100 Fun Facts About Mortal Kombat

Which company published the home console versions of the original Mortal Kombat in 1993?

Acclaim took Midway's arcade hit home and had to ship it two ways: Nintendo insisted the gore be toned down, while Sega let the full fatalities stay behind a cheat code.

Mortal Kombat's launch on four home systems on 13 September 1993 was marketed as what?

Mortal Monday was trumpeted by a flood of TV commercials, and the sequel copied the trick a year later with a 'Mortal Friday' of its own.

Pinball designer Steve Ritchie, credited by Ed Boon with naming Mortal Kombat, voiced which villain in the sequel?

Shao Kahn's booming taunts in the sequel are Ritchie's voice. By Boon's telling, he had spotted 'Kombat' scrawled on an office whiteboard and suggested putting 'Mortal' in front of it.

In the original games, which fighter did Shang Tsung create as an evil clone of Princess Kitana?

Mileena was grown to spy on Kitana and replace her if need be, but Shang Tsung mixed in Tarkatan blood, which is why her veil hides a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth.

What was Mortal Kombat's Sonya called when the character was still a male Special Forces agent?

Stryker lost his slot when the team decided the roster needed a woman: Sonya inherited his storyline of hunting Kano, and the name sat unused until a riot cop took it two games later.

Which martial-arts actress inspired Sonya Blade and later claimed her likeness was used without her consent?

Cynthia Rothrock says Midway first tried to hire her to play the part and, when the deal fell through, put her look and her moves into the game anyway.

Mortal Kombat's Johnny Cage is a parody of which action star?

Jean-Claude Van Damme was Midway's first target: it cut a demo reel to woo him into a Bloodsport-style fighting game, and when that fell through, the spoof kept that film's split-legged punch.

Which green-clad hidden opponent could only be met on The Pit stage of the original Mortal Kombat arcade game?

Reptile was finished in a single evening by blending the game's two existing ninjas, then slipped into a later revision of the cabinet with only cryptic on-screen clues that he existed.

Which cheat code, a nod to a 1981 Genesis album, unlocked the blood in the Sega Genesis port?

ABACABB is Abacab, a 1981 album by the band Genesis, plus one more B, a pun on the console sharing the band's name; until it was entered, Sega's version hid its blood as well.

In the censored Super NES port of the first Mortal Kombat, the red blood was recoloured to look like what?

Sweat was Nintendo's condition for a family-friendly cartridge: the blood was recoloured grey and most Fatalities were softened, and Sega's gorier version comfortably outsold it.

Which US senator led the December 1993 hearings on video-game violence targeting Mortal Kombat?

Joe Lieberman took up the cause after an aide, whose young son had asked for the game, showed him how violent it was; he announced the hearings beside Bob Keeshan, TV's Captain Kangaroo.

Which Sega CD full-motion-video game joined Mortal Kombat as the target of the 1993 Senate hearings?

Night Trap sold some 50,000 copies in the week after the hearings, by its maker's count, before Toys 'R' Us and Kay-Bee pulled it from their shelves two weeks before Christmas.

Mortal Kombat II introduced a joke finishing move that turns the defeated opponent into what?

A baby, crying on the floor, is the punchline of the Babality; it arrived with the equally silly Friendship as the sequel's answer to the outcry over the first game's violence.

Which finishing move, new to the third Mortal Kombat game in 1995, required first granting a 'Mercy'?

Animality began as a playground rumour about the previous game, and fan demand got it built for real: the winner morphs into a beast, but only after sparing the loser once.

Whose face pops up shouting 'Toasty!' after a well-timed uppercut, starting in Mortal Kombat II?

Dan Forden, the series' sound designer, is even credited in the games as Dan 'Toasty' Forden; the cry grew out of the 'toast' trash talk he aimed at colleagues during game sessions.

After 'Toasty!', which falsetto shout did the third Mortal Kombat add for freezing a nearly beaten foe with Sub-Zero?

Frosty! was recorded by the same staffer who pops up for 'Toasty!'; the game's Ultimate update added a third cry, 'Crispy!', for both players holding High Punch after a stage Fatality.

