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3%% Please resist the urge to make the page a Self Demonstrating Article. It was reverted to legible for a reason.
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5%% Game-specific examples should go in that game's page.
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7%% Leave character-specific tropes in the character sheets, not here.
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9%% CaptainErsatz, Expy, NoCelebritiesWereHarmed, ShoutOut, ContinuityNod and MythologyGag go in
10%% ShoutOut/MortalKombat.
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12%% YMMV and Trivia items go in the YMMV and Trivia tabs, not here.
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15[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mortal_kombat_logo.png]]
16[[caption-width-right:300:[[FinishHim FINISH HIM!]]]]
17
18->''Test your might.\
19Choose your destiny.\
20Flawless Victory.\
21'''[[TitleScream MORTAL KOMBAT!!!]]'''''
22
23''Mortal Kombat'' is a [[LongRunners long-running]] series of {{fighting game}}s. It was started and developed over a long time by Creator/MidwayGames and has since crept out into other media. The series is defined almost solely by its [[{{Gorn}} uber-violence]] and the [[XtremeKoolLetterz odd spelling of its title]].
24
25In 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.
26
27What started as a fairly typical [[TournamentArc global tournament]] clone in the vein of ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' or ''Film/EnterTheDragon'' quickly [[DisguisedHorrorStory 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.
28
29In its heyday, it was incredibly risqué, especially when Creator/{{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.
30
31The 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 [[VideoGame3DLeap 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...
32
33...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 [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]]'s appearance in this entry.
34
35The series saw two follow-ups in MediaNotes/TheEighthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames that built on ''9'' and continued that game's narrative, ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' and ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11''. As with ''9'', both were warmly received by critics, continued to be mainstays at EVO, and were commercial smashes; in fact, the only fighting game of the generation to sell more than ''X'' and ''11'' was ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', showing there's much life in the series once nearly left for dead.
36
37!!Installments:
38[[AC:Main games]]
39[[index]]
40* Midway Games canon:
41** ''VideoGame/{{Mortal Kombat|1992}}'' (1992)
42** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatII'' (1993)
43** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3'' (1995)
44*** ''Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3'' (1995)
45*** ''Mortal Kombat Trilogy'' (1996)
46*** ''Mortal Kombat Advance'' (2001)
47** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat4'' (1997)
48*** ''Mortal Kombat Gold'' (1999)
49** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance'' (2002)
50*** ''Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition'' (2003)
51** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception'' (2004)
52*** ''Mortal Kombat: Unchained'' (2006)
53** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon'' (2006)
54** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse'' (2008)[[note]]While some players treat the game as a spin-off, it's officially treated as ''Mortal Kombat 8'' by the developers, explaining why the reboot is called ''Mortal Kombat 9''.[[/note]]
55* [=NetherRealm=] Studios canon:
56** ''VideoGame/{{Mortal Kombat|9}}'' (2011)
57** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' (2015)
58** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' (2019)
59* New Era:
60** ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombat1 Mortal Kombat 1]]'' (2023)
61[[/index]]
62
63[[AC:Spin-offs]]
64[[index]]
65* ''VideoGame/MortalKombatMythologiesSubZero'' (a side-scrolling beat 'em up)
66* ''VideoGame/MortalKombatSpecialForces'' (a [=3D=] beat 'em up)
67* ''VideoGame/MortalKombatShaolinMonks'' (a [=3D=] co-op beat 'em up)
68* ''Mortal Kombat: Onslaught'' (an action-adventure beat 'em up role-playing)
69* ''Mortal Kombat Mobile'' (a "free-to-play fighting/card-battler hybrid" for mobile phones and tablets)
70[[/index]]
71
72[[AC:Adaptations to other media]]
73[[index]]
74* ''Film/MortalKombatTheMovie'' (a live-action movie adaptation)
75** ''WesternAnimation/MortalKombatTheJourneyBegins'' (an animated movie)
76** ''Film/MortalKombatAnnihilation'' (the sequel to the live-action movie)
77* ''Series/MortalKombatConquest'' (a slightly related live-action television series)
