, it was mostly just MK3 with fewer characters. Like
most 2D to 3D fighter translations (Street Fighter and Fatal Fury), MK4
was not met with much critical acclaim. In the console versions, Goro was
used as a penultimate boss before Shinnok. The extra -alities were
scrapped, leaving only two Fatalities per character.
Story: Again, like with MK3/UMK3/MKT, MK4 was upgraded into MKG. So
here's what the story was like before the new characters were included.
Ever since MKM, Quan Chi has had the special amulet, while Raiden, Shinnok
and Sub-Zero were fighting over a replica. Escaping into Edenia with the
help of a traitor they attacked the Elder Gods themselves. But Shinnok and
Quan Chi did not fight alone. Not only did Shinnok have Noob Saibot on his
team, but also his long-thought-dead general Reiko had mysteriously
returned. Reptile, who was a wanted felon in Edenia, agreed to join the
fallen god. Quan Chi had informed Scorpion that his wife and child had been
murdered, claiming that it was the younger Sub-Zero who did it. Scorpion
turned his back on his promise to protect Sub-Zero and agreed to work for
Shinnok.
Only a few gods survived Shinnok's onslaught. Namely Raiden and Fujin.
They knew that they needed help immediately to combat this threat before
it was too late for Earthrealm. They found Liu Kang, who agreed to give it
his all, alongside his longtime friend Kai. An Edenian woman named Tanya had
also joined their side, though nobody realized that she was the one who
allowed Shinnok entry into her realm in the first place.
As Jax and Sonya pursued the last known Black Dragon member Jarek, they
learned of Shinnok's plans to dominate Earthrealm. Despite being sworn
enemies, the Special Forces members agreed to fight alongside Jarek to destroy
the greater evil.
The younger, scarred Sub-Zero never wanted to wear his Lin Kuei uniform
ever again. But with news of Shinnok and Quan Chi, he donned his blue
ninja outfit once more. Not out of loyalty to the Lin Kuei, but as a
tribute to his late brother whose courage foiled Shinnok's evil plans
once before.
And much to the surprise of many, the legend of Mortal Kombat himself,
Goro had seemingly returned.
Like MK3, MK4 is not a tournament, but a war between good and evil.
**********************************
VIII b. Mortal Kombat Gold (1997)
Gameplay: Nothing added, really, just some new characters and a lot of
glitches. There was originally going to be a new character named Belokk
included, who looked like a big red demon, but he was taken out.
Story: All the stuff mentioned in the MK4 section still stands. There are
just some story arcs added for the new characters.
Okay, so Shinnok was still out to take over Edenia and eventually
Earthrealm, with a little Elder God revenge tossed in. But not only did he
have Quan Chi, Reiko, Scorpion, Noob Saibot and Reptile working for him, with
Tanya working as a spy, but Mileena was helping him out as well. Little did
Shinnok know that Quan Chi had his own secret minion ready to assassinate the
god: the Tarkatan nomad Baraka.
The Lin Kuei had found Cyrax in the desert and tried to fix his bugs and
glitches. With only a few members left, they sent Cyrax to find Sub-Zero
again, again accompanied by Sektor. Sektor was also commanded to keep an
eye on his fellow cyber ninja.*
Despite his vow to live a life of peace, Kung Lao had to scrap his plans
when he heard of Shinnok's evil intentions. But more importantly to him,
he heard that Goro was still alive. Kung Lao felt the urge to make up
for his ancestor's loss, so he joined his friends into battle once more.
Also helping out this time was Edenia's princess Kitana.
Even though MK:DA has a deep storyline, the game almost completely
ignores the events in MK4/MKG. Besides Quan Chi, who is in the game, most
other new characters do not even get a single mention. The only exception
is Shinnok, who is mentioned a couple times in Quan Chi's story for
obvious reasons. Because of this, it is very hard to tell what fights
happened:
Kitana vs. Mileena: This very brief fight is shown through their
respective endings, occurring in Kitana's throne room. After Kitana won,
Mileena begged for her life. Kitana almost considered it, but Mileena
surprised her with an uppercut. Kitana bested her sister in kombat and locked
her up.
Liu Kang vs. Shinnok: Quan Chi was in possession of Shinnok's amulet, which
was his source of power, while Shinnok only held onto a replica. This allowed
him to be destroyed by Liu Kang, according to the profile for Liu Kang's Tomb
in MK:D.
Sonya Blade vs. Jarek: With the threat vanquished, Sonya tried again to
take Jarek into custody. For some reason they were standing on top a
high cliff. Jarek rushed Sonya, only for her to move out of the way,
causing the Black Dragon member to plummet.
Sub-Zero vs. Scorpion: It was the last known battle between the two, taking
place in Goro's Lair. Scorpion's burning hatred was too much for Sub-Zero to
handle and he fell to his might. Scorpion taunted him, claiming that he would
finally have revenge for what Sub-Zero had done to his family and clan. But
Sub-Zero groggily told him that he wasn't the one who did those deeds.
Somehow, Scorpion knew he was telling the truth. Quan Chi appeared and
admitted to committing the crimes and using Scorpion to get rid of his
enemies, the Sub-Zero brothers. He banished Scorpion back to the Netherealm,
but at the last moment, Scorpion grabbed Quan Chi and brought the sorcerer
with him.
Reptile found out that Shao Kahn was still alive and returned to his side.
Kitana thanked Liu Kang for his help and offered to become his wife. Liu Kang
turned her down so that he could continue to protect Earthrealm. Kitana also
became allies with Goro, bringing peace to their land. Kung Lao attacked Goro
and scarred his chest, but then the two talked it over and ended their feud.
Johnny Cage returned to making movies, even winning an award for his latest
flick. Jax and Sonya found Cyrax and using their technology, fully returned
his human will. He thanked them by joining their ranks as a Special Forces
agent.
* The part about Cyrax being found by the Lin Kuei and going on a second
mission to catch Sub-Zero seems to have been retconned by MK:DA. MK:DA
claims that Jax found Cyrax in the desert, ignoring the part about his
mission with Sektor.
**********************************
IX a. Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (2002)
Gameplay: The first MK of the new millennium surprised the masses by
breaking the shell of the past games and completely changing the fighting
engine. More about story and gameplay than gore, MK:DA featured a system
where each character had three different fighting styles with the ability
to switch between them during the match. The third style was usually a
weapon style, which made the character more prone to damage. While
casual gamers and fighting game fans enjoyed the game, there were many
fanboys who pulled out their hair because there was only one Fatality
per character. Because we all know that great gameplay is far inferior to
being able to turn people into babies. </sarcasm>
Anyway, the game featured a new system called the Krypt where you could
unlock from your choice of 676 different koffins. It brought back the
Test Your Might mini-game and added Test Your Sight.
Story: Unlike the previous MKs, the story in MK:DA is a little more drawn
out.
After the many violent battles he had been involved in, Sektor's programming
had been corrupted. He had a new mission: Destroy the Lin Kuei Grand Master
and take over as leader. He succeeded in murdering the Grand Master, but
before he could take leadership, the younger Sub-Zero challenged him. Sektor
lost this fight and escaped to Japan, where he started his own clan of cyber-
ninjas known as the Tekunin.
Not only did Sub-Zero's victory gain him leadership of the Lin Kuei, but also
the right to wear the Dragon Medallion, which enhanced his ice abilities
enough that he was almost a god. He reformed the Lin Kuei for good and
gained new members by holding a tournament. The winner of the tournament was
a young woman named Frost with abilities similar to Sub-Zero. He made Frost
his student and trained her. Unfortunately, her cockiness increased along
with her abilities.
In the Netherealm, Scorpion made it his mission to rough up Quan Chi as
much as possible. Over time Scorpion became increasingly powerful while
Quan Chi's power began to lessen. Quan Chi met with two Oni named Moloch
and Drahmin who helped him out by beating up Scorpion. Moloch and Drahmin
knew of a way out and promised to protect Quan Chi from Scorpion if he
were to take them with him. He agreed until they made it to the portal
out. Scorpion attacked again, causing Moloch and Drahmin to attack once
more. Quan Chi, alone, hopped through the portal and into Outworld. After
that, Scorpion jumped into the portal to find himself in a different
place in Outworld. Moloch and Drahmin, furious at the treachery, followed
them and also found themselves in another location.
Sometime later, the demon Sareena had come across the abandoned portal and
escaped into Outworld. She learned to feed off of the living aura of Outworld
in order to regain her attractive human form.
Quan Chi found himself in the tomb of Onaga, the Dragon King, a demonic former
ruler of Outworld who predated Shao Kahn. Using Shinnok's amulet, Quan Chi
was able to read the ancient scriptures, telling of the Dragon King's
invincible army. An idea spawned upon his bald head and he left to find the
one sorcerer whose powers rivaled his own: Shang Tsung.
Through backstabbing Sheeva after she killed Motaro, Kano had become the
general of Shao Kahn's armies. Though the emperor was weakened by his
loss in MK3, his evil was still alive. At the time it was Kano leading
Kahn's army against Kitana and Goro leading their army. While Kano's side
was taking a beating, one of his soldiers, Noob Saibot, succeeded in killing
the legendary Goro in the midst of battle.
