Line #16 Film/MortalKombatAnnihilation


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3	[[quoteright:249:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mka-249x300_8877.jpg]]
4	[[caption-width-right:249:''[[{{Tagline}} DESTROY ALL EXPECTATIONS.]]'']]
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6	''Mortal Kombat Annihilation'' is a 1997 SupernaturalMartialArts action film. It is the second film based on the ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' franchise, and a sequel to 1995's ''Film/MortalKombatTheMovie''; John R. Leonetti, who served as the first film's cinematographer, directed this film. It incorporates characters and plot details from the series' first four games with a heavy emphasis on ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3''.
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8	After the events of [[Film/MortalKombatTheMovie the first film]], Liu Kang (Creator/RobinShou) won Mortal Kombat for Earthrealm and broke Outworld's streak of consecutive tournament victories...and yet, [[BigBad Shao Kahn]] (Creator/BrianThompson) -- the Emperor of Outworld -- has somehow managed to begin Outworld's invasion anyway.
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10	While Raiden (Creator/JamesRemar) confronts the Elder Gods over Kahn's invasion, Liu Kang undergoes specialized training in order to face Shao Kahn (who has [[SortingAlgorithmOfEvil far more power than Shang Tsung ever did]]), and Sonya Blade (Creator/SandraHess) reunites with her partner Jackson "Jax" Briggs (Creator/LynnWilliams) to help him fight various Outworld warriors as they arrive on Earth.
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12	Shao Kahn's Outworld forces outnumber and overpower Earthrealm's, however, and it will take every ounce of skill and power Earth's heroes have to drive back the invasion and defeat Shao Kahn once and for all.
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14	----
15	!! ''Mortal Kombat: Annihilation'' kontains examples of the following tropes:
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17	* AbortedArc: Quite a few, owing to the film's rushed nature. The first draft of the script had an entire subplot setup for Kurtis Stryker and Kabal, detailing what happened to them after being captured by Rain.[[note]]They were going to be prisoners together in a cobalt mine overseen by Baraka; incidentally Kitana was going to be held captive in this same prison, rather than the palace as she was in the final draft.[[/note]] This subplot is cut in the final version, turning Stryker and Kabal effectively into [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse plot mice]]. Also notable is Sheeva, who in early drafts (and the novelization) accompanies Sindel when she attacks the heroes in Outworld (befitting her role as Sindel's protector) and is killed in battle with Raiden. In the film, she meets her demise after [[DroppedABridgeOnHim having a cage dropped on her]]. Finally, Baraka was a more fleshed-out character in earlier scripts, being the warden of the prison that was cut from the final version rather than just another slavering bad guy attacking the heroes out of nowhere.
18	* ActionGirl: Both Kitana and Sonya get to show more of their fighting capabilities in this movie compared to the previous one.
19	* AdaptationalAttractiveness: In the games, Shao Kahn's face is hideous under that helmet of his.[[note]]Although ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' is the only game to properly show his face, it's implied that it's always been as it was, give or take some design complexities.[[/note]] Here, he looks like a normal man without the helmet.
20	* AdaptationalModesty: Shao Kahn's outfit in the movie shows far less skin that the one he wears in the game. Kitana, Sindel and Jade's outfits also cover up their legs and chests unlike their game outfits. Jax wears a sleeveless jacket over his shirtless torso for most of the movie though he discards it in the final act.
21	* AdaptationalSuperpowerChange: In the games, Ermac's power is telekinesis. In the movie, the only power he displays is spawning Noob Saibot as a DopplegangerAttack.
22	* AdaptationalVillainy:
23	** Jade. In the games, she is Kitana's best bud and genuinely always serves her best interest. Here, she more or less acts like [[VideoGame/MortalKombat4 Tanya]]: [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder a complete traitor]].
24	** Cyrax is a sort of retroactive case. Here, he's a minion of evil, serving under Shao Kahn rather than the Lin Kuei, while in the games he isn't established as one of the good guys until ''Mortal Kombat Gold''.