78* ''ComicBook/MortalKombat'' (a set of comic books Midway independently published)
79* ''[[ComicBook/MortalKombatMalibuComics Mortal Kombat]]'' (another comic book series made by Malibu Comics)
80* ''WesternAnimation/MortalKombatDefendersOfTheRealm'' (an animated television series)
81* ''WebVideo/MortalKombatLegacy'' (a web series directed by [=NetherRealm=] Studios)
82** ''WebVideo/MortalKombatRebirth'' (the pitch video that inspired ''Legacy'')
83* ''WesternAnimation/MortalKombatLegends'' (an anthology of animated films made by Creator/WarnerBrosAnimation):
84** ''[[WesternAnimation/MortalKombatLegendsScorpionsRevenge Scorpion's Revenge]]'' (a retelling of the first game's story)
85** ''[[WesternAnimation/MortalKombatLegendsBattleOfTheRealms Battle of the Realms]]'' (sequel to ''Scorpion's Revenge'')
86** ''[[WesternAnimation/MortalKombatLegendsSnowBlind Snow Blind]]'' (sequel to ''Battle of the Realms'')
87** ''[[WesternAnimation/MortalKombatLegendsCageMatch Cage Match]]'' (spinoff focusing on Johnny Cage)
88* ''Film/{{Mortal Kombat|2021}}'' (2021 ContinuityReboot live action film)
89[[/index]]
90
91The general story is about an universe with several different dimensions (called "Realms") and how one of these, called Outworld, is on a mission [[MultiversalConqueror to take over all realms]]. They are bound by divine laws dictating that they must challenge the greatest warriors of whatever realm they wish to invade to a tournament. If the Outworld warriors win, they have free reign, but if the realm's warriors win, Outworld cannot enter the realm. Outworld's next target is Earth(realm), and it's up to a select few warriors to determine the fate of their realm.
92
93Besides that, we have TONS OF Characters and their special moves and backstories. Character sheets can be found [[Characters/MortalKombat here]], and are separated according to the various games.
94
95!!See also:
96* [[DevelopersForesight/MortalKombat The franchise's Developers' Foresight page]]
97* [[ShoutOut/MortalKombat The franchise's Shout Out page]]
98* [[StageFatality/MortalKombat The franchise's Stage Fatality page]]
99----
100!!The ''Mortal Kombat'' franchise provides examples of:
101[[foldercontrol]]
102
103[[folder:#-F]]
104* AdvantageBall: Originally used the simple "won the tournament and attained victory in all life goals" pretty much every fighting game used. With the advent of the later games' storytelling roulette, characters that winning fights they otherwise would likely not has become canon. Actually a plot point in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse'' as the balance of power goes back and forth between characters.
105* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Whether from a different realm or even nationality, there is practically no language barrier and the entire cast speaks perfect English. Even the Great Kung Lao, implied to have been from the feudal Japan era (clearly before he would become an immortal champion, no less) has no problem communicating with his time-traveling descendant. That said, there ''is'' a Tarkatan language, first depicted in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombat11 MK11]]''.
106* AllThereInTheManual: If the info's not available in the game, it's mentioned in some hard-to-find strategy guides. For example, Kintaro's fate - death by Raiden's hands - was only revealed in the ''[=MK3=]'' strategy guide.
107* AlmostLethalWeapons: Getting hit with any projectile weapon (from spears to fireballs to electricity to freaking ''grenades and gunfire'') doesn't hurt much more than being punched and still leaves the target able to move normally.
108* AncestorVeneration: Liu Kang and Kung Lao's ancestor, (the latter of whom shares his name) is known as the "Great" Kung Lao, honored for defending Earthrealm during the Mortal Kombat tournament centuries ago.
109* AnimalisticAbilities:
110** ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance Deadly Alliance]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception Deception]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon Armageddon]]'' feature a StanceSystem which allows characters to alternate between fighting styles. A number of martial arts based on animals were featured such as Dragon (Sub-Zero, Jarek), Crane (Shang Tsung), Crab (Reptile), Mantis (Kung Lao, Shujinko), Monkey (Noob Saibot).
111** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatShaolinMonks'': Liu Kang uses Dragon and Monkey Kung Fu as his fighting styles.
112* AnimatedAdaptation: Three: TheAnimatedSeries ''[[WesternAnimation/MortalKombatDefendersOfTheRealm Defenders of the Realm]]'', ''[[WesternAnimation/MortalKombatTheJourneyBegins The Journey Begins]]'', an animated short film about the first game, and ''[[WesternAnimation/MortalKombatLegendsScorpionsRevenge Legends: Scorpion's Revenge]]'', a 2020 animated feature film which aims to be TruerToTheText.