The devolving Reptile was sent to retrieve Shang Tsung at his home,
bordered by an acid moat. He told him to report to Kahn immediately.
Shortly after the message, Shang Tsung heard a battle going on outside.
There he saw Quan Chi battling Scorpion, who had caught up to the evil
wizard. With a quick cheap shot, Quan Chi knocked Scorpion into the acid,
killing him for the time being.
Quan Chi told Shang Tsung of his idea for domination of Outworld and
Earthrealm. Using Shang Tsung's ability to transmit souls between bodies,
he would fill the bodies of the Dragon King's undead army with the souls
of worthy warriors. In return, Quan Chi would construct the Soulnado, a
tornado of souls leading to the heavens that would give Shang Tsung
almost eternal life. The two shook on it, but Shang Tsung added another
part to the plan. He said that they had to get rid of the two who could
put an end to their plans: Shao Kahn and Liu Kang.
Reptile was out of view, but he heard the entire conversation. He seethed
in anger, smart enough to know that he wasn't enough to defeat both
sorcerers. He traveled to Shao Kahn's fortress, hoping to make it before
it was too late. But on the way he met a vampire woman named Nitara who
pulled him aside to show him the base of Kitana's army. Reptile took this
knowledge of the base and resumed his race towards Kahn's home.
But Shang Tsung and Quan Chi were there first. And after a false show of
loyalty, they attacked Shao Kahn together. Shao Kahn put up a great
fight, but in the end his body fell to the power of the Deadly Alliance.
Upon Kahn's death, Kano revealed himself from the shadows, congratulating
the sorcerers on their efforts and asked to join them. The three left
together, a while before Reptile finally made it. The knowledge that he
could have saved his master if he wasn't so caught up in finding the
location of Kitana's army caused Reptile to fall even deeper into his
insanity. He traveled alone, in search of a new master while blaming his
anger on Shang Tsung, Quan Chi and Kitana.
Reptile eventually found Nitara again and attacked her. It wasn't that
he blamed her, but he was so delusional that he saw her as those who he
was so furious with. She forgave his attack and used him for her own
agenda. She instructed Reptile to attack Cyrax, the Special Forces agent
who was wandering through the realm. Under her instructions, Reptile
attacked Cyrax and sunk his teeth into his arm panel, ruining any
communications with Earthrealm. Cyrax scared Reptile away with his chest
buzz saw attack, only for Nitara to conveniently appear. She asked that
he help her find and destroy the orb that would separate her home world
from Outworld, with the reward being a portal to Earthrealm. Cyrax agreed
to her terms and they began their journey.
Later on, Reptile realized that maybe it WAS Nitara's fault that Shao
Kahn was dead.
Liu Kang trained at the Shaolin temple, meditating with Kung Lao
watching. Only it was actually Shang Tsung disguised as Kung Lao. The two
fought with Liu Kang gaining the upper hand. But a surprise attack by
Quan Chi ended the fight in Shang Tsung's favor. He snapped Liu Kang's
neck and devoured his soul. Mortal Kombat's champion was no more.
Kung Lao found Liu Kang's body and screamed with rage. He would have his
revenge on whoever killed his best friend. Raiden appeared and solemnly
told him the news of the Quan Chi/Shang Tsung team-up. Kung Lao left the
temples to seek out Master Bo' Rai Cho, the retired trainer from Outworld who
taught Liu Kang how to defeat Shang Tsung ten years before. First Raiden
wanted him to meet him at Shang Tsung's old island from the old MK
tournaments.
Sonya and Jax had sent an agent, the mysterious swordsman Kenshi, to find
Cyrax and bring him back. Little did they know that Kenshi was really
entering Outworld in order to settle his vendetta with Shang Tsung. As
he found out about the sorcerer's plans, Kenshi tried to return and warn
Jax and Sonya. But he was too late.
Hsu Hao, a friend to the Special Forces, showed his true colors by
setting a bomb that destroyed the Outerworld Investigation Agency's
manmade portal. Though Jax tried to stop him, Hsu Hao escaped and hopped
into the portal in order to meet with his leader and fellow Red Dragon
member, Mavado. Kenshi was stranded in Outworld.
Mavado joined the Deadly Alliance in order to gain immunity for his Red
Dragon organization upon invasion. Surprised to find his enemy Kano
still alive, Mavado asked for a chance to kill him. Quan Chi promised
that he could face Kano in a fight to the death if he could succeed in
finding and killing the Special Forces spy Kenshi.
Shang Tsung gained his own allies during this as well. He found Moloch
and Drahmin and acquired their services so that if Quan Chi was to try
something funny, Shang Tsung could have them attack his treacherous
partner.
Kano and his army forced a village to create a new fortress for Shang
Tsung. A young woman named Li Mei became fed up and attacked the one-eyed
thug. Quan Chi reprimanded her, but made a deal with her. If she were to
win Quan Chi's tournament, she and her people would gain their freedom.
She agreed to enter, not knowing that it was a ploy to gain worthy souls
for the Dragon King's army.
Raiden had Kung Lao, Sub-Zero, Frost, Jax, Sonya and Johnny Cage meet him
at what remained of Shang Tsung's island. It was there where he recapped
the events leading up to Liu Kang's death. He led them to a portal where
they had to each fight an image of their worst enemy to make it through.
They succeeded and found themselves in Outworld.
The returning Scorpion attempted to sneak into Shang Tsung's fortress to
get at Quan Chi. Instead of finding Quan Chi, he stumbled upon Drahmin
and Moloch. Scorpion could not take them both on and was overpowered.
They tossed Scorpion into the Soulnado where the Hell-born ninja was torn
apart by its forces. But all of the sudden, Scorpion vanished.
While traveling through Outworld, Frost attacked Sub-Zero. It seemed she
wanted the Dragon Amulet for herself all along. Unfortunately for her, she
did not have what it took to contain its power and died from being completely
frozen. Sub-Zero could not save her and instead searched for a worthy place to
bury the body.
Mavado found the Special Forces spy Kenshi and challenged him to a duel.
Mavado won and thought he killed Kenshi. Reporting back to Quan Chi, he
was given his promised match against Kano. Mavado killed his rival and
destroyed the last remnants of the Black Dragon. Quan Chi then informed
Mavado of another group that could cause the Red Dragon trouble: the Lin
Kuei.
Mavado met with his henchman Hsu Hao who awaited his new orders. Mavado
gained favor to Quan Chi for allowing him to kill Kano and there was
proof that Shang Tsung was planning to use Moloch and Drahmin against
Quan Chi. Mavado ordered Hsu Hao to kill Shang Tsung. Hsu Hao ran off to
the deed. On the way, he was ambushed and beaten half to death by Jax.
The metal-armed agent then tore out Hsu Hao's red, glowing heart, killing
him.
Nitara the vampire lead Cyrax to the Dragon Egg's incubation chamber
where the mystical orb that bound her realm with Outworld was held. Cyrax
swam through boiling hot lava and found it. Nitara, true to her word,
sent Cyrax back to Earthrealm. She then destroyed the orb, separating
Outworld from her race's true home.
Some time later, Reptile had finally tracked Nitara down to the Dragon Egg's
Incubation Chamber, but that's where the trail ended. Then a beam of light
blasted out of the cracking Dragon Egg and took hold of Reptile. He began to
transform into a large, reptilian emperor. He became Onaga, the Dragon King.
In the lava, Blaze, the protector of the Dragon Egg, was finally freed
from his curse and left to do whatever.
Li Mei succeeded in winning Quan Chi's tournament. Breaking his promise
to free her people, Quan Chi had Shang Tsung use her soul to awaken the
final member of their undead army. Bo' Rai Cho intervened and ended up saving
the young woman from an existence of being nothing but a decayed slave.
Immediately after, the heroes of Earthrealm showed up to stop Quan Chi and
Shang Tsung. But one-by-one, those heroes fell in battle. Kitana, Kung Lao,
Jax, Sonya and Johnny Cage had been killed. Raiden was the last one left and
he fought hard against his two enemies. Their teamwork was too powerful and
even the mighty god Raiden could not come out victorious.
The Deadly Alliance had won.
But treachery appeared as Shang Tsung began to eye Quan Chi's amulet. Quan Chi
noticed this and the two turned on each other. It was a quick fight and Quan
Chi came out the winner.
...for two seconds.
**********************************
IX b. Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition (2003)
Gameplay: The second version of MK:DA for Gameboy Advance, due to the limited
number of characters in the first version of MK:DA, everyone but Scorpion,
Shang Tsung and Quan Chi have been replaced with the rest of the characters
as well as three new characters: Sareena, Sektor and Noob Saibot. It also
features a team play system and Weapon Fatalities.
Story: Same as MK:DA, only it added the less-than-important stories of
Sareena, Sektor and Noob Saibot. I added them into the MK:DA story section
above to save space.
**********************************
X. Mortal Kombat: Deception
Gameplay: MK:D continues to use the MK:DA engine, though it tosses in wider,
more interactive environments and the inclusion of Breakers. There are at
least two fatalities per character, as well as "hara-kiri" suicide moves.