Which of Scorpion's two spear taunts was cut from the first two games' home ports?

'Get over here!' was dropped from the first two games' home ports to save memory, leaving only 'Come here!'; Ed Boon voiced both and was still at it when Guinness recognised his long run in 2008.

Which act originally recorded 'Techno Syndrome', the track widely known as the Mortal Kombat theme?

The Immortals were the duo behind Lords of Acid, given a month between tours to write the album; this track was finished by one of them alone on an Atari ST while his partner sat in a label meeting.

Which red ninja began as a playground rumour about a hidden fighter before Midway made him real?

Ermac takes his name from ERMACS, an 'error macro' counter on the first game's audit screen that players took for a secret character; the rumour grew until he joined the roster in 1995.

What was NetherRealm Studios' first console game outside the Mortal Kombat series?

Injustice: Gods Among Us set DC's heroes on one another in 2013; the Chicago studio is Midway's old Mortal Kombat team, kept on when Warner Bros. bought the bankrupt company's assets in 2009.

Which resurrected 'Dragon King' is the main villain of Mortal Kombat: Deception (2004)?

Onaga spends the game's Konquest mode in disguise, tricking the warrior Shujinko into a decades-long errand to collect six powerful relics that he then takes for himself.

Because of the DC licence, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (2008) was held to which ESRB rating?

Teen was the ceiling the DC licence allowed, so two finishing moves were toned down for North America and Sub-Zero's spine rip was left out altogether.

Which Sony character was the PlayStation-only guest fighter in the 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot?

Kratos brought a God of War arena with him; Twisted Metal's Sweet Tooth had been considered for the slot first, and the Xbox-only guest the team wanted never happened.

What is the three-bar super move introduced in the 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot called?

X-ray moves cut to an inside view of the victim's bones and organs breaking; they cost all three bars of a meter that could instead buy stronger specials or a combo breaker.

Who is the main villain of the 2019 Mortal Kombat game?

Kronika is spurred to act when Raiden beheads her son, an Elder God; she sets out to rewind history and erase the thunder god, dragging past versions of the cast into the present.

Which Mortal Kombat entry was the series' best-seller by 2022, with more than 15 million copies sold?

Mortal Kombat 11 ends with Liu Kang becoming a god and restarting history, the clean slate on which the 2023 reboot was built.

What is the assist-partner system in the 2023 game Mortal Kombat 1 called?

Kameo Fighters keep veterans who missed the main roster in the fight: Sonya, Kano and Goro are not playable in the game, but each can still be called in for an assist.

In the new timeline of the 2023 game Mortal Kombat 1, which long-running character takes up the mantle of Scorpion?

Kuai Liang had been the series' Sub-Zero since 1993, taking the blue after his brother's death; the 2023 timeline hands him the rival ninja's fire and name instead.

What is the name of the original 1992 Sub-Zero, the elder brother killed by Scorpion?

Bi-Han dies at Scorpion's hands after the first tournament and comes back as the black-clad wraith Noob Saibot, while his younger brother inherits the blue costume.

What is the human name of the original Scorpion, the undead ninja avenging his family and clan?

Hanzo Hasashi matters enough that the 2021 film opens with him in 1617 Japan and hangs its plot on the survival of his bloodline.

Scorpion belonged to which ninja clan, the sworn rivals of Sub-Zero's Lin Kuei?

Shirai Ryu made Scorpion Japanese by design: John Tobias knew of a disputed book arguing China's Lin Kuei shaped Japan's ninja, so he gave each side of the argument its own fighter.

Which main Mortal Kombat installment is the only one without Scorpion as a playable fighter?

Mortal Kombat 3 dropped Scorpion and other favourites in favour of newcomers; the omission drew criticism, and an 'Ultimate' update brought him back within the year.

What was Sub-Zero's early working name during development of the first Mortal Kombat?

Tundra began on John Tobias's sketchpad as a figure labelled simply 'Ninja'; years later the discarded name was handed back to the younger Sub-Zero as his Lin Kuei codename.