113* AnotherDimension: Outworld, Edenia, Netherrealm, and many others.
114* AntiHero: In [[CrapsackWorld an universe]] like ''Mortal Kombat'', it often becomes necessary to kill. But the ridiculous gruesome and painful ways in which some characters do so does call their morality into question.
115* AnyoneCanDie: Though DeathIsCheap in some examples.
116%%
117%% Please don't add Mortal Kombat 9-specific examples here.
118%%
119* ArmedFemalesUnarmedMales:
120** 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.
121** 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.
122* TheArtifact: The Stance Switch button went from changing your character's fighting/weapon style in the 3D Era games to simply changing which way your character faced the camera in the 2.5D Netherrealm games, as some moves or strings can change your character's laterality relative to the camera. While X-Ray Moves / Fatal Blows are performed with Block + Stance Switch and ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombat11 11]]'' would tack on a few additional functions to this button (Roll escape, Mercy, a scant few Kustom Abilities), Stance Switch on its own has almost no implications for general gameplay in those entries.
123* ArtisticLicenceAnatomy: A staple of the franchise.
124** A lot of the Fatalities are not physically possible, but particularly in older games when the LudicrousGibs included bones... which often consisted of multiple full rib cages, dozens of femurs, and sometimes even multiple skulls. In behind-the-scenes videos for ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'', the creators mention that they go out of their way to avoid the Fatalities being something that a normal human could realistically do, in order to cut down on the possibility of someone trying to imitate them.
125** X-Ray Attacks qualify as well. They show in graphic detail bones being snapped and organs being destroyed, yet characters keep fighting afterward like nothing happened. On top of that, X-Ray Attacks can be done multiple times during a fight meaning that a character who has had his or her bones or internal organs gravely harmed [[GameplayAndStorySegregation will inexplicably have them restored before being snapped or destroyed again]].
126** Fatal Blows turn this up to eleven, as all of them, without exception, have Fatality-like capabilities.
127** Uppercuts. Any blow strong enough to launch an enemy that far into the air would leave the puncher with at least one shattered bone in their arm. And this doesn't even account for scenes where fighters can be knocked upward through the ceiling.
128* AscendedMeme: Nearly every urban legend about the games eventually made it into the series (Ermac, Animalities, Skarlet, etc.). It'd be shorter to name what ''averted'' this, such as characters like Hornbuckle.
129* AttractMode: The first four games had those, along with showing the character bios.
130* AwesomeButImpractical: This was something that haunted the earliest Mortal Kombat gameplay. Special moves look flashy and many of them allow you to attack at range, but had a lot of drawbacks: barring a few exceptions - they did less than damage than a [[BoringButPractical footsweep or high kick]], some of them had an overly elaborate set-up time and almost all of them were easily countered by a block and an uppercut (which took off 25% of a character's life back then!!). Scorpion's Leg Grab from the 2nd game was the epitome of this trope and the move was removed from most games in the series. Later games do a much better job of balancing this.
131%%* AwesomenessMeter: In the killings, at least.
132* BadassNormal: Some of the good guys have no special upgrades to fight with, particularly those in the Special Forces.
133* 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 grace is him possibly turning out like in his ''Armageddon'' arcade ending, where he goes mad from having nothing left to conquer.
134* BaldOfEvil: Coincidentally enough, all of the main characters that are bald in this series are evil. Notable examples include Quan Chi, Baraka, Kano (in the original timeline, although he was mostly balding - ''[=MK3=]'' was the only game where he was fully bald, and also his past incarnation in ''11''), Shao Kahn, Kronika and [[spoiler: D'Vorah]].
135* BeatEmUp SpinOff: First came ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatMythologiesSubZero Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero]]'', which fleshed out the origin story of the original Sub-Zero and introduced Sareena, Quan Chi, and Shinnok. Next came ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatSpecialForces Special Forces]]'', which starred Special Forces agent Jax as he took on the Black Dragon. And most recently, ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatShaolinMonks Shaolin Monks]]'', where players take control of Liu Kang and Kung Lao as they fight Shang Tsung's forces shortly following the first tournament.
136* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Usually, this is played as straight as in any other fighting game, with the exception of Fatalities; the females are just as subject to brutal, gory deaths as anyone else. It was subverted completely in ''9'', however, where the characters were injured during the fight, and even the winner was usually badly wounded by the end. Kitana's lovely face was just as likely to be marred by bruises and black eyes here. It is, however, played ''completely'' straight in the Story Mode, where the blood and gore is taken out and Fatalities aren't allowed (in the Story Mode, a fighter can't actually die unless the plot requires it, so it can't happen during a match).