Plus a new Konquest mode that acts as an adventure mode, allowing you to
customize your own version of the warrior Shujinko. Not to mention a couple
new side-games like a chess-based team fighting mode and Puzzle Kombat, which
is Midway's take on Capcom's Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo.
Story: Kabal wanted nothing to do with the Black Dragon, but that did not stop
Mavado from attacking him in an act to eliminate every remnant of his rival
syndicate. Kabal would have died, but he was saved by Havik. Havik insisted
that Kabal return to his roots as a member of the Black Dragon and lead a new
faction to greatness. Kabal agreed and went to work right away. First he
tracked down Mavado and killed him with his hook swords. Afterwards, Kabal
searched for recruits for his new Black Dragon. He found them in Kira and
Kobra.
Upon Quan Chi's victory over Shang Tsung, Onaga appeared for his amulet. Quan
Chi attacked Onaga, soon joined by Shang Tsung and Raiden, but their combined
might was not enough to stop the returning villain. In desperation, Raiden
used his energy to create a bomb made from the essense of his godhood. It
exploded. Raiden was nowhere to be seen, Quan Chi and Shang Tsung were dead,
and Onaga was still standing. He picked up the amulet and was on his way. But
not before resurrecting the dead bodies of Kung Lao, Johnny Cage, Kitana,
Sonya Blade and Jax Briggs.
Baraka looked up to Onaga as an invincible leader. He became Onaga's general
and spread his new master's evil throughout the land. He recruited Tanya and
released Mileena from her prison. With Kitana's body now in Onaga's posession,
Mileena was able to impersonate her sister.
Queen Sindel was kidnapped and imprisoned by Onaga, guarded by Kitana herself.
Jade saved Sindel and locked up Kitana. As Kitana called for the guards, the
two escaped. While escaping, Jade noticed the traitor Tanya at Onaga's side.
With Shang Tsung vaporized, the soul of Liu Kang was free. But he refused to
ascend into the Heavens. Somebody had ravaged his tomb and now Liu Kang's
body was wandering Outworld on its own, killing innocents and the like. Liu
Kang's spirit also realized the similar state of his friends, who fought for
Onaga. The spirit came across Ermac, who understood Liu Kang's frustrations
and wanted to help him.
Under the guise of Kitana, Mileena commanded Bo' Rai Cho to lead his army into
a battle that he could not win. Baraka's Tarkatan horde made mincemeat out of
Master Cho's army and the drunken boxer started to lose hope. Liu Kang
appeared in spirit form and brought the inspiration Bo' Rai Cho needed. He
united various Edenian and Outworld armies to defeat the Tarkatans as one.
Baraka and his kind never knew what hit them. In the midst of the melee, Bo'
Rai Cho found Baraka and taught him a thing or two about fighting. Baraka and
his remaining soldiers ran off.
Mileena was surprised, yet pleased, at the events. As long as nobody knew she
was not Kitana, she would be in control of the most powerful army of all time.
She just had to get rid of the one who knew the truth: Baraka.
Baraka was angry at what had happened. He blamed Mileena. He felt that she
somehow aided Bo' Rai Cho's army with some type of sorcery. Hearing that
Sub-Zero was sighted nearby, he sent the remainder of his army to retain him.
Baraka then got word that Mileena had wished to see him. Baraka sent one of
his men disguised as him to meet with his lover. Baraka's suspicions were
founded as Mileena fed the imposter to flesh-eating beetles. Baraka showed
himself and tore Mileena to bits.
Man, if those two can't keep it together, what chance do the rest of us have?
Sub-Zero searched through Outworld and found ruins of a lost race of beings
who could control ice. Sub-Zero investigated and realized that he and Frost
were descendants of these people. He buried Frost with the rest of their
people and donned a new set of armor. In his travels, he was cornered by what
was left of Baraka's army. There were still too many for Sub-Zero to fight
and he tried to elude them in the Living Forest. It was to no avail and he
was cornered. Accepting death, Sub-Zero fought with everything he had. But
his armor started to speak to him, helping his battle. Amazingly, Sub-Zero
defeated the entire horde.
Hotaru, the most decorated member of the Seidan Guard, was very busy. He had
pledged his allegiance to Onaga, worshipping the order that his reign would
bring. But he still had to worry about his enemies, such as Darrius, Havik
and Dairou. He got word that Sub-Zero destroyed countless Tarkatan warriors.
Hotaru decided to hunt the Lin Kuei master himself.
Sub-Zero fought Hotaru and won. He thought that he killed the guardsman, but
little did he know that it was a trick. Sub-Zero came across Kenshi, who was
dying of the wounds from his fight with Mavado back in MK:DA. Kenshi had
found that Shang Tsung had died at the hands of somebody else and he was no
longer needed in Outworld. Sub-Zero helped heal Kenshi and the two wandered
towards the portal to Earthrealm. Kenshi sensed Hotaru following them. What
Hotaru didn't realize was that Dairou was on his trail as well.
In the Netherealm, Noob Saibot was planning on taking over the realm with
his henchman Smoke at his side. He was going to use Smoke's technology to
create an army of cybernetic demons. Ashrah appeared to stop them, but mainly
to kill Noob Saibot and allow her to be cast to a more peaceful realm. Whether
Noob Saibot became victorious or whether Ashrah slayed him with her Kriss can
only be speculated.
Nightwolf had filled himself with the sins of his ancestors in an attempt to
enter the Netherealm. What happened to him next is unknown, but it's more than
likely that he was talked out of it by his old friend Shujinko. Shujinko was
distressed with the damage he had done and was hoping to band together various
heroes so that they could take down Onaga together. Other than (probably)
Nightwolf, he brought together others who were not focusing on the true
threat. Others like Kenshi, Sub-Zero, Bo' Rai Cho, Li Mei and Sindel.
But there was another going after the Dragon King. Scorpion had watched the
events unfold from the Nexus and an unlikely hero had been born. The Elder
Gods granted him power and transformed him into their true Champion. Scorpion
left to search and destroy Onaga for the good of the realms.
Jade, on the other hand, had her own way of getting inside. She allowed
herself to be captured so that she could get close to Tanya. Once she did,
she tossed an orb filled with Tarkatan essense at her enemy. The liquid inside
the orb splattered Tanya and made her reek of the stench of a Tarkatan male.
The guards' instincts kicked in and they attacked Tanya. Her survival was not
likely.
The heroes gained an unlikely ally with Havik, who gladly led them to Onaga's
fortress. Shujinko and his friends did not have to worry about the threat of
Onaga's controlled, Earthrealm warriors. Ermac appeared and bested all five
of them in battle, allowing Liu Kang's spirit to free them from mind control,
one-by-one. Kitana and the others were now back on the side of good, but Ermac
sensed a powerful force at work, more powerful than even Onaga.
As they cornered Onaga, Li Mei turned on her friends and joined Onaga's side.
Shujinko learned a lesson from the way the heroes lost to the Deadly Alliance
in the previous adventure. Rather than allow the others to die one-by-one,
Shujinko absorbed all of their fighting power and took on Onaga himself. He
smashed apart the Komidogu, which weakened Onaga enough to make him mortal.
Then, with the powers of Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Kung Lao and the others flowing
through his body, Shujinko killed the Dragon King.
The heroes left Onaga's body to rot. One of two things seemed to happen
afterwards. Havik tore out Onaga's heart, the source of the recent
resurrections that had taken place. Havik wanted to devour it so that he could
bring upon more chaos and cause Shao Kahn to come back to life. But Kabal
wanted it for himself and the Black Dragon. The canon events of his subplot
will not be known until the next adventure.
As for the Black Dragon, Kabal was proud of his recruits, but they still had
one last test to complete. Kira and Kobra had to fight to the death. The
survivor would be allowed to stay within the ranks. Kobra fought hard, but
not hard enough. Kira smiled at the blood staining her knife, while Kobra's
body remained lifeless. Kira was no longer a recruit, but a full-fledged
member.
The spirit of Liu Kang found the living corpse that killed in his name. The
battle between the two was nothing but a stalemate. They were both Liu Kang
and they both had the same skills. The long fight between good and evil took
them back to Earthrealm. Raiden showed up and zapped the two forms with
his lightning. The two forms merged together and Liu Kang, Champion of Mortal
Kombat, was once again among the living.
But yes, I forgot all about Raiden, didn't I? The Thunder God and Protector
of Earthrealm had been reborn after the explosion that destroyed the Deadly
Alliance. One would think that he was happy about the victory over Onaga, but
Raiden was in fact furious. He saw that it was Shujinko's fault that Onaga
came back. Raiden had given up on humanity and their tendency to threaten
their own lives. He was going to eliminate any and all threats to Earthrealm
with extreme predjudice. Victorious or not, Raiden planned to started with
Shujinko...
**********************************
XI. Master Character List
Here are the more in-depth looks at the characters of Mortal Kombat.
Other than the Dragon King, the list will only be of those who have
actually fought in the fighting games. Info on Jerrod will be found in
Sindel's section, the assassins from MKM will be found in Sareena's section
and info on other Black Dragon members can be found in Jarek's section.