25	** Smoke is usually in the HeelFaceRevolvingDoor due to being controlled by villains. Here he is killed off by [[spoiler:Sub-Zero]] before he even has a chance at being a good guy.
26	** Scorpion is a strange case. In the games, he is something of a WildCard, having no affiliation with either the heroes or the villains, but solely pursuing his own goals, though he would become more heroic as the series progressed. In the first film, he is a henchman of Shang Tsung, but is expressly identified as having been enslaved into this state. In this film, he, by all intents and purposes, is working for Outworld again, kidnapping Princess Kitana and delivering her to Shao Kahn, after which he's not seen again.
27	* AdaptationalWeaponSwap: While Smoke wielded a GrapplingHookPistol in the games, here it changed to a missile launcher making this version of Smoke a CompositeCharacter of himself and Sektor.
28	* AdaptationalWimp:
29	** Shao Kahn. In the games, he's a genuinely terrifying threat, as he serves as the first GreaterScopeVillain in the series. Here, he's little more than a ''very'' physically capable PsychopathicManchild, and his DaddyIssues with [[spoiler:Shinnok]] are emphasized to the point of making him more pathetic to viewers than fearsome.
30	** Stryker and Kabal. In the games they are both among the most powerful Earthrealm combatants, but are AdaptedOut here, only warranting a single mention as having been captured by Rain. Speaking of...
31	** Rain. In the games he is a formidable ninja, established from the start as an Edenian of powerful lineage (first the son of an Edenian general, later revealed to be an Edenian demigod). Here, although he is established as Shao Kahn's general and thus of higher rank than Sheeva, Motaro and Ermac, he is dispatched by his master with a single blow.
32	* AdaptedOut: While numerous characters from the first three games are featured, a select few are missing such as Kintaro, Sektor, Kung Lao, Kabal, and Stryker (with the latter two being briefly mentioned by Rain during his conversation with Shao Kahn). Shinnok from ''VideoGame/MortalKombatMythologiesSubZero'' is featured, although Quan Chi is not; Shao Kahn takes his place as his closest follower.
33	* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:Shinnok as his fellow Elder Gods seal him away as punishment.]]
34	* {{Animorphism}}: Liu Kang meets Nightwolf while the latter is in his [[MeaningfulName wolf form]]. He teaches Liu to change into a [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragon]] to gain an edge over Shao Kahn, [[spoiler:[[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands who it turns out can transform into an even larger hydra]]]].
35	* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: The final fate of [[spoiler:Raiden]], who is promoted to an Elder God at the film's end.
36	* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: This is the law of the land in Outworld, so much so that Shao Kahn's generals Motaro and Sheeva are identified in their character bios as the leaders of their respective races. And then there's Shao Kahn who rules solely by power and fear.
37	* AxCrazy: Seems to be a common theme on the villain side. Shao Kahn is easily the best example, showing unashamed enthusiasm at causing death and carnage, and even killing his own minions for the flimsiest of reasons. His generals are almost as bad, to the point that they can barely restrain themselves from attacking each other in war council meetings unless Kahn is present.
38	* BadBoss: Shao Kahn's entire character is just a combination of this and DaddyIssues. He kills his general Rain just because the latter took the Earthrealm fighters Kabal and Stryker prisoner rather than slaying them and making them beg for their lives. Later minions fare little better, and in his [[AllThereInTheManual profile on the DVD]], it is expressly stated that he isn't happy unless everyone in a room with him, friend and foe alike, fears him.
39	* BaldOfEvil: Shao Kahn is bald and is the BigBad of the film as he wants to conquer Earth.
40	* BigBad: As aforementioned, Shao Kahn is the main antagonist of the film as he directly invades and wants to conquer Earth.
41	* BigNo: [[spoiler:Shao Kahn screams this as he lost against Liu Kang.]]
42	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Shao Kahn is dead, Shinnok is imprisoned by the Elder Gods, and Kitana is finally reunited with Sindel. The Elder Gods also bring Raiden back to life after he was killed by Shao Kahn and give him Shinnok's former position among them. But none of it changes the fact that Johnny is ''still'' dead.]]