Which 1987 film inspired Sub-Zero's 'Spine Rip' Fatality in the first Mortal Kombat?

Predator inspired the move, one of the first game's most notorious finishers; Nintendo's port swapped it for a freeze-and-shatter the sequels kept.

Kano's nationality was retconned to what after audiences misheard Trevor Goddard's accent?

Australian stuck because of the 1995 film: Trevor Goddard played Kano as a Cockney, viewers heard an Aussie, and in 2008 the games rewrote the Japanese-born American to match.

What is Kitana's primary weapon?

Steel fans were a late swap: she was first sketched holding sai, which passed to another fighter when the art was reworked.

Goro, the four-armed sub-boss of the first Mortal Kombat, belongs to which half-human, half-dragon race?

Shokan royalty by birth, Goro was filmed as a stop-motion clay figurine that eventually fell apart from overuse while his moves were being captured.

John Tobias said the unseen emperor behind the first Mortal Kombat's villain was inspired by which film saga?

Star Wars tells you early on that an emperor rules the galaxy and almost nothing else; Tobias wanted that itch, so the first game's sorcerer serves a master players would not meet until the sequel.

Both Shang Tsung's sorcerer archetype and Raiden's design drew on which 1986 film?

Big Trouble in Little China gave Shang Tsung a touch of its sorcerer Lo Pan, and Raiden swapped the drum-beating demon of Japanese myth for the film's lightning warrior in a conical hat.

What did actor Ho-Sung Pak refuse to do for Liu Kang, prompting the team to restyle the character after Bruce Lee?

Shave his head was the plan because Liu Kang was drawn as a bald, robed monk; when Pak said no, the writers made him a renegade monk who had grown his hair back.

Who played the thunder god Rayden in the 1995 Mortal Kombat film?

Christopher Lambert was recast for the 1997 sequel but came back to the role a quarter-century on, lending his face and voice to the thunder god in a 2020 add-on for the games.

Which film ended the 1995 Mortal Kombat's run as the top-earning video-game adaptation?

Pokémon: The First Movie opened in the US on a Wednesday, and so many children missed school to see it that the day was dubbed the 'Pokéflu'.

The 2021 Mortal Kombat film premiered in US cinemas on the same day it landed on which streaming service?

HBO Max carried it for a month alongside cinemas because Warner Bros. sent its entire 2021 slate out that way during the pandemic, after trying the idea with Wonder Woman 1984.

What is the name of the washed-up MMA fighter invented as the hero of the 2021 Mortal Kombat film?

Cole Young led the film while Johnny Cage sat it out: the director felt Cage was such a giant personality that he would throw it off balance, and kept him for the sequel.

Which was the first Mortal Kombat film of any kind to receive an R rating from the MPA?

Legends: Scorpion's Revenge is an animated feature that opens with a gag on the Warner Bros. Animation logo, where Scorpion grabs Daffy Duck.

Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm aired in 1996 back-to-back with a cartoon based on which rival fighting game?

Street Fighter shared USA Network's Action Extreme Team block with it, and the two cartoons even took part in a crossover story that ran through the whole line-up.

Who composed 'Techno Syndrome 2021', the theme for the 2021 Mortal Kombat film?

Benjamin Wallfisch started writing before he had even been hired, and his remake of the 1990s techno anthem reached number 5 on Billboard's Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart.

Ed Boon named Sonya after one of his sisters and which other fighter after the other?

Tanya was named for Boon's sister Tania, as Sonya was for Sonia; the creators hid themselves in the roster too, since Noob Saibot is Boon and Tobias spelled backwards.

Which Mortal Kombat II newcomer fights with a razor-brimmed hat?

Kung Lao owes his hat to Oddjob, the Bond henchman who hurls his bowler as a weapon in Goldfinger; John Tobias has named the 1964 film as the inspiration.

In which bonus minigame of the original Mortal Kombat do players hammer buttons to smash wood, stone and steel?