MK1 and MK:DA featured brief character bios. Some of these bios
contradict each other, like characters losing lots of weight or getting
shorter. I went with the most recent bios with the ages depicting them
in MK:DA, except for the older Sub-Zero who I keep with his MK1 age.
Now without further ado...
***
ASHRAH
Origin: Netherealm
Species: Demon
Affiliation: Formerly Brotherhood of Shadow
Allies: Shujinko
Foes: Ermac, Noob Saibot, Quan Chi
Fighting styles: Chou Jaio, Ba Gua, Kriss
Konquest: Ashrah met Shujinko in the Netherealm and explained her dilemma. She
was a demon with a magical sword called the Kriss. Every time she killed an
evil demon, she would feel evil leave her body. If she could vanquish enough
evil, she would be rejected from the Netherealm. She trained Shujinko and
taught him her fighting styles. She finished the training by having Shujinko
fight a Tarkatan warrior. Ashrah convinced Shujinko to help her find the evil
being known as Ermac so that she could destroy him and fulfill her goal of
purification. Shujinko set up the meeting between the two warriors, which
ended in Ashrah's defeat. She refused to stay down, but history shows that she
never became successful in defeating Ermac.
Deception: Ashrah decided to kill Noob Saibot, one of the evilest wraiths in
the Netherealm. It is likely that she defeated Noob Saibot and Smoke, only to
be granted leave from damnation. In that situation, the Kriss would have
stayed behind.
Miscellaneous Facts and Notes:
For the longest time, fans speculated that Ashrah was a goddess and was a
"female Raiden". Turned out that the two have nothing to do with one another.
***
BARAKA
Origin: Outworld
Species: Tarkatan
Affiliation: Worked for Shao Kahn, Quan Chi and The Dragon King. Leader of his
race.
Allies: Mileena, Shao Kahn, Onaga, Shang Tsung, Quan Chi
Enemies: Kung Lao, Bo' Rai Cho
Fighting styles: Silat, Hung Gar, Baraka Blades
Konquest: Baraka's Tarkatan army was set to attack the town of an Outworld
town out to protect themselves from Shao Kahn's rule. Eventually, Hotaru and
the Seidan Guard appeared to drive them away. Baraka met with Shujinko, whose
fault it was that Hotaru showed up. They battled, but Shujinko came out the
victor. In defeat, Baraka was buttered up into teaching Shujinko how he
fights.
Mortal Kombat II: Baraka had just led the assault on to the Shaolin
Temples in retaliation for Liu Kang's MK1 victory. We do not know much
about his role in this tournament, but he did end up losing. During this
time, he and Mileena were having a secret romance.
Mortal Kombat Trilogy: Still on Shao Kahn's payroll, Baraka continued to
fight for evil. He grew fearful of Kahn's wrath when he failed to capture
several Earthrealm warriors. If Kahn were to defeat Raiden's forces,
Baraka planned to take advantage of the weakened emperor and kill him.
Because Shao Kahn did lose, Baraka's plans never came into fruition. He
left his people behind and refused to follow Kahn either out of fear or
because he just didn't know that he was still alive.
Mortal Kombat Gold: Baraka's nomadic excursions through various realms
led him to meet Quan Chi in Edenia. The two struck a deal where Baraka
would assassinate Shinnok, leaving them to rule the realm together.
Baraka agreed, partially because he loved to fight and found it as a good
excuse to crack some heads. It is unknown if he was able to kill Shinnok.
Deadly Alliance: He wasn't mentioned during the game itself, but according to
MK:D, Baraka and his Tarkatan horde worked for Quan Chi and Shang Tsung.
Deception: Baraka was one of the first recruited by Onaga, the Dragon King.
He contacted his lover Mileena and included her into Onaga's plans. She would
disguise herself as her "sister", and as Kitana, she would command Bo' Rai Cho
into a diversionary battle that they could not win. For a while it seemed like
Baraka could not lose. But Bo' Rai Cho's army struck back harder, humiliating
the Tarkatan horde. After being smacked around by Bo' Rai Cho, Baraka
retreated. He sent the remaining members of his army to chase down Sub-Zero,
who was seen wandering the Living Forest. Baraka had gotten word that Mileena
wished to see him. He suspected that she may have helped Bo' Rai Cho's army
with the use of magical power. He sent a member of his race in his place,
dressed like him. As Baraka predicted, it was a trap. After Mileena killed
the fake Baraka, the real one showed himself and carved her guts out.
Considering the remainder of his army had been killed by Sub-Zero, the future
for Baraka is uncertain.
Miscellaneous Facts and Notes:
Baraka is a very unpredictable character, making him a liability to Shao
Kahn, Quan Chi and Onaga. While he may seem calm and collected at one moment,
before you know it he's causing decapitations left and right.
There were two concept sketches released that depicted ideas for Baraka's
appearances before agreeing to his final look. One was exactly the same
as the final version, only with long, luxurious black hair. The other was
completely different, showing him as a masked ninja with swords, looking
nothing like the traditional MK ninjas.
Baraka had a short cameo in UMK3 in Mileena's ending. Remember, Shinnok
hadn't been written into the story yet so at the time her ending was
completely different. In it, she kidnapped Sindel and Kitana and used
them as hostages for Shao Kahn, forcing him to find a way to dupe
Earthrealm's heroes into entering a new tournament where they would face
Baraka. Baraka as the boss of MK4? He couldn't have been worse than
Shinnok.
The relationship between Shao Kahn and Baraka is strikingly similar to
the relationship between Skeletor and Beastman from Masters of the
Universe. The skull faced emperor who commands and regularly chastises a
freak who leads a legion of monsters and mutants.
There is a MKG FAQ out there claiming Baraka's intro states that Kung Lao
sliced him in half during MKT and Shinnok resurrected him. Apparently it was
taken from a Prima strategy guide, which had an early version of the game's
story. It was changed before the game was released.
While the Baraka mask came out looking cool, the budget for it was so low
that his teeth were made up of painted press-on nails.
Despite Baraka's MKG ending appearing in the Krypt in MK:DA, which shows him
dying, it's definitely not canon due to his appearance in MK:D. Besides, the
ending also involved Quan Chi as the only living being in Outworld.
***
BLAZE
Origin: Outworld
Species: Elemental
Affiliation: Slave to those who worship the Dragon King
Allies: None.
Enemies: None.
Fighting Styles: Hapkido, Jeet Kun Do, Xing Yi
Mortal Kombat II: Yes, Blaze was in fact here. Remember the Pit 2 where
the background shows a Liu Kang look-alike against a Liu Kang look-alike
on fire? Well, that latter guy is supposed to be Blaze. It was on that
bridge when he was randomly attacked by holy men serving the long dead
Dragon King. They enslaved him through magic and forced him to protect the
last known Great Dragon Egg.
Deadly Alliance: Here Blaze did nothing more than swim in hot lava while
guarding the egg. He probably fought Nitara and/or Cyrax during this.
Once the egg cracked and took over Reptile's body, Blaze was free to
finish whatever quest he was in the middle of.
Deception: Probably still on his mysterious quest. We were never told just
what he was up to.
Miscellaneous Facts and Notes:
I'm sure there are some of you out there who find my Blaze in MK2
explanation to be hard to swallow. Prior to MK:DA's release, Boon claimed
that one of the two secret characters would be somehow connected to a
background from MK2. That got people coming up with theories of who it
would be. Smoke? Jade? Shao Kahn? A Shadow Priest? But most guessed that
it would be Blaze and they were right.
Before being named Blaze, the elemental was referred to as Torch by the
fans for many years. The MK fans even have a name for that Liu Kang
look-alike with the green headband that was fighting him: Hornbuckle. It
amazes me that they never came up with any names for the Shadow Priests.
Heck, it amazes me that the fans never came up with names for each
individual audience member in Shao Kahn's courtyard.
The original sketches for Blaze looked a lot different from the Cinder
rip-off that he eventually became. Think of Paul Phoenix with a skunk
stripe in his hair, wearing only black pants. Then imagine him on fire
and you have Blaze's original look. Now that I think of it, I know plenty
of people who would love to see Paul Phoenix set on fire.
***
BO' RAI CHO
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 375 lbs
Origin: Outworld
Species: Human
Affiliation: Ally of the Shaolin Temples
Allies: Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Shujinko, Li Mei, Kitana
Enemies: Onaga, Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, Baraka
Styles: Drunken Fist, Mi Zong, Jojutsu, Sumo
Konquest: Bo' Rai Cho was the first of many teachers for Shujinko. He taught
the young boy the basics in battle. Once Damashi granted Shujinko the power
to copy the attacks of others, Shujinko was able to best Bo' Rai Cho in a
sparring match. Bo' Rai Cho was impressed with Shujinko's progress and trained
him even harder. He spent years with Shujinko under his wing. Having lost his
warrior's medallion, Master Cho asked Shujinko to fetch it. That was the last
he had seen of him for many years.
Deadly Alliance: With his legendary student Liu Kang dead, Bo' Rai Cho
met with Kung Lao who asked to learn the attack Liu used to defeat Shang
Tsung a decade before. Master Cho came back from retirement in order to
train his new student. When being pursued by Baraka's army, Bo' Rai Cho came
across the Deadly Alliance transferring Li Mei's soul into an undead soldier.
