History Headscratchers / MortalKombat9

** Bi-Han is [[KingBobTheNth Sub-Zero V]]. If you consider that Cryomancers live longer lives than Earthrealmers on average, it could be well plausible for us to think that Scorpion thought Sub-Zero I (Bi-Han's ancestor) killed his family and clan. [[spoiler: But of course he didn't, Quan Chi did under his guise.]] Even if you consider that Cryomancers don't live much longer lives than humans, there's a possibility that several of Sub-Zero I's descendants ''did not'' take the name Sub-Zero.

** UniversalTranslator. Tarkatans probably speak in an [[StarfishLanguage alien language]], it only seems that [[AliensSpeakingEnglish they can speak perfect English]] despite having that kind of mouth. This may also explain why '''''Chinese''''' kombatants such as Liu Kang and Kung Lao can converse with '''''Americans''''' like Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage. '''[[ThisIsSPARTA IN. PERFECT. ENGLISH.]]''' Hell, since Raiden is GodInHumanForm, it is also possible that he also speaks in StarfishLanguage, so the UniversalTranslator trope is pretty much the only way to explain why EVERYONE speaks in perfect English no matter which realm and country they come from.

** Hm. Let's see. Because Raiden only [[ShockAndAwe shocked]] Mileena, while he used the [[CutscenePowerToTheMax more lethal]] "[[MemeticMutation JOHNNY BOUGHT A CAR]]" on Motaro? So, yeah.

* So it seems that Scorpion's clan and family were around back in the Sengoku era of Japan or thereabouts. But the tournament clearly takes place in modern times. I could accept Scorpion holding a grudge for 400-odd years, but unless Bi-han is immortal that can't be the same Sub-zero.

** Hm. Let's see. Because Raiden only [[ShockAndAwe shocked]] Mileena, while he used the [[CutscenePowerToTheMax more lethal]] [[ThatOneAttack Electric Fly Attack]] on Motaro? So, yeah.

** Well, except that it seems that Sektor is sort of a '''Control Tower''' *[[hottip:(for a lack of a better term)]] to the other cyborgs.

** Well, except that it seems that Sektor is sort of a '''Command Center''' to the other cyborgs.

** Well, except that it seems that Sektor is sort of a Control Tower to the other cyborgs.

*** I got the impression that Kung Lao had already won the tournament by beating Kintaro. So outside the tournament he IS free to just murder them all, as we see during the invasion. And I'm not sure the Elder Gods are Jerasses, they seem more simply very bound by the rules, if there is no real violation they can't act.

* In Stryker's chapter, how did Mileena recover so fast from her fight with Stryker? Reptile, Kintaro and Ermac didn't get right back up afterward, and two of them should eb significantly more physically capable fo taking said beatings, so how did she do it? Hell, how did she get back up after Raiden blasted her? He's clearly willing to kill Outworld invaders, just look at what happened to Motaro in that same scene, so how did Mileena come out none the worse?

** UniversalTranslator. Tarkatans probably speak in an [[StarfishLanguage alien language]], it only seems that [[AliensSpeakingEnglish they can speak perfect English]] despite having that kind of mouth. This may also explain why '''''Chinese''''' kombatants such as Liu Kang and Kung Lao can converse with '''''Americans''''' like Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage. '''[[ThisIsSPARTA IN. PERFECT. ENGLISH.]]''' Hell, since Raiden is GodInHumanForm, it is also possible that he also speaks in a Starfish Language, so the UniversalTranslator trope is pretty much the only way to explain why EVERYONE speaks in perfect English no matter which realm and country they come from.

** UniversalTranslator. Tarkatans probably speak in an [[StarfishLanguage alien language]], it only seems that [[AliensSpeakingEnglish they can speak perfect English]] despite having that kind of mouth. This may also explain why '''''Chinese''''' kombatants such as Liu Kang and Kung Lao can converse with '''''Americans''''' like Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage. '''[[ThisIsSPARTA In. Perfect. English.]]''' Hell, since Raiden is GodInHumanForm, it is also possible that he also speaks in a Starfish Language, so the UniversalTranslator trope is pretty much the only way to explain why EVERYONE speaks in perfect English no matter which realm and country they come from.