Test Your Might pays bonus points for mashing buttons hard enough to split wood, then stone, steel, ruby and finally diamond; the series shelved it for a decade before Deadly Alliance revived it.

Which rival fighting game's arcade success convinced Midway to commission the original Mortal Kombat?

Street Fighter II was the hit Midway wanted to answer when it asked Ed Boon and John Tobias for a combat game within a year. Tobias had wanted to make a fighter in the style of Karate Champ even before that.

Which Hollywood studio bought the Mortal Kombat franchise when Midway went bankrupt in 2009?

Warner Bros. acquired nearly all of Midway's assets in July 2009. The surviving development team was renamed NetherRealm Studios the following April.

Mortal Kombat II's Friendship and Babality finishers were added as a satire of what?

The outcry over its gore gave the team a target, so one finisher ends a match with a gift or a dance. A 2007 GamesRadar list put both among the ten greatest things about the series.

Which mixed martial arts star turned actress voiced Sonya Blade in the 2019 Mortal Kombat game?

Ronda Rousey was presented as Sonya's voice in a filmed interview at the game's reveal event. In 1992 the part was acted on camera by Elizabeth Malecki.

Which Transformers actress voiced the vampire Nitara in the 2023 Mortal Kombat reboot?

Megan Fox gave Nitara both her voice and her face. She called the vampire evil but also good, a fighter trying to save her own people.

Which horror film villain joined the 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot as a downloadable guest fighter?

Freddy Krueger crossed over from A Nightmare on Elm Street as paid extra content. The 2015 sequel followed with Jason Voorhees and Leatherface.

Which Sylvester Stallone character joined the 2019 Mortal Kombat game, voiced by the actor himself?

John Rambo arrived in the game's second character pack with Stallone's voice and likeness. The actor recorded his lines at home over video calls because of the pandemic.

Which US city, birthplace of co-creator Ed Boon, is home to Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm Studios?

Chicago was also the base of Midway, where the series began in 1992. Co-creator John Tobias bought the Tsui Hark fantasy films that inspired him from bootleggers in the city's Chinatown.

Which Mortal Kombat Special Forces officer has fought with metal bionic arms since the 1995 third game?

Jax made his debut a game earlier with ordinary arms. For the later shoot, bodybuilder John Parrish had the implants painted onto his skin, a job that took six hours.

Which Mortal Kombat realm is ruled by Emperor Shao Kahn, who schemes to merge it with Earthrealm?

Outworld is called a realm of constant strife in one game's manual. In the second game its emperor lures Earth's champions there for a winner-take-all rematch.

Which first for the series did Mortal Kombat 4 deliver in 1997, the last time an entry debuted in arcades?

3D graphics swapped the filmed actors of earlier entries for polygon models. Characters still moved along a flat path, apart from a sidestep.

Which blind fighter with telekinetic powers made his Mortal Kombat debut in Deadly Alliance?

Kenshi went through the working names Blind Gi and Blind Kenshi before the adjective was dropped. His sword was added to give his psychic powers a focus.

Which racing series inspired Motor Kombat, the cartoonish driving minigame inside Mortal Kombat: Armageddon?

Mario Kart was the comparison Ed Boon himself drew for the mode. Each warrior drives a customised go-kart with special moves, drawn in a squat cartoon style carried over from an earlier puzzle minigame.

Which feature of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance sells hidden characters, arenas and costumes for koins?

The Krypt began as a grid of 676 koffins, each labelled with a pair of letters from AA to ZZ. The grid was laid out as a square, and koins earned in ordinary play paid for each one.

Which finisher came back in Mortal Kombat X as an ordinary move that kills if it ends the final round?

Brutality began in the 1990s as a long combo that made the loser explode. The 2015 version instead fires when a set move wins the match under certain conditions.

Which comeback move in the 2019 Mortal Kombat game unlocks only when health falls below 30 percent?

Fatal Blow deals a large amount of damage but can be performed only once per match, so timing it is everything. Krushing Blows were the game's other new mechanic.

Which Mortal Kombat II newcomer, a fanged Tarkatan warrior, fights with blades that extend from his forearms?

