50 Fun Facts About Mortal Kombat X

Which horror-film killer was the first guest fighter announced for Mortal Kombat X's downloadable Kombat Pack?

Jason Voorhees of Friday the 13th was announced a month before launch, and Michael Myers of Halloween was considered for a slot but never made the roster.

Which finishing move, new in Mortal Kombat X, instantly kills the fighter of a player who disconnects mid-match?

Quitality punishes deserters by killing their fighter on the spot, one of two finisher types the game added alongside Faction Kills.

Cassie Cage, the hero of Mortal Kombat X's story mode, is the daughter of Johnny Cage and which fighter?

Sonya Blade marries Johnny Cage after the first war of the story, and the two later divorce while their daughter grows up to lead a new team of young fighters.

Cassie Cage's critically praised signature Fatality in Mortal Kombat X is named after which smartphone habit?

Taking a selfie is one of the character's trademark mannerisms, along with blowing bubble gum, and critics ranked the Fatality among the best in the game.

Which country got Mortal Kombat X months late because the game at first had no age rating there?

Germany's official release was held back because the game at first had no USK age rating; it went on sale there months after the worldwide launch, uncut.

Which metal band supplied a 2001 hit for Mortal Kombat X's launch trailer, directed by one of its own members?

System of a Down member Shavo Odadjian directed the live-action commercial himself. It was set to the band's track Chop Suey!

How is the X in the title Mortal Kombat X officially pronounced, according to the game's own director?

As the letter X, not the Roman numeral, a point the director had to clear up because the game really is the tenth main entry in the series.

Which four-armed Shokan veteran was offered as the pre-order bonus fighter for Mortal Kombat X?

Goro, the sub-boss of the original game, was later sold separately and bundled into Kombat Pack 2 for players who had missed the pre-order.

Which Aztec-inspired newcomer rules Outworld as its emperor during the story of Mortal Kombat X?

Kotal Kahn overthrew the previous empress and is voiced by Phil LaMarr; his people, the Osh-Tekk, draw their powers from the sun.

The name of Mortal Kombat X's swarm-commanding newcomer D'Vorah is derived from the Hebrew word for which creature?

Bee suits a Kytinn, a humanoid race with insect and arachnid traits; in the story she serves Outworld's emperor while secretly working for his enemies.

Ninjutsu, Hellfire and Inferno are the three selectable fighting styles of which Mortal Kombat X cover character?

Scorpion fronts the North American box art, and his Inferno style lets him summon hellspawn minions while Ninjutsu arms him with dual swords.

What name does Mortal Kombat X give to the three selectable move sets available for each fighter?

Variations change a fighter's special moves, so picking a character became a two-step choice: one set might add weapons while another summons helpers.

Which returning ninja becomes Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei clan in the story of Mortal Kombat X?

Sub-Zero takes over the clan after killing the cyborg Sektor, then uses data from Sektor's memory banks to end his long feud with a rival clan's leader.

Which deposed empress wages a civil war against Outworld's new emperor in the story of Mortal Kombat X?

Mileena lost the throne when it emerged she was not the old emperor's biological daughter, and her rebellion ends with her capture and execution.

Which sorcerer commands the undead revenants in Mortal Kombat X until he is beheaded in the story mode?

Quan Chi finishes the spell that frees Shinnok moments before losing his head, so killing him comes too late to stop the villain's return.

At the start of Mortal Kombat X's story, the fallen Elder God Shinnok is imprisoned inside which object?

His own amulet becomes the prize of the whole plot, passing through many hands over twenty-five years before a spell finally lets him out.

Which protector of Earthrealm ends Mortal Kombat X's story corrupted after purifying the realm's life force?

Raiden is darkened by the cleansing and closes the game by delivering a villain's severed, still-living head as a warning to the Netherrealm's new rulers.

What name does Mortal Kombat X give the source of Earthrealm's life force that Shinnok corrupts?

The Jinsei is kept in a chamber at the Sky Temple, and entering it turns the villain into a powerful demon who serves as the final boss.

Which two revenants are ruling the Netherrealm when the story of Mortal Kombat X comes to an end?

Liu Kang and Kitana, fallen heroes raised as undead, hold the throne of the underworld and receive a grim warning in the final scene.

Takeda, a whip-wielding newcomer in Mortal Kombat X raised by another clan, is the son of which returning fighter?

Kenshi handed the boy over for training after the murder of the child's mother, wanting him properly prepared to avenge her.

Which finisher from Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 returned in Mortal Kombat X as a special move landed as the final blow?

Brutality once meant a long combo that made the loser explode; here it is an ordinary move that turns lethal when it wins the last round under set conditions.

Which Mortal Kombat X mode has players explore areas in first-person view to unlock in-game items?

The Krypt swaps the side-on fighting view for a first-person walk through areas full of unlockables, one of several modes beside the story and the towers.

Which two-section meter, added under the health bar in Mortal Kombat X, is spent on runs and back dashes?

Stamina Meter sections are also consumed by combo breakers and stage interactions, which makes constant running a trade-off against escape options.

Which type of special attack in Mortal Kombat X costs all three sections of a full energy meter?

X-Ray move attacks came in with the energy meter in the 2011 game; one section instead buys an enhanced special and two buy a combo breaker.

Mortal Kombat X's usable stage objects were carried over from which 2013 superhero fighting game by the same studio?

Injustice: Gods Among Us let fighters use parts of the scenery, and the idea returned here for repositioning and for grabbing improvised weapons.