43	* BladeBelowTheShoulder: Baraka and the other Tartakans have blades in their arms.
44	* BroughtDownToNormal:
45	** Jax's cybernetics were damaged in his fight at the end. In reality, they never seemed to give him that big of an advantage in the first place. Still, he manages to hand Motaro's ass to him with his normal arms.
46	** Raiden suffers this over the course of the film, first from the merger of Earthrealm and Outworld weakening him, and later when he [[spoiler:sacrifices his immortality to the Elder Gods in exchange for being allowed to help the heroes resist Shao Kahn]].
47	** [[spoiler:Shao Kahn]] gets hit with this midway through the final battle, [[spoiler:as punishment for breaking the rules of Mortal Kombat]].
48	* BurpOfFinality: [[TheMole Jade]] is fed to a monster carving in the wall by Shao Kahn for failing him. The carving belches after it's done with her.
49	* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler:Shao Kahn is the Cain, Raiden is the Abel as the latter tries to stop the former from conquering Earth.]]
50	* CombatHandFan: Kitana uses her signature war fans from the games during the ambush by Smoke and Kahn's men. This is the only scene in the two movies where they appear.
51	* CompositeCharacter: Smoke has his gray coloring and ability to turn to smoke, but his ability to fire missiles is borrowed from Sektor, the one cyber ninja omitted from the movie.
52	* DegradedBoss: Reptile. In the first film, he is the last and toughest of the ninja opponents, ambushing Liu Kang in Outworld and giving him one of the most dynamic fights in the whole movie. Here, he himself doesn't appear, due to being KilledOffForReal, but a trio of {{Mooks}} with his distinctive appearance (called "Raptors") show up to fight Raiden alongside Sindel and quickly get their clocks cleaned.
53	* DesignatedGirlFight:
54	** Sonya versus Mileena, which plays out just like a CatFight. Rolling in the mud and everything.
55	** Kitana versus Sindel during the final battle, with a dash of ItsPersonal as Kitana is trying to release her mother from Kahn's control.
56	* DirtyCoward: Shao Kahn, [[spoiler:who unexpectedly takes Sonya hostage during the opening battle of the movie and then afterwards kills Johnny Cage after the latter had tried to rescue and save her from him, making it quite clear that Shao Kahn cannot defeat Raiden fairly in a fight and that he has to resort to cowardly tactics in order to get the job done.]]
57	* DisproportionateRetribution:
58	** Shao Kahn offs Rain for not making Stryker and Kabal beg for their lives and/or killing them.
59	** After their little ruse fails, Jade and Sindel make a tactically correct move by retreating from a force they could not defeat on their own. Shao Kahn then basically kills Jade for ''[[ForTheEvulz not]]'' [[YouHaveFailedMe failing]].
60	* DroppedABridgeOnHim:
61	** [[spoiler:Johnny Cage]] is killed minutes into the film to show [[TheWorfEffect how powerful Shao Kahn is]].[[note]]Conveniently forgotten among the ensuing fan outcry was the fact that Cage was also killed in the storyline of ''Mortal Kombat 3'', from which the film heavily borrows.[[/note]]
62	** Rain is bumped off simply to establish Shao Kahn as a BadBoss of the distinctly irrational flavor.
63	** Sheeva [[spoiler:gets a cage dropped on her]]. The filmmakers seem to really hate the Shokan. There were plans to have a fight scene between her and Raiden which never panned out. Marjean Holden, Sheeva's actress, lamented that they gave her character such an inglorious send-off.
64	* DuelsDecideEverything: {{Defied\|Trope}}. Just because Shao Kahn lost the last Mortal Kombat tournament doesn't mean he's not going to simply invade anyway. [[spoiler:This is DoubleSubverted at the climax, when the Elder Gods declare the fight between Liu Kang and Shao Kahn to be a tournament anyway.]]
65	* DullSurprise: When even otherwise excellent actors like Creator/JamesRemar are as engaging as cardboard cutouts, you know where this is going.