Baraka's look was improvised from a Nosferatu-style mask with false nails glued on as teeth. The fearsome blades were cut from shiny cardboard.

In the 2019 Mortal Kombat game's finale, Liu Kang merges with Raiden to become the god of which element?

Fire is the power Liu Kang wields after the merger, and with it he rebuilds the timeline. That fresh universe is the setting of the 2023 reboot.

Which Mortal Kombat sorcerer debuted in the 1996 cartoon Defenders of the Realm before reaching the games?

Quan Chi was voiced in that single episode by Nick Chinlund. His first game was a 1997 spin-off, in which he hires two rival ninjas hoping they will meet in combat.

Which fallen Elder God is the final boss of both Mortal Kombat 4 and Mortal Kombat X?

Shinnok was banished to the Netherrealm by Raiden after centuries of war, and he escapes to settle the score. He first appeared as the boss of a 1997 spin-off.

Which Mortal Kombat master of drunken boxing has a name that puns on the Spanish word for drunk?

Bo' Rai Cho is a play on borracho, and his moves lean on his weight and bodily functions. In the story he is the teacher who trained Liu Kang.

Because no actor has four arms, which technique animated Goro in the original Mortal Kombat?

Stop motion was filmed on a 12-inch latex miniature made from a clay sculpture by Curt Chiarelli. The second game's sub-boss was animated the same way.

What did Mortal Kombat X call the three selectable move sets given to each fighter, such as Scorpion's Ninjutsu?

Variations gave every character three distinct ways to play. Scorpion could choose between dual swords, flaming special moves and summoned minions.

Which new button, governed by its own meter, did the 1995 third Mortal Kombat game add beside punch and kick?

Run was the team's answer to players who felt earlier entries favoured whoever was defending. Its meter drained with sprinting and combos, and the dash worked forwards only.

Which board game was remade with warriors as the pieces for a minigame in Mortal Kombat: Deception?

Chess Kombat ends when one side captures the other's Champion, its version of the king. The idea was planned for the previous game, but the team ran out of time.

Why was final boss Shang Tsung given the power to morph into rivals in the original Mortal Kombat?

No memory for his images was left on the arcade machine, so the boss borrowed everyone else's moves instead. He kept the trick when he became playable in the sequel.

Which Todd McFarlane antihero joined the 2019 Mortal Kombat game with Keith David reprising the voice?

Spawn came with Keith David, who had voiced the character in HBO's animated series. The same announcement confirmed the return of Nightwolf and Sindel.

Which guest fighter in the 2023 Mortal Kombat reboot kept his television voice actor, J. K. Simmons?

Omni-Man arrived from the animated series Invincible in the first character pack. Ed Boon said the team had tried to sign Michonne from The Walking Dead before settling on him.

Which rapper recorded the original song Can't Be Stopped for the 2014 reveal trailer of Mortal Kombat X?

Wiz Khalifa's track played over a duel between Scorpion and Sub-Zero. The same song returned in the finished game's opening cinematic.

Which Mortal Kombat: Deception adventure mode follows the warrior Shujinko from youth to old age?

Konquest has Shujinko spend 46 years gathering six relics for a guide who is deceiving him. The mode began in the previous game as a training tour.

Which 2020 story expansion for the previous year's Mortal Kombat game added Fujin, Sheeva and RoboCop?

Aftermath continues the plot with Shang Tsung as an uneasy ally sent back in time. RoboCop came with the voice of Peter Weller, who played him in the first two films.

Which 1996 Mortal Kombat compilation brought Goro back as a playable fighter after his absence from two sequels?

Trilogy restored characters and stages from the earliest entries. Ed Boon said the PlayStation's CD drive had so much space that the team simply added the older assets.

What does emperor Shao Kahn swing at opponents between shoulder charges in the Mortal Kombat games?

A giant hammer, named the Wrath Hammer, backs up his dark magic and brute strength. Early sketches showed him unmasked, with large gnashing teeth.