137* BigBad: Shang Tsung in the first game, Shao Kahn in ''2'', ''3'' and ''9'' , Shinnok, in ''4'' and ''X'', Onaga in ''Deception'', Kronika in ''11'', [[spoiler: and Shang Tsung again in ''[[DownloadableContent MK11: Aftermath]]''.]]
138* BigBadDuumvirate: In ''Deadly Alliance'', the Deadly Alliance themselves, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi.
139* BittersweetEnding: The series became fond of this trope around the start of the 3D era and has continued in most titles since, seemingly to give the series more of a complex edge; the original four numbered games featured standard Good vs. Evil narratives and concluded with Earthrealm experiencing an age of peace thanks to Liu Kang's defeat of Shang Tsung, Shao Kahn and Shinnok.
140** ''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 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]].
141** ''Deception'' similarly ends on a bittersweet note as Onaga is ultimately defeated, but [[TragicOneShotCharacter Shujinko]] wastes most of his adult life on a pointless quest orchestrated by Onaga himself. The game also reveals that Raiden was reincarnated into a [[FaceHeelTurn darker persona]] after his fatal battle against Onaga in the intro, while Liu Kang was resurrected by Raiden as a mindless, decaying zombie.
142** ''Armageddon'' builds up to the titular apocalyptic conflict in its story mode, with Taven trying in vain to prevent it. Alas, Armageddon is inevitable and almost every kombatant kills each other in a bloodlusted frenzy to get to the top of the Pyramid of Argus. Worse, ''[=MK9=]'' shows that [[TheBadGuyWins Shao Kahn of all people would've been the ultimate champion]]. The only saving grace is that the timeline is seemingly aborted by Dark Raiden's last act of sending a message back through time to his own past self, seconds before Shao Kahn finishes him.
143** ''[=MK9=]'' initially seems to set up a worse timeline than the original as most of the Earthrealm warriors die much earlier than they were supposed to, all thanks to [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong Raiden attempting to influence the course of history based on his future self's vague warning]]. Quan Chi resurrects many of said warriors as brainwashed Revenants. Raiden, with aid from the Elder Gods, narrowly manages to destroy Shao Kahn once and for all, thereby preventing Armageddon, but the [[PyrrhicVictory sacrifices to reach this victory are too tremendous to contemplate]].
144** ''MKX'' probably has the most straightforward happy ending since the original tetralogy. Cassie Cage singlehandedly defeats Corrupted Shinnok, saves the realms, and even manages to reunite her estranged parents. However, Raiden's absorption of Shinnok's darkness in the Jinsei causes him to yet again take on the [[KnightTemplar Dark Raiden]] persona and he sends a clear message to Liu Kang and Kitana (now the undead rulers of the Netherrealm) that [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope he is done taking shit from other realms]] (many arcade endings also show him going on the warpath against Outworld, [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis forcing Kotal Kahn to invoke the sacred right of Mortal Kombat]] against ''him''). Additionally, [[RevengeBeforeReason Scorpion's hasty execution of Quan Chi]] dooms the other remaining Revenants to their hellish existence forever.
145** ''[=MK11=]'' ends with Liu Kang and Raiden breaking free of Kronika's temporal manipulations and defeating her by performing a FusionDance, but they are forced to repair the Hourglass and reset the timeline from scratch once again. The ''Aftermath'' DLC story expansion initially seems to set up another straight up DownerEnding as [[VillainProtagonist Shang Tsung]] and the other villains go on a brutal soul-harvesting spree, altering the events of the final battle at Kronika's Keep and [[NearVillainVictory seemingly emerging victorious]]. Thankfully, Fire God Liu Kang pulls a clever BatmanGambit on his nemesis and, after defeating him, truly begins work on resetting the timeline for the better.
146* BlackAndGreyMorality: The protagonists are [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Jerks with Hearts of Gold]] or {{Anti Hero}}es at best. The villains are often either genocidal rapists, mass-murderers, or sociopaths. Some of the latest would describe themselves as all three. Even [[GodIsGood Raiden]] has ventured into the KnightTemplar category or uses manipulation as a means of protecting Earthrealm.