** UniversalTranslator. Tarkatans probably speak in an [[StarfishLanguage alien language]], it only seems that [[AliensSpeakingEnglish they can speak perfect English]] despite having that kind of mouth. This may also explain why ''Chinese'' kombatants such as Liu Kang and Kung Lao can converse with ''Americans'' like Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage. '''[[ThisIsSPARTA In. Perfect. English.]]''' Hell, since Raiden is GodInHumanForm, it is also possible that he also speaks in a Starfish Language, so the UniversalTranslator trope is pretty much the only way to explain why EVERYONE speaks in perfect English no matter which realm and country they come from.

** UniversalTranslator. Tarkatans probably speak in an [[StarfishLanguage alien language]], it only seems that [[AliensSpeakingEnglish they can speak perfect English]] despite having that kind of mouth. This may also explain why ''Chinese'' kombatants such as Liu Kang and Kung Lao can converse with ''Americans'' like Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage. [[ThisIsSPARTA In. Perfect. English.]] Hell, since Raiden is GodInHumanForm, it is also possible that he also speaks in a Starfish Language, so the UniversalTranslator trope is pretty much the only way to explain why EVERYONE speaks in perfect English no matter which realm and country they come from.

** UniversalTranslator. Tarkatans probably speak in an [[StarfishLanguage alien language]], it only seems that they can speak perfect English despite having that kind of mouth. This may also explain why ''Chinese'' kombatants such as Liu Kang and Kung Lao can converse with ''Americans'' like Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage. [[ThisIsSPARTA In. Perfect. English.]] Hell, since Raiden is GodInHumanForm, it is also possible that he also speaks in a Starfish Language, so the UniversalTranslator trope is pretty much the only way to explain why EVERYONE speaks in perfect English no matter which realm and country they come from.

** Shao Khan's MO is to steal the souls of the people of a realm, generally when they die, afterward they're his to do as he pleases.

* As per Raiden's desperate plan to ally himself with Quan Chi; not so much the plan itself, but what derails it. When he tries [[spoiler: to offer the souls of Earthrealm's fallen in exchange for Quan Chi's help]], Quan Chi refuses on merit of [[spoiler: Shao Kahn has already made the exact same deal with him.]] So...''how in Netherrealm's name does [[spoiler: Shao Kahn]] have that kind of authority?'' Raiden is at least feasable, given as he's Earthrealm's guardian and all, but '''[[spoiler: Shao Kahn]]'''? [[spoiler: He's an invading conqueror whose "say" revolves around his wife being in the realm; HER soul could be said to be under his authority, and MAYBE Kitana's...but that's where it stops. Even if he doesn't technically try to merge the realms until the end, he's still not in any position to be bargaining with souls that aren't from his own realm.]] How is this allowed?

* In Stryker's chapter, how did Mileena recover so fast from her fight with Stryker? Reptile, Kintaro and Ermac didn't get right back up afterward, and two of them should eb significantly more physically capable fo taking said beatings, so how did she do it? Hell, how did she get back up after Raiden blasted her? He's clearly willing to kill Outworld invaders, just look at what happened to Motaro in that same scene, so how did Mileena come out none the worse?

** He was deperate and, being in charge of defending Earth Realm has not cultivated contacts in those two realms. Simply put, he had no other option. Quan Chi was the only person he knew of who had the power to help him and who would accept what he was offering. Seido would just annex Earthrealm entirely if they decided it was worth the effort, and Chaos is, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin chaotic.]] They could just as easily fight '''alongside''' Outworld as fight against them. If they decided to do so, they might have thought getting involved after Raiden asked for help would be too much order for their liking.

* Why did Raiden attempt an alliance with Quan Chi to save Earthrealm? Quan Chi has been visiably aiding Outworld throughout the two tournaments and Seido or Chaos realms would have been better choices with less extreme payments. Chaos Realm might have even done it for free, they enjoy war and the chaos it brings.