Which of these is one of the five factions players can join in Mortal Kombat X's online Faction Wars?

White Lotus sits alongside the Black Dragon, Brotherhood of Shadow, Lin Kuei and Special Forces, and the week's winning side unlocks its own finishing move.

Which classic stage was added to Mortal Kombat X in a free update released alongside Kombat Pack 2?

The Pit arrived with balance changes and rollback netcode, and stage Fatalities, missing at launch, came back on three of the arenas.

Which horror-film icon joined Mortal Kombat X as a guest fighter in Kombat Pack 2?

Leatherface of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was one of two film guests in the second pack, following two others in the first.

The creature from which sci-fi horror film series joined Mortal Kombat X as a Kombat Pack 2 guest?

Alien supplied its Xenomorph as a playable fighter; the Terminator was also considered as a guest at one point but was left out.

Which Kombat Pack 2 fighter in Mortal Kombat X can play as Sektor, Cyrax or Smoke depending on the style chosen?

Triborg is a new machine built from the minds of several Lin Kuei cyborgs, though he plays no part in the game's story.

Which series co-creator directed Mortal Kombat X and teased its title with daily riddles before the reveal?

Ed Boon counted down to the June 2014 announcement with a riddle a day, one of them a car badge that happened to spell out the game's initials.

A photo of which car brand's MKX emblem was posted as a clue to the title of Mortal Kombat X?

Lincoln's MKX badge matched the game's initials, so the director posted it during his countdown and wondered aloud what it might stand for.

Which rapper performed Can't Be Stopped, the original song in Mortal Kombat X's reveal trailer?

Wiz Khalifa's track backed a duel between the series' two most famous ninjas and was reused in the game's opening cinematic.

At which annual video game trade show did Mortal Kombat X make its first public appearance in June 2014?

E3 2014 added four new characters to the two shown in the reveal trailer, which had drawn over eleven million views that quarter.

Which entertainment giant's games division published Mortal Kombat X after buying the series from bankrupt Midway?

Warner Bros. acquired Midway's assets in 2009 and kept its Chicago studio, which was renamed NetherRealm the following year and went on to make this game.

Mortal Kombat X runs at 1080p and 60 frames per second on which underlying technology?

Unreal Engine 3 also powered the mobile spin-off until a 2019 update moved that game to the next version of the engine.

Planned versions of Mortal Kombat X for which two older consoles were cancelled in August 2015?

PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 editions were dropped because the publisher could not bring them up to the quality of the newer consoles' versions.

Which platform's version of Mortal Kombat X drew mixed reviews at launch for frequent crashes and slow netcode?

Windows PC players got a port made by an outside studio, High Voltage Software, and the work was later handed to the Polish team QLOC.

Which annual ceremony named Mortal Kombat X the best fighting release of 2015, one of several such honours?

The Game Awards prize was matched by Fighting Game of the Year at the D.I.C.E. Awards and by best-fighter picks from IGN and Game Informer.

Which publisher released a prequel comic book series for Mortal Kombat X, starting in January 2015?

DC Comics set its series between this game and the 2011 one, and the comic introduced the story's young hero before players ever controlled her.

The free-to-play mobile version of Mortal Kombat X blends fighting with which other game genre?

Card battling on phones let players unlock content in the console game and vice versa, and the app was later renamed Mortal Kombat Mobile.

Which actor from the 1987 film Predator lent his likeness and voice to a Jax skin in Mortal Kombat X?

Carl Weathers arrived in the Predator/Prey Pack, which also gave two other fighters skins themed on the film's hunter.

Which actress voiced Cassie Cage in Mortal Kombat X before Erica Lindbeck took over for the sequel?

Ashly Burch voiced the story's lead for this one game; the cast around her included Tricia Helfer as the character's mother.

Which voice actor played Erron Black, the Old West gunfighter introduced in Mortal Kombat X?

Troy Baker's gunslinger owes his long life to a sorcerer who slowed his ageing in exchange for a killing, which is why he still carries 19th-century weapons.

Which voice actress played Ferra, the small rider of the duo Ferra/Torr in Mortal Kombat X?

Tara Strong voiced the rider while Fred Tatasciore voiced the brute beneath her, and it is the brute that the player actually controls.

Bo' Rai Cho, a Kombat Pack 2 fighter in Mortal Kombat X, is a master of which martial arts style?

Drunken boxing suits a teacher whose attacks lean on his weight and bodily functions; he first appeared in Deadly Alliance and trained many Earthrealm warriors.

Which veteran fighter, unplayable in Mortal Kombat X, is killed by D'Vorah when Outworld's new emperor takes power?

Baraka's death is an early sign of the ruthlessness of an adviser who goes on to betray the very emperor she helped to the throne.

Which Black Dragon leader supplies Outworld's rebel empress with a stolen relic of Shinnok in Mortal Kombat X?

Kano is later captured in a refugee camp and forced to give up the rebel leader's location, which lets the heroes recover what he handed over.

Which player won the first Mortal Kombat X Pro League season finals in 2015, earning $60,000 in total?

SonicFox, real name Dominique McLean, won it playing for the team Critical Reaction in a league that began days after the game's release.

A car carrying the Mortal Kombat X logo won a race in which motorsport series four days before the game's launch?

NASCAR driver Erik Jones took the GameStop-sponsored number 20 car to victory in an Xfinity Series race on April 10, 2015.