He saved Li Mei and escaped with her, just as the rest of the heroes showed
up. From there, he began to train Li Mei as his student.
Deception: Onaga's return brought feelings of doom throughout Outworld as
Baraka's armies tore through the land. Bo' Rai Cho's feeling of lost hope
was altered once the spirit of his student Liu Kang visited him. With Liu
Kang's words, Bo' Rai Cho became inspired to turn the tides against the evil
roaming his world. He united various armies and led them with Li Mei at his
side against Baraka's horde. They massacred the evil forces and Bo' Rai Cho
bested Baraka in battle. Hope had returned and Bo' Rai Cho united with some
of the other heroes to stop Onaga once and for all.
Miscellaneous Facts and Notes:
Bo' Rai Cho's name is actually a pun. "Borracho" is the Spanish word for
"drunk".
He moved to Earthrealm years ago to help prevent Shao Kahn's plans to
take over. He used his talents to train fighters to win Mortal Kombat. He
didn't succeed until Liu Kang came along. The reason Bo' Rai Cho himself
never entered is because he is from Outworld. Despite his good
intentions, entering and winning MK1 would have ended with Shao Kahn
breaching the portal to Earthrealm.
MK:DA claims that Master Cho is the creator of the drunken boxing
fighting style. The guy loves to get drunk, especially with sake, which
apparently isn't available in Outworld.
Bo' Rai Cho has never married. Gee, I wonder why.
***
CYRAX (Unit LK-4D4)
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 650 lbs
Origin: Earthrealm
Species: Cyborg
Affiliation: Formerly Lin Kuei, currently Special Forces
Allies: Jax, Sonya, Nitara
Enemies: Sektor, Reptile
Styles: Ninjitsu, Sambo, Pulse Blade
Mortal Kombat Trilogy: Cyrax, along with Sektor and Smoke, pursued the
turncoat Sub-Zero. Cyrax eventually tracked him down and battled with
Sub-Zero. Sub-Zero won and had Cyrax reprogrammed. The orders "eliminate
Sub-Zero" were replaced with "eliminate Shao Kahn". Cyrax helplessly
joined the war against the evil forces from Outworld. As Shao Kahn
retreated, Cyrax's new mission was complete. He began to go haywire as he
blindly wandered in the direction of Lin Kuei headquarters. He ended up
buried in the sand, unable to climb out.
Mortal Kombat Gold: The remaining members of the Lin Kuei found Cyrax and
brought him back to headquarters. They tried to undo the damage that
Sub-Zero had bestowed upon his programming. Because they were low on men,
they sent Cyrax to attack Sub-Zero once more, again assisted by Sektor.
(Everything up to this point may or may not be canon, considering his
MK:DA storyline) Jax Briggs from the Special Forces came across Cyrax and
brought him back to his base where he and Sonya helped bring back the
cyber ninja's human will. Cyrax thanked his new friends and joined their
ranks as a scout for the Outerworld Investigation Agency.
Deadly Alliance: When on a routine excursion in Outworld, Cyrax was
attacked by Reptile. Reptile destroyed his arm panel, which he used to
communicate with his comrades in Earthrealm. Shortly after he met Nitara,
they made a deal: she would return Cyrax home to Earthrealm if he were to
crawl through lava to retrieve an orb that held Nitara's homeworld under
Outworld's tyranny. Cyrax agreed and after a long journey, he obtained
the jewel. Nitara thanked the cyborg and kept her word. Cyrax returned
home, but could not find his Special Forces allies anywhere.
Deception: Stranded in Earthrealm with no way to help out his buddies.
Miscellaneous Facts and Notes:
Before finally being named in MK3, Cyrax's codename with the creators was
"Mustard".
Cyrax loathes Johnny Cage for his cheesy movies. Especially Ninja Mime.
When unmasked in his MKG ending, Cyrax was revealed to be of African
descent. I only mention this because, when is the last time you've seen
a black ninja? And no, Noob Saibot doesn't count.
What's odd is that one of Cyrax's styles is ninjitsu. This strikes me as
weird since the originator of the Shirai Ryu (the Lin Kuei's rival)
created the style. You'd think that would be the last style they would
give him.
Cyrax was originally going to be Scorpion's cyber form, but they nixed that
pretty quickly.
***
DAIROU
Origin: Seido
Species: Human
Affiliation: Formerly worked for the Seidan guard
Allies: Darrius, anyone with the cash
Enemies: Hotaru
Styles:
Konquest: Dairou was hired by Damashi to free Shujinko from prison. He
murdered the guards, set the old man free and took off.
Deception: Dairou was contracted to take out his former fellow guard Hotaru,
as set up by Darrius. What Dairou did not know was that Darrius was also
behind all the events that led Dairou to this point, including the death of
his family. His ending depicts him as killing Hotaru in a forest, but we won't
know if that's canon or not until the next game.
Miscellaneous Facts and Notes:
Dairou worked as a member of Hotaru's guard. His family had been killed,
forcing Dairou to lose control when dealing with the killer. He was imprisoned
for his actions and became bitter over his treatment. During a riot, Dairou
was freed. He decided to become a mercenary, fighting for neither good nor
evil.
Dairou was originally going to be in MK:DA. Storywise, he was going to be a
bloodthirsty samurai from Outworld hired to protect Shang Tsung's fortress.
***
DARRIUS
Origin: Seido
Species: Human
Affiliaton: Heads an underground resistence
Allies: Havik, Dairou
Enemies: Hotaru, Shujinko
Styles:
Konquest: Darrius conducted a riot in Seido, but Shujinko stepped up to put
an end to the violence. Darrius refused arrest and was defeated in battle.
Deception: Darrius was free to remain the leader of the resistance in Seido.
He hired Dairou to both kill Hotaru and steal the Declaration of Order. From
there he planned to take over Seido with his resistance. As of now it is
unknown whether or not Darrius had succeeded in leading a new era.
Miscellaneous Facts and Notes:
Darrius comes from the world of Seido, but is more in tune with Havik's
hatred for its constant order. Darrius leads a resistance to destroy Seido's
dictatorship. While this may make him sound noble and heroic, he is far from
it. Darrius is a terrorist and uses low-down tactics to get his way, such as
his plotting to turn Dairou against the rest of the Seidan Guard.
The last created character in MK:D.
His second costume seems to be based on Jim Kelly, star of Enter: The Dragon.
Early designs included the new leader of the Red Dragon and a sports athlete.
***
DRAHMIN
Origin: Outworld
Species: Oni
Affiliation: Worked for Shang Tsung
Allies: Moloch, Shang Tsung
Enemies: Scorpion, Quan Chi
Styles: Netherealm, Oni, Iron Club
Deadly Alliance: Drahmin and Moloch were wandering around the fifth plane
of the Netherealm when they saw Scorpion beating Quan Chi into next week.
The sorcerer begged for their help and said he would help them escape if
they could get rid of Scorpion. The two Oni agreed and roughed up the
ninja specter. On their way to finding mystic building with a portal in
it, Scorpion attacked again. This time, while Drahmin and Moloch were
busy, Quan Chi escaped through the portal. The furious Drahmin and Moloch
made it through the portal before it finally closed.
The two found themselves in Outworld where they ran into Cyrax. While
their numbers and raw strength were too much for the cyborg, Cyrax was
able to scare them off with a chest mine.
The two Oni lived in a dark forest, feasting upon villagers who came by
until the day when Shang Tsung appeared before them. He offered them
shelter in the dungeon of his fortress. It was really a way for Shang
Tsung to gain the advantage if Quan Chi were to turn on him. Living in
the dungeon, Drahmin and Moloch found Scorpion lurking around one day,
trying to find Quan Chi. Even though Scorpion gave it his all, he was
still taken down by the demonic duo. They tossed him into Shang Tsung's
Soulnado and killed him.
Deception: Probably just wandering around, reeking havoc with Moloch.
Miscellaneous Facts and Notes:
Drahmin smells really, really bad. So bad that upon entering Outworld he
was bombarded with Outworld rotflies that have yet to cease swarming his
decayed body. Lovely.
Early sketches of Quan Chi in MK:DA show him with a "living weapon" which
was a head on a stick that looked exactly like Drahmin unmasked. It was
even shown spitting out rotflies as an attack. I guess the creators felt
that he'd be better to the story with an actual body.
That colorful artifact mask he wears is called the Face of Kun-Lo. When
wearing it he is able to hold back his extreme rage and fight with his
Netherealm style. But removing it causes him to go into Oni style, where
he loses his focus and attacks with nothing less than murderous insanity.
Before being tossed into the Netherealm, Drahmin was a powerful warlord
in Outworld. It is not known if there is any connection between he and
Shao Kahn.
Drahmin's MK:DA ending showed him as tackling Quan Chi into the Inner Sanctum
and coming out in a different form. Whether he and Quan Chi were meant to be
fused or if Drahmin was to return to his mortal form is unknown. As John Vogel
explained, we will more than likely never know, since they dropped that part
of the story.
Drahmin's voice is not exactly what you'd expect from such a savage creature.