66	* EnemyMine: Sub-Zero II doesn't like Liu Kang for killing his older brother, but he's willing to help him protect Kitana for the greater good.
67	* EnigmaticMinion: Ermac, rather fittingly, is this, if only as a consequence of being yet another FlatCharacter. In the games, he is a [[IAmLegion gestalt entity]] comprised of the souls of thousands of Shao Kahn's victims from the latter's conquest of Edenia, and was then brainwashed into working for the emperor. Here, Ermac serves Kahn just as in the games, but there is no indication whether he does so out of MoreThanMindControl or if he is truly evil here. He is notably not depicted as particularly malevolent (or benevolent), and if anything seems to be a PunchClockVillain, which makes him stand out amidst all the AxCrazy types Kahn otherwise surrounds himself with.[[note]]In the film's novelization, Ermac is described in the opening scene of Outworld's invasion as "the only one of [Kahn's entourage] who did not seem to be enjoying his master's haughty performance."[[/note]] In the final battle, [[spoiler:Noob Saibot spawns from his chest]], which just raises further questions... [[spoiler:though they don't particularly matter as Sonya quickly kills him off regardless]].
68	* ExcusePlot: A rare ''film'' example, as characters mostly wander around to get into fights every five minutes.
69	* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: You can tell which role Jade is playing at any given moment just by looking at her do: while she's pretending to be with the good guys, she has a fringe and a ponytail. When she's playing evil (not just after she reveals her allegiance to Shao Kahn, but also when she fights Liu Kang for the first time), she has her hair completely combed backwards and tied in a bun.
70	* FireIsMasculine: The Elder God of Fire is male and speaks with a deep, booming voice.
71	* FireWaterWind: The three Elder Gods in the movie represent fire, water and wind. [[spoiler:Shinnok is the god of wind and is the one aiding Shao Kahn's conquest of Earth]].
72	* FirstGirlWins: Jade attempts to seduce Liu Kang but is rejected in favor of Kitana.
73	* FlatCharacter: Plenty. The first movie wasn't exactly high on character development, but this movie had Smoke (showed up with no introduction and lost his fight), Ermac (stood around and did nothing until the end, then lost his fight), Mileena (showed up out of nowhere, lost her fight), Rain (killed off so quickly his appearance was more of a cameo)... this movie had a problem with forcing characters in for no real reason other than to have them.
74	* FlexibleTourneyRules: The tourney rules are well and truly [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections screwed]] and Shao Kahn invades directly without so much as setting up a tournament at all. As Nightwolf says to Liu Kang, "The Tournament had rules. This time, anything goes." [[spoiler:The Elder Gods spring a trap by stripping away Kahn's immortality when he least expects it, allowing Liu Kang to destroy him for good.]]
75	* ForTheEvulz:
76	** You'd be forgiven for thinking the Lin Kuei ninja clan were AdaptedOut; as it turns out they were ''not'' (something only mentioned in the DVD character bios), but willingly allied themselves with Outworld for...reasons?
77	** This is the motivation of Shinnok, who has near-unlimited power as an Elder God yet wants even ''more'' power by proxy through Shao Kahn.
78	* ForcedToWatch: After defeating Sindel, Kitana made her watch as Liu Kang beats Shao Kahn. She is just amused as Liu seem to be losing... [[spoiler:until the Elder Gods arrive and declare Mortal Kombat.]]
79	* ForgotAboutHisPowers:
80	** At the beginning of the film, when Shao Kahn was holding Johnny Cage hostage, Raiden revealed he had the ability to restrain and kill all of Shao Kahn's forces at once. Despite this, not only did he acquiesce to Kahn's demand that he beg for Johnny Cage's life, but when Kahn kills Cage regardless, Raiden retreats instead of using his powers on Kahn's army.
81	** Shao Kahn, who seems to enjoy killing off his minions if they do so much as sneeze. Even in the final battle, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever why he doesn't simply use his armies to overpower the heroes like he did at the start of the movie. Shinnok even {{lampshade\|Hanging}}s one moment of Kahn's stupidity when he leaves Raiden alive instead of killing him outright when he had the heroes sorely outnumbered:
82	--->'''Shinnok:''' '''''YOU LET HIM LIVE?!!'''''
