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. 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 Forces agent Major Jackson "Jax" Briggs. Kano explained his plan to make the world his using the Eye of Shitian and fought the military man. Kano lost and was dragged back to Earthrealm. Mortal Kombat 1: Kano escaped from the Special Forces and separated from his fellow Black Dragon members by boarding the ship to Shang Tsung's island. His plan was to win the tournament and steal the gold from Shang Tsung's castle. He ended up losing in the tournament, though he put his difference aside with his enemies Sonya and Johnny Cage in order to fight Goro. The island began to crumble and Kano appeared with Sonya in Outworld where they were eventually captured by Shang Tsung's forces. Mortal Kombat II: Didn't fight in it, but was in the background of Shao Kahn's courtyard, beside Kahn's throne where he was chained up and put on display. He was set free by Jax, but escaped custody. Mortal Kombat Trilogy: Kano made a deal with Shao Kahn before the invasion. He pointed out that he would make a great addition to his army, as he could teach Kahn's men how to use the weaponry of Earthrealm. During the great war, Kano met with his arch rival Sonya on top a tower. He was winning the fight and even tore out a piece of Sonya's hair to add insult to injury. But Sonya caught him off guard by tossing him off the tower by using her legs. Motaro had seen the fight and took Kano's dying body to the defeated Shao Kahn, who revived Kano by using magic. Kano was locked up so he could be horribly punished later. But outside his jail cell, Motaro was attacked an