***
ERMAC
Origin: Outworld
Species: Amalgam of souls given a human form
Affiliation: Worked for Shao Kahn
Allies: Kenshi, Liu Kang, Shujinko
Enemies: Ashrah, Onaga, Shao Kahn
Styles: Huan Chuan, Choy Lee Fut, Axe
Konquest: Ermac wandered the Netherealm, working under Shao Kahn. He wanted to
challenge Ashrah, but his magic power was weakening in the realm's atmosphere.
He had Shujinko find him an area with the Soul Stone that would enhance his
power. In return, Ermac taught Shujinko his fighting styles. Ermac fought
Ashrah and defeated her. The two were last seen continuing their battle.
Mortal Kombat 1: Whether or not he was there doesn't matter because even
if he was, he didn't do a damn thing. More on this later.
Mortal Kombat Trilogy: He accompanied Shao Kahn in his attempt to invade
Earthrealm. Along with her emperor, Ermac was defeated but he did not
die. Instead he followed Kahn to Outworld where he continued to serve as
slave to Kahn's will.
Deadly Alliance: He did not appear in the game physically, but storywise, he
had some interesting developments. At some point after Shao Kahn's death at
the hands of the Deadly Alliance, Ermac ran into the blind warrior Kenshi.
Kenshi sympathized with Ermac and freed him from Shao Kahn's mind control. In
return, Ermac taught Kenshi the secrets of telekinesis.
Deception: Ermac had found Liu Kang, locked in a soul-based internal struggle.
Ermac tried to help him deal with his situation while helping free the
zombified bodies of Liu Kang's friends. In a surprising showing of ability,
Ermac defeated Kung Lao, Johnny Cage, Jax, Sonya and Kitana on his own at the
same time, as Liu Kang's ghost freed their minds, one at a time. Ermac was
proud of his noble victory and rise to redemption, but he could sense an evil
force controlling Onaga. Even in Onaga's defeat, the force would continue its
advance in domination.
Miscellaneous Facts and Notes:
Though it wasn't intentional, Ermac is said by some to have appeared in
MK1. The claim was that it was a one in a million chance of the game
glitching and having you face a red version of Scorpion with "ERMAC"
(Error Macro) in the character's health bar. It wasn't until UMK3, when
they wanted to get as much mileage of their male ninja sprite as
possible, when he made his first official appearance.
Whether or not he was actually hanging around the MK1 tournament is hard
to say. His UMK3 story claimed that he was very well hidden in the
shadows during past tournaments with his ending saying nothing more than
that he was really mysterious. Then MKT tossed that story out and went
with the idea that he was the merging of various warrior souls put into
human form.
Much like Venom from Marvel Comics, Ermac constantly refers to himself as more
than one entity. For instance, "We are Ermac. Do you truly wish to fight us?"
The gems on Ermac's clothes enhance his telekinetic ability.
***
FROST
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 120 lbs
Origin: Earthrealm
Species: Human/???
Affiliation: Lin Kuei (2)
Allies: Sub-Zero
Enemies: Sonya
Styles: Tong Bei, Yuan Yang, Daggers
Deadly Alliance: After blazing through Sub-Zero's Lin Kuei recruitment
tournament, Frost gained the attention of the new Grand Master Sub-Zero.
He took her under his wing and helped her hone her Kori powers. Frost
soon became full of herself, believing herself to be better than her
skills admitted. But considering her great abilities, she accompanied
Sub-Zero to Outworld to help defeat the menace of the Deadly Alliance.
Separated from the other Earthrealm warriors, Frost attacked Sub-Zero and
stole his Dragon Medallion for herself. She understimated its power and ended
up being encased in ice. Sub-Zero had no chance to forgive her for her actions
as she perished.
Deception: Sub-Zero buried her in the ruins of their Outworld ancestry.
Miscellaneous Facts and Notes:
Frost's attitude does not make her a favorite among the other heroes.
Especially Sonya, who absolutely despises her.
Sub-Zero insists that Frost refer to him as "Sifu", which seems to mean
"master" in Chinese. Personally I like to pretend it means "man with
giant blue suspenders".
The daggers that she attacks with are actually created using her Kori
powers on the spot. Her ice abilities are notably inferior to Sub-Zero's,
which is shown by how he is able to do the same trick but create a huge
sword instead.
Frost is believed to be the descendant of a race of beings from Outworld who
could control the very power of ice.
***
FUJIN
Origin: The heavens
Species: God
Affiliation: Gods of Earthrealm
Allies: Raiden
Enemies: Shinnok, older Sub-Zero
Mythologies: Fujin, God of Wind, guarded Shinnok's amulet in a hidden
location along with his brethren: the Gods of Earth, Water and Fire.
Despite their great powers, they were each defeated by the ninja
Sub-Zero.
Mortal Kombat Gold: One of the last few Earthrealm gods in action, Fujin
fought alongside his good friend and mentor Raiden against Shinnok's
forces. With his crossbow in hand, he proved himself against the forces
of evil. Raiden, promoted to Elder God, gave Fujin his spot as Protector
of Earthrealm.
Deception: No idea. You'd think that he'd be helping the cause to stop the
Dragon King, but he doesn't seem to be in the game.
Miscellaneous Facts and Notes:
When asked where Fujin was in MK:DA, Ed Boon explained that he was still
the Protector of Earthrealm. But since the threat was currently in Outworld,
Raiden ordered Fujin to remain in Earthrealm in case he was to fail.
As far as I know, the other three elemental gods from MKM have not been
graced with names. And I should point out that Blaze and the Fire God are
not one in the same since Blaze is an elemental of Outworld.
***
GORO
Height: 8'2"
Weight: 550 lbs
Origin: Outworld
Species: Shokan
Affiliation: Worked for Shao Kahn and later worked with Kitana's forces
Allies: Kitana, Kung Lao
Enemies: Liu Kang, Kung Lao (original), Noob Saibot, Kano, Johnny Cage
Mortal Kombat 1: It had been 500 years since Goro's streak began,
beginning with his close victory against the original Kung Lao. Despite
his might, Goro was overconfident. And that is why he was defeated by the
Shaolin warrior Liu Kang. He then tangled with the combined might of Johnny
Cage, Sonya Blade and Kano. The island began to crumble, and since there
was no sign of him, his father and Shao Kahn believed him to be dead.
Mortal Kombat Gold: Goro had finally gotten over the shame of losing to a
human. But he still sought after Liu Kang for a rematch. He returned and
single-handedly ended the Shokan/Centaurian conflict. After Shinnok's
defeat, Goro and Kitana made plans to bring peace to Edenia. Kung Lao,
descendant of the man Goro slain centuries before, attacked the prince
with his hat, slicing his chest. But despite the attack, Kung Lao and Goro
made peace.
Deadly Alliance: Goro and Kitana became close friends and joined together
to end Shao Kahn's tyranny once and for all. But during a battle against
Kano's army, Goro was badly wounded by the dark ninja Noob Saibot. He died
in a tent with his good friend Kitana sitting beside him.
Deception: Still dead.
Miscellaneous Facts and Notes:
Despite what some FAQs may say, his reappearance in MK4 had nothing to do
with Shinnok.
Goro had seven wives and at least one son. It's unknown if any of those
seven females were Sheeva.
He appeared as a playable character in the PS version of MKT, but his
presence was not canon. It was only there for completion reasons.
***
HAVIK
Origin: Chaosrealm
Species: Human, barely
Affiliation: None
Allies: Darrius, Kabal, Kira, Kobra, Shao Kahn
Enemies: Onaga, Hotaru
Styles: Snake, Tang Soo Do, Morning Star
Konquest: Havik asked Shujinko for help in thwarting a Seidan invasion. Though
he promised training in return, Havik refused. Instead, he just attacked
Shujinko with intent to kill. Shujinko realized that it was Havik's own way
of training through experience, though Havik told him that he was serious in
trying to kill him.
Deception: Havik saved Kabal from certain death and convinced him to rebuild
the Black Dragon. From there, Havik used the Black Dragon as his agents of
chaos. Havik opposed Onaga, for he knew the Dragon King would bring some sense
of order throughout the realms. He led the heroes to Onaga's lair and watched
as Onaga died in battle. Once the heroes had left, Havik defiled Onaga's body
by tearing out his heart: the device that allowed Onaga to resurrect others.
What happened next is up in the air.
Miscellaneous Facts and Notes:
Havik's beta-name was Skab.
Havik's design was actually an early concept for an updated Noob Saibot.
***
HOTARU
Origin: Seido
Species: Human
Affiliation: Seidan Guard, works for Onaga
Allies: Onaga
Enemies: Darrius, Havik, Dairou, Sub-Zero, Kenshi, Shujinko
Styles: Ba Shan Fan, Pi Gua, Naginata
Konquest: While preparing to combat Darrius during a riot, Hotaru was
interrupted by Shujinko, who pleaded for him to help save an Outworld city
known as Lei Chen. After Shujinko defeated Darrius on his own, Hotaru agreed.