147* BlackComedy: The entire series is fueled by this, and is arguably the main thing that keeps the gore from becoming legitimately nauseating. Highlights include: Cassie smashing in the opponent's jaw and uploading it to social media, Cassie [[GroinAttack kicking the opponent so hard in the dick]] that their entire skeleton pops out from their head, Skarlet repeatedly stabbing the opponent in the face with icicles made from their own blood, Quan Chi ripping off the opponent's leg and beating them repeatedly with it even after they're dead, Mileena eating the opponent and then spitting all their bones back out...
148* BladderOfSteel: The earliest installments had ''no pause mechanism whatsoever''. The Start button was used for blocking.
149* BloodierAndGorier: Compared to other games in the genre, which was its selling point. And of course, each game released is Bloodier and Gorier than the last.
150* BloodyHilarious: The gore is tongue-in-cheek most of the time.
151* BossTease: The first game would allow you to sneak a glimpse at an extra character who wasn't on the roster being down to fight, appearing rarely before fights to offer hints as to how he could be fought himself. By doing specific things in a specific order, one could finally fight [[spoiler: Reptile]].
152* BootstrappedTheme: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aidem5-kheE Techno Syndrome]]" by The Immortals is widely considered to be ''the'' definitive theme song of the entire franchise, despite it originally being composed for ''Mortal Kombat: The Album'', and only breaking out one year later in the [[Film/MortalKombatTheMovie 1995 film]]. Went full circle as of ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'', where a remixed version of it is used as the official soundtrack for the reveal trailer, a good 24 years after it became famous.
153* ButtonMashing: The Test Your Might minigame, and later the "Dial-A-Kombo" in any game with the infamous "Run" button.
154* CanonForeigner: Since most of the games' appeal involves having the characters killing each other with their Fatalities, when the games were adapted into comics and films, the authors of these adaptations had to create several new characters in order to have the main characters display their Fatalities without killing off any of the canon characters.
155* CasualtyInTheRing: Pretty much every variation of this has been presented across of the installments. After all, it's ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
156* ChangingOfTheGuard: Unlike other fighting game series that tend to expand on each previous roster, Mortal Kombat tends to radically shift its character rosters between games, giving each instalment a unique feel. Even the most popular characters have been known to miss instalments, either due to being KilledOffForReal or their actors being unavailable.
157** ''Mortal Kombat 3'' controversially removed many of the most popular characters from the first and second games to make way for newcomers, most damningly [[BreakoutCharacter Scorpion]] and [[ShockAndAwe Raiden]]. Most of the old favourites returned in ''Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3'' and ''Mortal Kombat Trilogy'' due to persistent fan demand.
158** ''MK: Deception'' upheaved the status quo by giving the slightly lesser known past characters a chance to shine (e.g. Jade, Kabal, Nightwolf, Noob Saibot) while removing many of the more iconic characters from the roster altogether. Most of the newcomers introduced in the immediate predecessor, ''Deadly Alliance'', were also replaced with another batch of newcomers.
159** ''MKX'' marks the series' long-awaited first attempt at a "new generation" roster, in a similar vain to ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' and ''VideoGame/GarouMarkOfTheWolves'' (Ed Boon had been wanting to do this concept since ''Armageddon''). However, some of the old guard are still present on the roster.
160** ''[=MK11=]'' emulates ''Deception'' to a lesser degree, as it also switches out some of the main recurring characters for past Ensemble Darkhorses that skipped the previous instalment. Though as with ''X'', the most important characters still remain playable.
161* CharacterRosterGlobalWarming: The series handles this very oddly: every MightyGlacier in the series is a boss and is only playable (barring a few exceptions, such as Goro and Shao Kahn in the [=GameCube=] version of ''Deception'' and its PSP port ''Unchained'') in the [[DreamMatchGame full cast games]].
162* ColorAnimalCodename: The Red Dragon is a criminal syndicate founded by the demigod Daegon. The Black Dragon, which Kano is a member of, is a splinter group founded by Red Dragon members who disagreed with the code of honor of the Red Dragon.
163* ColorCodedMultiplayer: As expected when both players choose the same character.
164** This is mostly averted for the various ninja characters, particularly in earlier games where their colour schemes were their only identifying features to set them apart. In mirror matches, the second player's costume would only be a slightly different shade of the ninja's main colour scheme. ''[=MK11=]'' is the first game to avert this somewhat, since the ninjas now have [[DivergentCharacterEvolution diverse enough designs for them to be recognisable in different colours.]]