* Why are fans (or at least [[FanDumb some of them]]) flipping their lids over [[spoiler:Sindel offing most of the heroes? Don't get me wrong, I don't like it either. I didn't enjoy seeing her take out everyone at once. It was truly DiabolusExMachina at its finest. But the more hysterical reactions to this is, in a word, '''idiotic'''. For one, people are starting to label Sindel as TheScrappy and/or a CompleteMonster. Um, hello, did ''anyone'' pay attention to the story? ''[[BrainwashedAndCrazy She was under Shao Kahn's control]]; [[AndIMustScream those actions were against her will.]]'' I doubt that Sindel would have killed ''any'' of the heroes, let alone '''her own daughter'''. And then we have complaints about how Sindel shouldn't be strong enough to so easy walk over them like that anyhow. Again, ''the story''. She was [[SuperEmpowering empowered]] by the soul of Shang Tsung, and by proxy, all of the souls [[SoulJar within his body]]. '''Shang Tsung'''. He of the "YourSoulIsMine!". He's been collecting loads and loads souls since ''at least'' 500 years ago. And Queen Sindel isn't exactly a slouch if her death alone [[BarrierMaiden can prevent Shao Kahn from invading Earthrealm]]. I understand that there's a certain DavidVsGoliath aspect of the games, with the outmatched Earthrealm fighters overcoming their fearsome adversaries, ''but still''. And it's not as if the heroes weren't half-asking for it either. To quote a removed section of the main page: "A ten-on-one fight where they decide to perform a ''heroic'' version of MookChivalry (instead of {{Zerg Rush}}ing Sindel from all sides) and ''none'' of them (save Nightwolf, who attempts to attack with one of his energy axes) use their powers, despite Kabal possessing SuperSpeed and Smoke having the ability to [[{{invisibility}} turn invisible]]." Cyber Sub-Zero, Smoke, Nightwolf, and Kabal alone should have been able to briefly fend her off (or at least prevent the number of causalities until Raiden and Liu Kang returned), [[PlotInducedStupidity yet the plot thrusts the]] IdiotBall into their arms. And what was the biggest complaint about the series before this game? [[MemeticMutation The popular fan-phrase]] "[[DeathIsCheap Nobody dies in]] ''[[DeathIsCheap Mortal Kombat]]''". It was a necessary evil; if the guys over at Netherrealm Studios ''didn't'' have the guts to off the characters, I'm willing to bet that the same people who are complaining about this would have said ItsTheSameSoItSucks and it'd be ''Armageddon'' all over again. Seeing this moment posted under [[DethroningMoment/VideoGames Dethroning Moment Of Suck]] kind of makes my blood boil a bit.]]. Sorry for the WallOfText, but I really needed to get that off of my chest. C'mon, people, I thought you were smarter than that.
** On the subject of her being empowered by Shang Tsung's souls, Shang Tsung has had those souls for the entirety of the game up until that point. And while strong, he's certainly not overwhelmingly powerful. How does taking those souls from Shang and giving them to Sindel suddenly make her powerful enough to fight and kill ten Earthrealm heroes simultaneously?
*** Once there's a notable difference in power, number doesn't matter. Shang Tsung is one of the most powerful villains. Presumably, Sindel was, too. Together, their strength should be more than twice what Shang Tsung previously had. This makes her a lot stronger than all the heroes individually. If she's strong enough to finish off one of them effortlessly, she can do that with their entire team, no matter how many. Imagine an adult fighting a 5 year old. One hit, the kid is gone. 10 kids? One hit per kid. And it's not like the heroes expected her to be so strong. Jax, Jade, Smoke and Kitana? Perfectly understandable deaths. Stryker? He's a normal human, Sindel shouldn't have much trouble to kill him in one hit. Kabal? Look where she hits him. Remember Kabal's problems with breathing? Sub-Zero is the only one whose death felt cheap.
*** To nitpick, four of those ten (Nightwolf, Johnny Cage, Sonya, and Kitana) miraculously survived Sindel's immediate onslaught; Kitana died from repeated trauma and Nightwolf [[HeroicSacrifice had to sacrifice himself]] [[TakingYouWithMe to kill her]]. As for Sub-Zero, it looked like she punched him hard enough to [[spoiler:short circuit his body; sparks spewed out of his chestplate when Sindel delivered that last blow. I would assume that since the cybernetic implants are deeply integrated into the bodies of the automated Lin Kuei warriors, that such an event would be fatal, most likely causing an immediate shutdown of their life support systems. In gameplay, he seems to have the lightest armor of the three cyber Lin Kuei, so this would seem to be an example of [[StoryAndGameplaySegregation Story And Gameplay Integration]].]]
