History Franchise / MortalKombat

* TheBadGuyWins: How the original Midway Games timeline ends. Shao Kahn succeeds in taking Blaze's power for himself, and with every other named character dead and no one else to stop him, he is free to conquer all the realms as he pleases. The only saving grave is him possibly turning out like in his ''Armageddon'' arcade ending, where he goes mad from having nothing left to conquer.

'''MORTAL KOMBAT!!!'''''

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Some fatalities (like Hotaru's triple NeckSnap in ''Deception'' or Johnny Cage's fatality in ''9'', where he uppercuts his opponent's head off then rips off their torso too) go above and beyond what is required to end the opponent's life for pure showmanship. Ed Boon himself has admitted that, whenever the team is developing a game, they hold meetings to decide on the most creative ways to finish off the opponents.

** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception'' (PS2/Game Cube) seen [[https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps2/919922-mortal-kombat-deception/images/213 here]]

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: In certain matchups the fatalities count as this. You get stuff like Liu Kang turning into a dragon and eating Katana, Cassie Cage kicking her father's heart out, or Jack tearing his own daughter's arm off. All of this is out of character, but [[RuleOfCool the fatalities are cool so who cares.]]

...until Midway went bankrupt and [[Creator/WarnerBrosInteractiveEntertainment Warner Bros.]] promptly picked up the studio that produces the series (now known as [[Creator/NetherrealmStudios NetherRealm Studios]]). The end result: a complete {{continuity reboot}} (with an [[CosmicRetcon in-game explanation]], no less) in [=2.5D=]. ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'' was not only a critical and commercial smash, but also earned a spot as one of the featured titles at the EVO Championship Series, a first for a ''Mortal Kombat'' game, and a signal that its improved gameplay had finally earned respect amongst the fighting game community. ''9'' also began a new series tradition of adding [[GuestFighter guest fighters]] from '80s horror and action movies, beginning with [[Film/NightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]]'s appearance in this entry.

** ''Cage Match'' (spinoff focusing on Johnny Cage)

In its prime, for about three games, ''Mortal Kombat'' was the very essence of cool. It had style [[RatedMForMoney that passed for maturity at the time]], a certain ''[[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence something]]'' that more family-friendly games couldn't replicate. Packed with secrets, {{Easter Egg}}s, and hidden characters (and largely predating the Internet), the first few games lent themselves well to an UrbanLegendOfZelda or two and it seemed like just about anything was possible.

What started as a fairly typical [[TournamentArc global tournament]] clone in the vein of ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' or ''Film/EnterTheDragon'' quickly transmogrified into an interdimensional war and the mass genocide of the human race, which still somehow managed to shake out in the form of a series of one-on-one matches. The series, once a heavy hitter in the video game world, struggled with the inability to [[VideoGame3DLeap transition smoothly to 3D]].

In its heyday, it was incredibly risqué, especially when Nintendo practically owned the video game market, as most games did ''not'' include overt, bloody violence. Pre-''MK'', most designers kept some sort of plausible deniability in their games, claiming that nobody was ''[[NonLethalKO really]]'' [[NeverSayDie dead]], or it was [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman only monsters]], or some other excuse. ''Mortal Kombat'' was the first game to ditch that pretense, with copious amounts of [[HighPressureBlood high pressure blood]], screaming, impaling, and {{Finishing Move}}s that delighted in how many body parts they could sever. The MoralGuardians went through the roof, but the series was a smash hit anyway.

The designers, encouraged by their success, racked up the body count in subsequent installments, devising entirely new methods of dismemberment and decapitation. Eventually, the violence grew cartoonish in its excess, and the gameplay engine was not enough to sustain its popularity once other companies caught on to the idea that violence was nothing to be scared of. And while other series have made a successful leap to [=3D=], ''MK'' was "hit and miss". Add that to the fact that [[DeathIsCheap virtually no one ever actually died in the story]], despite the ultra-violent nature of the games (a move that virtually guarantees stagnation), and you've got a series that seemed to be on its last legs...

...until Midway went bankrupt and [[Creator/WarnerBrosInteractiveEntertainment Warner Bros.]] promptly picked up the studio that produces the series (now known as [[Creator/NetherrealmStudios NetherRealm Studios]]). The end result: a complete {{continuity reboot}} (with an [[CosmicRetcon in-game explanation]], no less) in [=2.5D=]. ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'' was not only a critical and commercial smash, but also earned a spot as one of the featured titles at the EVO Championship Series, a first for a ''Mortal Kombat'' game, and a signal that its improved gameplay had finally earned respect amongst the fighting game community. ''9'' also began a new series tradition of adding [[GuestFighter guest fighters]] from 80's horror and action movies, beginning with [[Film/NightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]]'s appearance in this entry.

* AlmostLethalWeapons: Getting shot in these games really doesn't hurt any more than getting punched.

* ArmedFemalesUnarmedMales:
** This applied to male and female ninjas in the first three games. All three female ninjas (Kitana, Mileena, and Jade) used weapons in gameplay. With the exception of [[BladeOnARope Scorpion and Smoke's human incarnation]] in ''Mortal Kombat II'', the male ninjas fought unarmed.
** Baraka and Mileena are the sole playable Tarkatan characters in the games. Baraka has blades that extend from his arms like the rest of his race, while Mileena lacks arm blades presumably due to being half-Tarkatan and fights with a pair of sai.

** ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombat12023 Mortal Kombat 1]]'' (2023)

** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1992'' (1992)

** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1'' (1992)

* NamedAfterFirstInstallment: The original game was just titled ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1'', with all future sequels either using the name along with a number or subtitle. The title is based on the "Mortal Kombat" tournaments important to the franchise, especially in the first game.