83	* HappyEndingOverride: The first film closed with our heroes defeating Shang Tsung and winning Mortal Kombat, greeting the appearing Shao Kahn with a cocky, "Who cares? We're gonna kick your ass!" attitude and AssKickingPose. Here, Shao Kahn's arrival is treated as a major deal, all the heroes are scared, Raiden starts losing his powers, and [[spoiler:Johnny Cage]] is killed off in the first few minutes.
84	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Johnny Cage spurred into action that got him killed off because Shao Kahn took Sonya, his LoveInterest, hostage first. Sonya ends up living because Johnny dies for her, something that haunts her throughout the movie.]]
85	* IShallTauntYou: Scorpion to Liu Kang and Sub Zero after he catches Kitana:
86	--> '''Scorpion:''' SUCKERS!!!!
87	* AnIcePerson: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysonTheTin As his name unsubtly indicates]], Sub-Zero has ice-based powers.
88	* ImmediateSequel: Picks up right after the first movie left off, though it leaves out Shao Kahn being a giant.
89	* ImmortalImmaturity: Ageless Shao Kahn is over hundreds of thousands of years old but has little interest in anything beyond being the BadBoss to end all Bad Bosses and making his Daddy proud of him. The first comes to him easily, but the latter eludes him to the very end.
90	* ImprovisedWeapon: During the fight at the military base, Sonya and Jax use lab equipment against Cyrax and the extermination squad.
91	* InconsistentSpelling:
92	** In the novelization, Shinnok's name is spelled as "Shinnock", though it is spelled correctly in the DVD bios.
93	** Raiden's name is spelled "Rayden", as was the standard spelling for the character's name at the time.
94	** Shao Kahn's name is consistently spelled in the DVD bios as "Shao-Kahn", with a hyphen.
95	* InNameOnly: Aside from being an evil Elder God, Shinnok bears very little resemblance to his in-game counterpart.
96	* InTheHood: Shinnok, who, in a departure from his depiction in the games, appears as an ordinary old man in a hood and robes.
97	* KudzuPlot: The film goes so far into the politics of the Elder Gods and Outworld that there is no way the uninitiated can understand it. Hell, so little of it comes from the games even the initiated can't understand it. And the story basically takes a backseat to the protagonists [[PinballProtagonist finding the rest of the cast]].
98	* LargeHam:
99	** Shao Kahn ''tries'' to be this, but his constant DaddyIssues overshadow even this aspect of him.
100	--->'''AS LONG AS THE PORTAL REMAINS OPEN, ''YOUR'' WORLD BECOMES ''MY'' WORLD!'''
101	** Sindel, who is expressly identified as such by [[Creator/MusettaVander her actress]] on the DVD character profiles.
102	** Raiden indulges in some scenery-chewing when the opportunity permits.
103	** Motaro gets in a hamtastic line with a dash of ThirdPersonPerson for good measure.
104	--->"Without your weapons, you are ''no'' match for Motaro!"
105	* LeftStuckAfterAttack: Jax ripping his roboticized arm out of a wall just in time to deflect an evil robot's acid attack.
106	* LightningBruiser:
107	** Shao Kahn is built like a tank and has great speed belying his strength and size.
108	** The [[CyberNinja ninja cyborgs]] Cyrax and Smoke display great strength and speed in their respective fights against Jax and Liu Kang.
109	** Jax is a MightyGlacier for most of the movie but once he discards his arms he becomes a Lightning Bruiser as seen in his fight with Motaro.
110	* LivingShadow: Noob Saibot, who makes a downright ''bizarre'' last-minute appearance as [[spoiler:some kind of animated shadow/duplicate thing of Ermac]].