*** Still it does feel that everyone is going batshit insane over this. Still this is going to far and I agree it wasn't that bad. Change was needed though I feel that it would've been handled better if [[spoiler: 1. Sindel attacks during the Lin Kuei cyborg assault 2. You get to play as her beating up everyone till Nightwolf and 3. Have more than Johnny and Soyna stay alive]] All in all it feels more like a wasted opportunity here. Oh by the way, [[spoiler: I took of the [[DethroningMoment/VideoGames Dethroning Moment Of Suck]] entry for this. I mean yeah it was completely out of the blue, but it wasn't that bad.]]
*** I restored said entry, deleting entries from DMOS pages is clearly not allowed, it '''even says so at the top of its respective page'''. I agree it was a DMOS myself. Although, I wasn't with the crowd that complained about no one ever dying. DMOS is strictly for opinions, it is not to be deleted.
*** Yahtzee said it well. Its just a cheap, dumb way of 'raising' the stakes. (Paraphrasing)
*** Uh-huh. Says the very same fanbase that a mere ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon two games ago]]'' was complaining about everyone being miraculously BackFromTheDead in a series revolving around how many ways you can viciously mutilate your foe. This was pretty much a reaction to your LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt remarks, [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor and now you're angry about what went down.]] [[UnpleasableFanbase Make up your minds, people. This isn't Burger King.]]
*** Yahtzee quoter here. I NEVER wanted people to die in MK. I can understand a few dying along the way, but not like this.
*** How can you be so sure those who complained of no one ever dying are the same ones complaining about the Sindel scene?
*** It's a generalization. Probably an overestimation. Regardless, DeathIsCheap in ''MK'', as Johnny Cage can attest to. They'll be back, guys. It's not the end of the world.
*** Maybe people got mad because of how senseless the deaths seemed, even for MK.
*** Not just senseless, but many of them were outright stupid. A few actually died from simple punches and kicks.
*** Punches and kicks that caved faces in or stabbed vital arteries.
*** .........from a not-so-strong character.
*** Who was given a boost in power by all of the souls inside Shang's body. For the love of Raiden, it's ''really'' not as farfetched as you're making it sound.
**** CutscenePowerToTheMax + HandWave does not a justification make, you are grasping at straws.
*** These are characters who survive broken bones, organs being frozen and shattered within them, stabbed through the neck AND eye, and getting their backs broken, and can still fight like pros.
**** It's called GameplayAndStorySegregation. This is getting way too full of natter and conflict for the Headscratchers page.
*** Let's just agree to disagree and call it a day. If you have a problem with what went down, you can always take it up with Netherrealm Studios directly.
*** Agreed.
*** Or write fanfiction?
*** [[FixFic That too.]]
** I think one of the biggest problems fans have is that they've never really grasped just how powerful Sindel actually is as, until now, she's never been shown actually doing anything. The woman has a voice that can shatter bones/stone/steel, can spit fireballs, can actually fly, has extendable, prehensile hair, may possess super strength and has millenia of experience, she's one of the most powerful characters in the series but few ever really noticed. Even without the power boost from Tsung she should be fully capable of ripping through most of the characters she kills with little effort. Only the mega sorcerers or dieties are shown to be stronger than her. We really can't judge by how characters perform when we play as them, just look at Shinnok who was a fairly unimpressive character when player but in the story pretty much the most powerful of them all.

* This isn't story-related, but why aren't the compatibility packs mandatory downloads? This troper can't begin to count the number of people who've bought one of the DLC characters and have been unable to use them regularly online due to the amount of people who didn't get the compatibility packs (himself included).
* In story mode, when fighting Bi-Han in the ''Mortal Kombat 1'' segment of the game, he has a special intro quote where he says "You will feel death's cold embrace!". Why the hell did they not use that for Sub-Zero's alternate costume in versus mode, where he still uses Kuai Liang's intro? It couldn't have been hard to do, because Cyrax and Sektor have different intro quotes in their human costumes, so why stop with giving Bi-Han Noob's voice clips and not give him his intro quote?

* Why didn't any of the Earthrealm warriors warn Kung Lao when the emperor got off his throne, walked over and snapped his neck? Unless he teleported, which he's never shown the ability to do, they should have seen it coming with enough time to save him.