Which crime syndicate, led by the mercenary Kano, is Sonya Blade pursuing in the first Mortal Kombat?

Black Dragon gave Sonya her reason to enter the tournament, and it later became one of five groups players could join online. Its boss fights with knives and a laser eye.

Which single-player mode in the 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot strings together 300 separate tasks?

Challenge Tower pays in-game currency for every task cleared. That currency can also buy a pass over any stage that proves too hard, to be finished later.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe in 2008 was built on which technology, shared with Gears of War?

Unreal Engine 3 was the one thing kept from a cancelled, grittier eighth game that a Gears of War showcase had inspired. A deal with DC Comics turned the project into a crossover.

What did John Tobias use to film the actors whose footage became the original Mortal Kombat's characters?

His own Hi-8 camcorder captured every punch and kick before the footage was digitised. The finished arcade game gave each character around 300 frames of animation.

In the 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot, a doomed Raiden changes history by sending a warning to whom?

His past self receives the message as Shao Kahn is about to finish him at the end of the old storyline. The plot then retells the first three games with new outcomes.

Which upcoming action film did Midway first want its 1992 fighter to adapt before Mortal Kombat took shape?

Universal Soldier was the plan until its star proved to be tied up in talks over another game, one that was never released. The team went back to a ninja idea of its own.

Which car brand's MKX badge did Ed Boon post online as a teaser before Mortal Kombat X was announced?

Lincoln had a luxury crossover called the MKX, and Boon shared its emblem with a note wondering what the X stood for. The title was confirmed on 2 June 2014.

Which Chaosrealm troublemaker from Mortal Kombat: Deception returns as the Titan villain of the Khaos Reigns expansion?

Havik is first glimpsed as a Titan in a mid-credits scene, complaining that the big battle ended too quickly. In his 2004 debut his only aim was to spread disorder.

Which demigod wakes from a long sleep to race his brother Daegon in the story mode of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon?

Taven and his brother were put into dormant states in caverns by their father, a protector god, to await a final battle. A loyal beast wakes him when the time comes.

Which actor played both Johnny Cage and Scorpion in the 1992 Mortal Kombat, with his brother as Raiden?

Daniel Pesina says the game grew from a ninja-themed fighter he planned with John Tobias and friends, an idea Midway's management first rejected.

Mortal Kombat Gold, an expanded edition of the fourth game, was released only on which console?

Dreamcast owners got five extra characters and one more secret one over the arcade original. The port was developed by Eurocom and reached North America on 9 September 1999.

Where did players of the 1995 third Mortal Kombat game punch in six-symbol Kombat Kodes before a two-player match?

The VS screen took the codes, which could change the rules, summon hidden opponents or flash messages. A longer ten-symbol code on the continue screen unlocked a robotic Smoke.

Which Mortal Kombat joke character, hidden in Deadly Alliance, supposedly worked on a Johnny Cage film?

Mokap is short for motion capture, the job he is said to have done for the actor. He is modelled on the Midway artist who performed the moves recorded for that game.

Which toy line's Baron Karza figure, sold with a horse to merge with, inspired the Mortal Kombat centaur Motaro?

Micronauts let children combine the villain with his steed to make a centaur, and John Tobias borrowed the idea. In a later game a curse turns Motaro into a two-legged minotaur.

Which 2011 Mortal Kombat web series, released free on YouTube, grew out of the short film Rebirth?

Legacy was ordered after director Kevin Tancharoen made the eight-minute Rebirth as a proof of concept for a film reboot. A second season followed in 2013.

Which unkillable Mortal Kombat enforcer, a manipulator of sand and time, becomes Liu Kang's adviser in the 2023 reboot?

Geras is named after the Greek deity of old age and recovers from any wound. In 2019 the heroes could only beat him by dropping him into a bottomless sea.

Which downloadable Mortal Kombat X character is built from the minds of Sektor, Cyrax, Smoke and Sub-Zero?

Triborg can fight as any of the Lin Kuei cyborgs, depending on which form the player selects. His stated goal is to destroy all organic life, though the plot never uses him.