He and his fellow guardsmen went to Outworld and fended off Baraka's army. He
became the new overlord of Lei Chen and ruled over it for years. Shujinko
returned years later, asking for help in defeating the Deadly Alliance. His
plea fell on deaf ears as Hotaru was too distracted by Shujinko breaking the
curfew rules of Lei Chen. He had Shujinko imprisoned in Seido for a while to
await trial for his crimes. Reluctantly, Shujinko escaped with the help of
Dairou. Hotaru got the wrong idea and tried to execute his former friend.
Shujinko defeated Hotaru and left Seido with the Komidogu.
Deception: Being a freak about order, Hotaru joined the Dragon King. Though
the Dragon King was evil, his dictatorship would bring stability to the
realms. Hotaru was obsessed with taking out one of the more powerful heroes,
Sub-Zero. They fought at one point with Sub-Zero as the winner, but then
Hotaru started stalking both Sub-Zero and his traveling companion Kenshi. It
is unknown what became of Hotaru. Such possibilities include being cut in
half by Kenshi, being assassinated by Dairou, being killed by Darrius during
a revolution takeover in Seido, or even helping Shujinko fight Onaga.
Miscellaneous Facts and Notes:
Hotaru's name translates to some kind of bug. His original design was going to
have his armor look more insect-like.
***
HSU HAO
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 220 lbs
Origin: Earthrealm
Species: Human
Affiliation: Red Dragon
Allies: Mavado
Enemies: Kano, Jax, Sonya
Styles: Shuai Chiao, Wrestling, Sun-Moon
Deadly Alliance: Hsu Hao had for many years worked with the Special
Forces as a free agent. He was a huge help in taking out most of the
remaining Black Dragon members. But he was really working for Mavado of
the Red Dragon, taking orders to help the Special Forces with intent to
eventually turn on them. Under Mavado's orders, Hsu Hao set a detonator
in the Outerworld Investigation Agency's portal room. Jax tried to stop
him, but Hsu Hao escaped into Outworld before the explosion went off.
Within Outworld, he sought out his leader for more orders. Mavado
explained that there was proof that Shang Tsung had hired Moloch and
Drahmin so that he could turn on Quan Chi. Hsu Hao was instructed to do
something about it and help Quan Chi, who Mavado admired as a great ally.
Hsu Hao raced to destroy Shang Tsung, but the furious Jax Briggs quickly
intercepted him. Hsu Hao died a violent death by having his cybernetic
heart torn out in a fit of rage.
Deception: Pushing daisies.
Miscellaneous Facts and Notes:
Hsu Hao was given a red, glowing cybernetic heart, given to him by the
same surgeon who implanted Kano's red eye. Because of his special heart,
Hsu Hao has an uncanny ability to carry out any objective without being
distracted. His undivided focus is what made interested Mavado enough to
make him his pupil.
Originally Hsu Hao's name was going to be Kublai Khan. In his first
released screenshots, his name was listed as Khan in his health bar. This
lead people to believe that he was actually Shao Kahn, despite the
slightly different spelling of the last name. Even when his name became
Hsu Hao, people still believed he was Shao Kahn because removing H and u
makes his name "s Hao". But as you can plainly see from his story, there
is no conceivable way Hsu Hao and Shao Kahn could be the same person.
There are so many reasons as why they are NOT the same that I don't even
know where to start.
***
JADE
Origin: Edenia
Species: Human
Affiliation: Worked for Shao Kahn and later Sindel
Allies: Sindel, Kitana
Enemies: Reptile, Tanya
Styles: Fan Zi, Kuo Shou, Bojutsu
Konquest: Jade fought Shujinko in the Living Forest over ownership of the
Outworld Komidogu. They mistakenly made Jade a good guy here, working for a
sane Sindel, but we can forgive them. Anyway, she got her clock cleaned.
Mortal Kombat II: Never really given any story. Probably just
representing Shao Kahn, hiding in the background. Not sure if her being in
Goro's Lair has any hold on the story.
Mortal Kombat Trilogy: Sent with Reptile to go seek and destroy Kitana.
This caused conflict with Jade as she had loved Kitana as a friend since
childhood, but her loyalty to Kahn was strong. In the end she attacked
Reptile and saved Kitana.
Deception: Jade found out that Sindel had been kidnapped and was being
guarded by Kitana herself. Jade rescued Sindel and realized that Onaga had
turned Kitana into his mental slave. She also saw that Tanya was helping in
his quest for domination. Jade faked defeat and allowed herself to be
captured by a group of Tarkatan warriors. Once she saw Tanya, she tossed an
orb at the traitor and covered her in its contents: Tarakan essense. The
Tarkatans warriors' instincts took over and they attacked Tanya, who they
thought was a rival male. Jade later joined Sindel, Shujinko and the others
in taking down Onaga.
Miscellaneous Facts and Notes:
Before facing her in MK2, it claims that she was an undiscovered warrior
from MK1. Considering the MK2 intro says only 7 survived, she may have
been lurking around for Shang Tsung, just like Reptile. But no, she wasn't
actually in the game.
***
JAREK
Origin: Earthrealm
Species: Human
Affiliation: Black Dragon
Allies: Kano, No Face, Tasia, Tremor
Enemies: Shinnok, Sonya, Jax
Special Forces: Jarek was released from prison by his leader Kano. He and
his fellow Black Dragon members tried to prevent Jax from trailing Kano,
they were each defeated.
Mortal Kombat Gold: Jarek escaped into Edenia, chased by Sonya Blade. Not
knowing of Kano's survival, it was believed that Jarek was the last member
of the Black Dragon at large. Upon finding out about Shinnok's threat,
Jarek and Sonya put their differences aside. Jarek was a bad guy, but he
wasn't going to let his world be taken over by some freak in clown
makeup. After the dust settled and the heroes had won, Jarek and Sonya
returned to their feud. Jarek attempted to rush Sonya on top a grassy
cliff, only to miss completely and fall off.
Deception: Probably dead. But then again, being tossed into a pit is the
least effective way to kill somebody in these situations. You never know, he
may return one day to join Kabal's new Black Dragon.
Miscellaneous Facts and Notes:
Jarek's not one of the most original characters out there. Other than
his ankle kick, all of his moves are taken from Kano. He even had the
laser eyes and heart rip Fatalities. Midway apparently just wanted to use
Kano and change his appearance to make him a new character. Hell, Namco
has been doing that for years with the Soul Calibur series.
As for the other Black Dragon members that appeared in MK:SF, here they
are:
No Face: Bald man with a flamethrower. Expert on explosives.
Tasia: Black-haired woman in tight purple midriff top and matching pants.
Uses swords.
Tremor: Looks exactly like Scorpion only brownish. That's pretty much it.
Notice how even though Jarek has copied Kano's style, he is still more
courageous than his leader. While Kano joined Shao Kahn rather than fight
him, Jarek risked his skin in order to prevent Shinnok from raping his
world.
***
JAX (Major Jackson Briggs)
Height: 6'8"
Weight: 350 lbs
Origin: Earthrealm
Species: Human
Affiliation: Special Forces, Earthrealm warriors
Allies: Sonya, Johnny Cage, Kenshi, Cyrax
Enemies: Kano, Mavado, Jarek, Hsu Hao, Kintaro, Tasia, No Face, Tremor
Styles: Muay Thai, Judo, Tonfa
Special Forces: Jax listened helplessly as the Black Dragon ambushed and
killed his fellow Special Forces agents. With Gemini sending him helpful
transmissions, he hunted down and defeated each henchman of Kano's,
followed by entering Outworld and putting a stop to Kano's plans for
world domination. He hauled Kano's unconscious body back to Earthrealm,
completing his mission.
Mortal Kombat II: A squadron of Special Forces members had disappeared
after their attempt to capture Kano and the Black Dragon. Jax's tracking
found that the last surviving member, Sonya Blade, was being held captive
in Outworld. He entered the realm for a second time and took part in Shao
Kahn's unholy tournament. Even though he did not win, he succeeded in
freeing Sonya and Kano from Kahn's imprisonment after the tournament had
ended. Unfortunately Kano got away, but Jax and Sonya knew they would
meet him again one day.
Mortal Kombat Trilogy: The government didn't believe Jax and Sonya when
they insisted that a skull-wearing giant from another world was going to
attempt to take over Earth. Thanks to Raiden, Jax's soul was kept in tact
in order for him to take on Kahn's forces. He did his part in ending the
threat and soon after began the Outerworld Investigation Agency with
Sonya.
Mortal Kombat Gold: Jax followed Sonya into Edenia where they and Jarek
teamed up to put an end to Shinnok. During the adventure, Jax came across
the body of Cyrax whose programming was going haywire. Jax and Sonya
brought Cyrax back to a laboratory and had the cyborg's human will
returned. Cyrax was grateful for their gesture and joined their team.
Deadly Alliance: Jax found Hsu Hao, a man he thought was an ally, ready
to bomb the portal room at the Outerworld Investigation Agency. After a
brief scuffle, Jax found himself unable to stop the Mongolian criminal.
And to make things worse, he had Agents Cyrax and Kenshi stranded in
Outworld. He and Sonya, with the help of Raiden, entered Outworld. Though Jax
ambushed Hsu Hao and tore him limb from limb, Jax wasn't as successful in his
attempt to defeat the Deadly Alliance.