What started as a fairly typical ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII''[=/=]''Film/EnterTheDragon'' [[TournamentArc global tournament]] clone quickly transmogrified into an interdimensional war and the mass genocide of the human race, which still somehow managed to shake out in the form of a series of one-on-one matches. The series, once a heavy hitter in the video game world, struggled with the inability to [[VideoGame3DLeap transition smoothly to 3D]].

** ''Mortal Kombat 12'' (2023)

** ''Deadly Alliance'' [[DownerBeginning begins]] on a dour note as [[WhamEpisode Liu Kang is murdered by the titular sorcerer duo in the opening cinematic]]. The immediate sequel, ''Deception'', would reveal in its opening cutscene that [[KillEmAll almost every single Earthrealm hero died]] in the final battle against the Deadly Alliance, retroactively rendering the plot of ''MK:DA'' a ShootTheShaggyDogStory. Raiden kills Shang Tsung and Quan Chi in a self-sacrificing attack designed to stop Onaga (Raiden, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi were momentarily forced to pull an EnemyMine against the Dragon King), but Onaga himself is unfazed by it. Several other characters, namely Li Mei and Reptile, also have canonical arcade endings that are... [[FateWorseThanDeath less than]] [[DemonicPossession ideal for them]].

* ChangingOfTheGuard: Unlike in other fighting game series, the character rosters in ''MK'' tends to shift radically between games, giving each instalment a unique feel. Even the most popular characters have been known to miss instalments for no clear reasons.

* DivineRanks: ''Mortal Kombat'' a fairly detailed hierarchy of gods in its expanded lore:

** Far above the Protector Gods are the Elder Gods, the aloof and irreproachable watchers over all the realms, responsible for setting up the Mortal Kombat tournament thousands of years ago. They often masquerade as large, ghostly humanoids, but their true forms resemble the Mortal Kombat dragon logo. Millennia ago, Shinnok was cast out to the Netherrealm by the other Elder Gods, becoming the first Fallen Elder God. So far, Cetrion is the only full-powered Elder God to be PromotedToPlayable. Elder Gods are [[CompleteImmortality impossible to kill by any normal means.]]

** There are the Protector Gods who each have an individual realm to watch over. Raiden, of course, acts as the Protector God for Earthrealm. Raiden is flanked by the lower Elemental Gods; his brother Fujin, the God of Wind, is named as his heir. Argus was the Protector of Edenia alongside his wife Delia (together, they sired twin demigod sons: [[CainAndAbel Taven and Daegon]]... [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Argus also had]] [[RedHeadedStepChild Rain]] at some point). [[PosthumousCharacter Lucifer]] was the Protector of the Netherrealm before he was dethroned by Shinnok, eons prior to the events of the series. According to backwards dialogue spoken by Chaosrealm and Netherrealm denizens in the Konquest Mode of ''Deception'', [[spoiler:Shao Kahn was originally installed as the Protector of Outworld before he betrayed the Dragon King Onaga and took the realm for himself.]]
** Far above the Protector Gods are the Elder Gods, the aloof and irreproachable watchers over all the realms, responsible for setting up the Mortal Kombat tournament thousands of years ago. They often masquerade as large, ghostly humanoids, but their true draconic forms resemble the Mortal Kombat dragon logo. Millennia ago, Shinnok was cast out to the Netherrealm by the other Elder Gods, becoming the first Fallen Elder God. So far, Cetrion is the only full-powered Elder God to be PromotedToPlayable.
** Above even the Elder Gods are the enigmatic Titans. The FinalBoss of ''11'', Kronika, has dominion over time itself and orchestrated the events of the series with her Hourglass. She also mothered Cetrion and Shinnok. Scorpion's arcade mode ending in that game reveals that many other Titans and eldritch horrors exist in the cosmos.
** Finally, we reach the TopGod: The One Being. All of reality is a dream of the One Being, with every organism merely a separated fragment of its consciousness. The One Being can only be awakened by the complete merging of all realms, at which point it will devour everything. As such, it subtly [[UnwittingPawn influences the actions of the series' main antagonists (namely Shao Kahn, Shinnok and Onaga)]] in order to have them merge the realms and allow it to become whole again.

** There are the Protector Gods who have an individual realm to watch over. Raiden, of course, acts as the Protector God for Earthrealm. Raiden is flanked by the lower Elemental Gods; his brother Fujin, the God of Wind, is named as his heir. Argus was the Protector of Edenia alongside his wife Delia (together, they sired twin demigod sons: [[CainAndAbel Taven and Daegon), while [[PosthumousCharacter Lucifer]] was the Protector of the Netherrealm before he was dethroned by Shinnok, eons prior to the events of the series. According to backwards dialogue spoken by Chaosrealm and Netherrealm denizens in the Konquest Mode of ''Deception'', [[spoiler:Shao Kahn was originally installed as the Protector of Outworld before he betrayed the Dragon King Onaga and took the realm for himself.]]
** Far above the Protector Gods are the Elder Gods, the aloof and irreproachable watchers over all the realms, responsible for setting up the Mortal Kombat tournament thousands of years ago. They often masquerade as large, ghostly humanoids, but their true draconic forms resemble the Mortal Kombat dragon logo. Millennia ago, Shinnok was cast out to the Netherrealm by the other Elder Gods, becoming the first Fallen Elder God. Cetrion is the only full-powered Elder God to be PromotedToPlayable.