111	* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Jax has [[RuleOfThree this happen to him three times]]. The first, he has no idea of Sonya's adventures on Shang Tsung's island and Outworld. The second, was that the repercussions of said tournament that resulted Shao Kahn sending his squads to exterminate potential threats, including him. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And the third, was that he didn't know about Johnny or his death]]. The latter of which sparked some jealousy:
112	--> '''Jax:''' Who the hell is Johnny?!
113	* MaskedVillainsUnmaskedHeroes: Downplayed somewhat. Shao Kahn wears his iconic helmet from the games but only does so twice. The only heroic character in the film who wears a mask is the new Sub-Zero who appears for about eight minutes before disappearing. Some of Kahn's minions -- Scorpion, Rain, and Ermac -- also wear masks.
114	* TheMole: Jade is introduced halfway into the film and it would seem at first that she's gonna be a new member to the main protagonist group, but later on, it's soon revealed that Jade is actually a double agent for Shao Kahn, part of a ploy to capture the main protagonists together with Sindel.
115	* MudWrestling: The CatFight between Mileena and Sonya very quickly devolves into this as they fight in a muddy area.
116	* MurderousThighs: Ankles in case as Sonya uses them on Ermac.
117	* NightmareSequence: Liu Kang has one of these after being knocked unconscious by Nightwolf.
118	* OlderThanTheyLook: Nightwolf, though you'd either have to read [[AllThereInTheManual the novelization or the characters bios on the DVD]] to know it. While the body Nightwolf inhabits is that of a young man, Nightwolf himself is identified as an ancient guardian of his people, presumably passing from one warrior to the next over the years.
119	* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler:Shao Kahn's Hydra Animality, which is a form exclusive to this film. It might actually be cool, if not for the silly transformation effects and how brief the fight between him and Liu Kang's Dragon Animality is]].
120	* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: Nightwolf isn't inflicted with lycanthropy, he's just a VoluntaryShapeshifter with only one form.
121	* ThePowerOfBlood: After Shao Kahn and Liu Kang's Animality fight, both kombatants crash to the ground and demorph to their regular forms, bruised and bleeding. Liu Kang copes with this, but Kahn is downright ''horrified'', [[spoiler:as his bleeding indicates that he is no longer immortal, a fear which his father quickly confirms]]:
122	--> '''Liu Kang:''' [[WhamLine Your blood flows, Kahn]]. [[spoiler:Just like the blood of a mortal]].
123	* PragmaticVillainy: In stark contrast to Shao Kahn, Shinnok has little use for CartoonishSupervillainy, and would easily be the film's KnightOfCerebus if he was not bound from acting by [[spoiler:the rules and limits of his position as an Elder God]]. Near the end of the film, when it becomes clear that Kahn is going to lose, [[spoiler:he sneers at his sniveling son "Must I do everything for you?!" and prepares to use his godlike power to dispatch Liu Kang himself, wasting no time with threats or boasts as his son would. Only the timely arrival of the Elder Gods saves Liu Kang]].
124	* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Motaro wastes no time in bragging about the hunting prowess of his race the Centaurians.
125	* PsychopathicManchild: Behind the thin veneer of his near-PhysicalGod strength, Shao Kahn is little more than an immortal manchild whose every act invariably goes back to pleasing {{daddy\|Issues}}.
126	* RaceLift: In the games, Jade varies from being AmbiguouslyBrown to having more African features. Here, she's played by Irina Pantaeva, a Buryat model.
127	* RandomEventsPlot: In a cross with PinballProtagonist, the story is mostly the main characters meeting the enormous roster of ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3'', fighting them, and supposedly driving a storyline forward.
128	* RelatedInTheAdaptation:
129	** [[spoiler:Raiden and Shao Kahn are brothers, and Shinnok is their father]].
130	** Subverted with [[spoiler:Kitana and Mileena, though their physical similarity is noted by Sonya]].
131	* SealedEvilInACan: The final fate of [[spoiler:Shinnok, who is sealed away by the Elder Gods as punishment for breaking the sacred rules of Mortal Kombat]].
132	* ShapeshifterShowdown: [[spoiler:Liu and Shao Kahn at the end, though each only uses one form.]]