Deception: Brought back from the dead to serve Onaga. Was saved by Ermac and
Liu Kang's spirit.
Miscellaneous Facts and Notes:
Why does Jax have metal arms in MK:SF but not in MK2? According to
Tobias, it's because back in MK:SF they were only prototypes and still
needed some work.
The idea for the metal arms is borrowed from the noncanon MK comics by
Malibu, where some of the other Special Forces members had metal arms. Their
version had Jax resort to the metal arms after a messy fight with Baraka
where he was stabbed a couple times.
Jax is supposedly the strongest man on earth.
There's no evidence supporting a romantic relationship between Jax and
Sonya. There does seem to be something going on with he and Gemini,
though.
In the MK2 comic, Jax was accompanied by his partner Steve Beran, named
after a Midway staff member. For those wondering, Steve bought it in the
comic and was reduced to a pile of bones off-screen. Mileena is likely to
blame.
***
JOHNNY CAGE (John Carlton)
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 190 lbs
Origin: Earthrealm
Species: Human
Affiliation: Screen Actor's Guild, Earthrealm warriors
Allies: Liu Kang, Sonya, Jax, Mokap
Enemies: Goro, Kano, Paul W.S. Anderson
Styles: Karate, Jeet Kun Do, Nunchaku
Mortal Kombat: Johnny Cage, trained by masters around the world, was
invited to partake in the mysterious Mortal Kombat tournament. Sick of
people claiming his skills were nothing more than camera tricks and special
effects, Cage entered the tournament where he became good friends with Liu
Kang and Sonya Blade. He teamed up with Sonya and Kano to face Goro,
following the Shokan's loss to Liu Kang, when the island began to crumble.
Raiden saved Johnny Cage and dropped him off near a Special Forces boat.
Mortal Kombat II: Jax interrogated Johnny Cage about the events of the
Mortal Kombat tournament and the whereabouts of Sonya. After a while,
Johnny was let go and briefly returned to acting. It didn't take long for
Kahn's henchmen to track him down and attack. With the help of the Special
Forces, Cage escaped with Jax and met with Raiden. Cage didn't hesitate to
join his friends on the quest to Outworld, partially for it held the plot
of a real kickass movie script. In the end he was defeated and retreated
back to Earthrealm with the champion Liu Kang.
Mortal Kombat Trilogy: He fought alongside his Earthrealm buddies. Why is this
description so short? Check the Facts and Notes section.
Mortal Kombat Gold: Johnny Cage joined the cause to save Earthrealm once
again by traveling with his buddies to Edenia. Once Shinnok was destroyed,
Johnny Cage returned to making movies. He even won an award for his latest
flick, where after opening his big mouth he played the target to the many
items the losers had tossed at him.
Deadly Alliance: Johnny Cage was fed up with his latest movie where his
character was supposed to die and come back again and again. Once Raiden
showed up to ask for his help, Johnny complied immediately. He loved his
real life adventures more than making movies. Unfortunately, in Outworld, he
lost in battle against the Deadly Alliance.
Deception: Raised from the dead to serve Onaga. Johnny and the others were
defeated and returned to normal by Ermac and the ghost of Liu Kang.
Miscellaneous Facts and Notes:
As the original story goes, Cage died prior to MKT at the hands of Motaro's
forces. Due to a loophole from Earthrealm and Outworld merging, Cage's soul
was returned to his body. He helped stop Shao Kahn and then died again as
things went back to normal. Then in MKG, Raiden agreed to bring him back to
life to combat Shinnok. All of this has been retconned by John Vogel for
MK:DA. Instead, all of that junk about him dying is just "bad writing" that
came from his movies. So yeah, Johnny never died. At least, not until meeting
Shang and Quan.
The list of movies Johnny Cage has starred in: Dragon Fist, Dragon Fist
II, Son of Dragon Fist, Sudden Violence, Aquatic Assault, 7 Poisons, Cage
Match, The Gist of My Fist, 24 Karate Gold, Ninja Mime, HWAAAAA!!, Exiting
the Dragon of Death, Wu Shu (television show), Who's That?, Mortal Kombat,
Mortal Kombat II, Mortal Kombat: The Death of Johnny Cage (unfinished), and
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (never made since his ending never happened).
Ninja Mime was his first movie. It bombed in America but had a huge
following in France.
Remember Smash TV? Johnny Cage appeared on the celebrity version where
he defeated the giant Mutoid Man using his projectile. He gave his
winnings to charity. What a guy.
The question of whether there's something going on between Johnny and
Sonya like in the movie has been answered in Johnny's MK:DA ending where
a movie poster shows him posing with Sonya holding on to his leg. If the
MK4 comic is to be trusted, it seems the feelings are not mutual.
Two of Johnny Cage's styles in MK:DA are Jeet Kun Do and nunchuckus. This
is an homage to Bruce Lee, the martial artist movie star who created Jeet
Kun Do and regularly used nunchaku.
It's to be assumed that Johnny Cage didn't do nearly as much work in
MK:DA as he says he did in his movie based on it (from his ending). But the
fact that Scorpion appears on the movie poster suggests that the two may have
fought at one point during the adventure.
In MK:DA, Johnny Cage joined his friends on Shang Tsung's deserted island
by parachuting from a plane in a tuxedo. The guy's got style.
His real name, John Carlton, is taken from a Midway programmer with the same
name.
They were originally going to call him Michael Grimm. I'm glad they made the
change.
Johnny Cage is based on Jean Claude Van Damme, who was originally going to be
involved with the game until some kind of falling out.
***
KABAL
Origin: Earthrealm
Species: Human
Affiliation: Black Dragon (1), Black Dragon (2)
Allies: Kano, Kira, Kobra, Havik
Enemies: Mavado, Motaro
Styles: Sun Bin, Goju Ryu, Hookswords
Mortal Kombat Trilogy: Kabal, a member of the Black Dragon, found himself
alone after Shao Kahn had ravaged the souls of Earthrealm. While he was
chosen by Raiden to help fight Kahn, Kabal was tracked down by Motaro and
the Extermination Squads, who horribly mutilated him and left him for
dead. Using a set of respirators to cover his now-hideous face and keep
him alive, Kabal set off to join the heroes. He learned much from the
war for Earthrealm and turned over a new leaf. He left the Black Dragon
and swore to hunt down evil wherever it may rise.
Deadly Alliance: (not in-game) Kabal faced off against Mavado, leader of the
Red Dragon. Kabal wanted to make Mavado pay for his evil while Mavado wanted
to eliminate any last trace of the Black Dragon. Mavado came out the
winner and sole survivor, taking Kabal's famous hookswords as a memento.
Deception: Kabal was saved from death by Havik, who convinced him to bring
back the Black Dragon. As the new leader, Kabal's first act was to seek out
Mavado and get his revenge. After killing Mavado and being reunited with his
hookswords, Kabal found two worthy recruits to begin the new Black Dragon: the
female arms dealer Kira and Kobra, a serial killer obsessed with his own
deadly fighting skills. After the defeat of Onaga, it is possible that Kabal
killed Havik and stole Onaga's resurrecting heart. But what is known is that
he had Kira and Kobra face each other in a fight to the death to earn a
full-fledged member of the Black Dragon. Kira killed Kobra and was given the
assignment of finding two new recruits.
Miscellaneous Facts and Notes:
His messed up face appears during one of his MK3 Fatalities, making him look
like the Crypt Keeper with a bigger forehead.
Kabal's beta-name was Sandman.
***
KAI
Origin: Earthrealm
Species: Human
Affiliation: White Lotus Society, Earthrealm warriors
Allies: Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Raiden
Enemies: Shinnok
Mortal Kombat Gold: One of the last surviving members of the White Lotus
Society, Kai joined Liu Kang in his expedition to kill Shinnok. That's
it, really.
Deception: Evidence points to Kai being dead. His ending showed Raiden
handing him his magical staff as gratitude for his help. But in
MK:DA, Raiden still has his staff. And you would think he would have
acquired Kai's help against the Deadly Alliance if he were still alive.
Miscellaneous Facts and Notes:
There were sketches made in the early stages of creating MK:DA of Kai
that were obviously never used. His look was considerably different. He
still had the bandana, but only wore a hakama (big, dress-like pants that
Geese Howard and Heihachi Mishima wear), and his tiger stripes were only
around his shoulders and parts of his head. His weapon was the scimitar.
Who knows, maybe they'll make an upgraded MK:DA with this new form of Kai
in it.
Kai's beta-name was Maki. Man, what's with MK4 characters and girly names?
***
KANO
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 200 lbs
Age: 45
Origin: Earthrealm
Species: Human
Affiliation: Black Dragon (1), worked for Kahn and later the Deadly Alliance
Allies: Jarek, No Face, Tasia, Tremor, Shao Kahn, Sheeva, Quan Chi, Shang
Tsung
Enemies: Sonya, Jax, Mavado, Hsu Hao, Motaro
Styles: Xing Yi, Aikido, Butterfly
Special Forces: Kano, leader of the waning Black Dragon, broke out some
of his most powerful accomplices from prison in order to help him with
his plan for world domination. He escaped to Outworld but was closely
followed by Special Fo