133	* ShedArmorGainSpeed: Jax becomes capable of great speed and agility once he ditches his cybernetics.
134	* ShootTheMessenger: In the novelization only, one of the Tarkatans from the Baraka battle survives the fight with Liu Kang and reports his and Kitana's escape to Shao Kahn. Ever the Bad Boss, Kahn prepared to do this, only to be stopped by, of all people, Shinnok (though Shinnok is by no means benevolent, he ''is'' [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatic]]).
135	* SmugSnake: Shao Kahn's total overconfidence, which Shinnok warns him about (and is expressly identified as his only weakness in his bio on the DVD), and near-absolute contempt for everything and everyone that is not himself or his father, turns him into one of these. Being an immortal PhysicalGod warlord, Kahn has an utter lack of understanding of the human capacity for HeroicWillpower.
136	* SpinningOutOfHere:
137	** Queen Sindel literally dances in a circle, ''Series/{{Wonder Woman\|1975}}''-style, to teleport.
138	** This comes into play with the "Velospheres", man-sized hollow metal balls that the heroes make use of early in the film. They are propelled through a series of tunnels in the Earth by volcanic gases, and allow their users to travel across the planet in a matter of hours:
139	--> '''Kitana:''' They are faster than I remember.
140	* StrongerSibling: [[spoiler:Raiden]] is established as this, with the late revelation that he [[spoiler:was pitted against his brother Shao Kahn long ago and was able to beat Kahn, though his brotherly compassion kept him from being able to kill him]]. This status has not changed in the present day, at least not until [[spoiler:Raiden is depowered]].
141	* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: [[spoiler:Johnny]], which probably happened because of his death in the third game, from which the movie takes most of its story.
142	* SupernaturallyYoungParent: Queen Sindel looks pretty much the same age as her daughter Kitana. In the games, her race the Edenians are established to have [[LongLived longer-than-human lifespans]], so Sindel is ReallySevenHundredYearsOld.
143	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Jax essentially serves the same role in this film that [[spoiler:the now deceased]] Johnny had served in the previous one:
144	** Like Johnny, Jax is the [[PluckyComicRelief comic relief character]] who is bewildered by all the weird supernatural stuff happening around him.
145	** Both Jax and Johnny have insecurities that they mask with a facade of bravado and humor. Johnny's tendency to rush into fights without thinking was attributed to his fears that deep down he was a fake as his critics accused him of and Jax's reliance on his cybernetic enhancers is attributed to a lack of confidence in his own skills. Sonya's dialogue even implies this is not the first time Jax has dabbled with body augmentation.
146	** Both Jax and Johnny try to reach out to Sonya who is standoffish and refusing to rely on others for help due to the death of someone close to her. The first movie seemed to imply that Sonya was the way she was because of Kano killing her partner, while her jerkass behavior towards Jax in this film is clearly attributed to her grief over Johnny's death.
147	** Jax, like Johnny, seems to have some attraction to Sonya. He makes a joke about her looking good in mud and his "Who the hell is Johnny?" line could be interpreted as jealousy.
148	** Like Johnny, Jax's arc climaxes in him defeating a character who was a sub-boss in the games. Jax even delivers a GroinAttack to Motaro just as Johnny did to Goro.
149	** Jax even makes a comment referencing being picked on in high school just as Johnny did in the previous movie.
150	* TailSlap: Motaro makes generous use of this when he fights Jax in the final battle.
151	* TakeMeInstead: Raiden offers himself up as Shao Kahn's prisoner in exchange for [[spoiler:Johnny Cage]]. Kahn, [[ForTheEvulz for some reason]], accepts, then immediately declines anyway and kills [[spoiler:Johnny]].
152	* ThisIsTheFinalBattle: Shao Kahn at the end:
153	--> "Prepare for final battle!"
154	* ThisWasHisTrueForm: [[spoiler:After being beaten at the end, Shao Kahn's body devolves into a living version of the dragon crest tattoo that is his family's crest, which then blinks out of existence just like the fake crests used by his minions]].
155	* TheThreeTrials: Nightwolf tells Liu Kang he must pass three tests before he can defeat Shao Kahn. The first test is courage, which apparently involves having a hatchet thrown at your head to induce a "dream-state." We never learn what the other two tests were.
156	* TookALevelInBadass: In the first movie, Sonya beat up some mooks, got smacked around by Kano after he was told to go easy on her, eventually managing to get her legs around his neck and kill him via a NeckSnap, and then was dragged off by Shang Tsung to give the guys someone to rescue. In this movie, she kills Cyrax, Mileena, Ermac, and a whole bunch of mooks. A definite upgrade.
157	** In the same time, also deconstructed that she steps up her game because in the beginning of the movie, she almost got [[DamselInDistress a similar treatment by Shang Tsung]], only this time [[HistoryRepeats Shao Kahn does it]]. [[spoiler:[[HeroicSacrifice Johnny Cage dies trying to save her]], and the subsequent grief and anger from that event makes Sonya a lot tougher in this movie.]]
158	* VillainForgotToLevelGrind: Though the movie does not state this, it is indirectly implied that this is the reason behind Shao Kahn's defeat: being an ageless warlord with ImmortalImmaturity, it has been eons since Kahn last had a fight with anyone on his level, and he has long since gotten used to crushing anyone who challenges him with raw strength, having nothing to fear from any opponent thanks to his immortality. [[spoiler:When said immortality is taken from him by the Elder Gods, he is rendered utterly demoralized, allowing Liu Kang to dominate and ultimately defeat him]].
159	* VillainKiller:
160	** Between this movie and the previous one, Liu Kang has the highest on-screen body count among the heroes. He killed Sub-Zero, Reptile and Shang Tsung in the first movie, and in this one he kills [[spoiler:Baraka and Shao Kahn]].
161	** Sonya has killed the second largest amount of villains after Liu Kang. She killed Kano in the previous film, and in this movie kills Cyrax, Ermac and Mileena.
162	* WaterIsWomanly: The only female deity shown in the movie is a water goddess.
163	* WeCanRuleTogether: Shinnok offers this to [[spoiler:his son Raiden]] shortly before the final battle, and of course is turned down.
164	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
165	** Nightwolf's "test" involves three stages. We only see the first one and never get an explanation of what they are, though in the novel the final test is identified as [[spoiler:Liu finally overcoming his self-doubt and facing Shao Kahn in the final battle]].
166	** One of the major criticisms of the movie involved characters simply disappearing after their allotted scenes. Sub-Zero disappears after his fight with Scorpion, who disappears after capturing Kitana. Nightwolf doesn't show up again either despite the story seeming to position him as a major character.
167	** Due to their subplot being cut, Stryker and Kabal are both this as well, with neither character appearing though they are identified as having been captured and not killed.
168	* WomanScorned: The DVD character bios imply that this is the reason why Jade betrays the heroes, asserting that she genuinely wanted Liu Kang's affection (rather than cynically seducing him as the film itself implies) and then turning against him after he rejects her in favor of Kitana.
169	* WorldOfHam: Virtually every single person on set seem to be having the time of their life with their performances, ''especially'' Shao Kahn and Sindel. Even when characters are chatting casually, the ham is subtly present within the dialogue and line delivery.
170	* YouHaveFailedMe:
171	** Rain tells Shao Kahn that Outworld's forces captured two fighters (Kabal and Stryker) without making them beg for their lives before killing them. Kahn shows his displeasure by hitting Rain with a giant hammer and knocking him into some sort of Hell Well.
172	** Jade, Kahn's [[TheMole mole]] in the ranks of the heroes, gets it even worse. She leads the heroes into a trap, but then Sindel fails to kill anyone, so Kahn [[FedToTheBeast feeds Jade to a monster carving in the wall]], which gives out a great big burp when it's done with her.
173	** Subverted in the novelization by Shinnok, who tells his AxCrazy son not to ShootTheMessenger.
174

Context Film / MortalKombatAnnihilation