165* {{Combos}}: While not a major mechanic, combos were made especially easy in the third game with the Run Mechanic. Several games have a strict Dial-A-Combo system. ''Mortal Kombat'' is also the series that introduced juggling to fighting games.
166* ComicBookTime: Surprisingly averted (for a while, anyway). Most titles in the series are actually set in the year the [[CapcomSequelStagnation final revision of each game]] was released, seeing as ''Deadly Alliance'' (2002) is stated to occur a full decade after the events of the first ''Mortal Kombat'' (1992). ''Deception'' and ''Armageddon'', however, take place immediately after ''DA'', whereas ''[=MK9=]'' is a [[AlternateContinuity second]] [[ContinuityReboot timeline]], which returns to the time of the original trilogy. X's story takes place across 25 years, allowing the story to catch up to the time of its release.
167* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: One of the reasons ''Mortal Kombat'' especially does not really stand up today is that the computer has [[PerfectPlayAI godly reflexes and is able to block nearly everything you throw at it]] while throwing all the special moves at you before you can block. ''Mortal Kombat II'' at least is a little more broken in ''your'' favor, while 3 swings back around button-reading your input, especially with regards to Shao Kahn, who's appearance in 3 has topped many lists of "Most Unfair Bosses Ever."
168* ContinuitySnarl: Oh boy. Listing every example would take up an entire page, but to summarise, many characters' backstories have been altered over the years and some [[DeathIsCheap spontaneously return from the dead between games]] for no readily apparent reason.
169* ConvectionSchmonvection: Invoked with any lava level (and there are quite a few).
170* CrapsackWorld: Make no mistake, with all the [[{{Gorn}} horrific violence]] occurring on a daily basis, good doses of BlackAndGrayMorality, JerkassGods and brutal conflicts happening constantly, life in the ''Mortal Kombat'' universe [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] sucks. However, if there's one part in particular that showcases how much of a wretchedly horrific hellhole life is in this world, it has to be Outworld, obviously as explained in DeathWorld below, but many other realms veer into this. As presented in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception'', there's a LawfulStupid realm that basically runs on perpetual tyranny. There's a ChaoticStupid realm where people do whatever they feel like, which is usually "murder each other for fun." There's the Netherrealm - which is basically Hell. There is a {{Heaven}} for virtuous souls, but a powerful enough sorcerer can steal souls from it without fear of retribution. There are gods who are more or less benevolent, [[GodsHandsAreTied except they are bound by rules from higher gods that prevent them from actually doing anything]]. The Elder Gods are a cross between TheGodsMustBeLazy and JerkassGods. It really doesn't even matter if you're good or evil in the end anyway, as it seems that once you die, any demon, sorcerer, emperor, or god can come along and [[YourSoulIsMine just take your immortal soul]] - and there's nothing you can do about it. A few nicer realms like Earthrealm and Edenia are either invaded every other game or under constant threat of invasion. The best the heroes can do is beat back the latest threat for a brief peace since villains either suffer from JokerImmunity, or are replaced by new ones. Oh, and [[EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce if the good guys fail even once]], said fail will result in TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. If mortals will get too powerful or the battles will get too extreme, it will cause a ApocalypseHow/ClassZ Omniversal FUBAR... with perhaps only the Elder Gods surviving.
171* DarkerAndEdgier: It seems like, with every installment (except for [[VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse the crossover with DC]]), they go with this:
172** ''[=MK4=]'' removed Babalities and Friendships, and included armed combat and fatality cinematics.
173** ''Deadly Alliance'', with Shang Tsung & Quan Chi murdering Liu Kang in the ''opening'' cutscene.
174** The ''Deadly Alliance''/''Deception''/''Armageddon'' trilogy added more and more graphic death scenes (in ''Armageddon'', the player must "build" the Fatality), as well as the story going FromBadToWorse: TheHeroDies, then TheBadGuysWin, then during the DarkestHour comes TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.
175** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'' added the X-Ray Moves, and the Fatalities and Stage Fatalities are more graphic, with the horsepower of the then-current consoles allowing for more detailed and creative dismemberment. The Story mode also makes sure the player feels the overwhelming odds of the heroes by dealing them one narrative loss after another until the despair of the last heroes standing feels deserved.
176** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' has upped the ante even further - with even more graphical power at their disposal, the series raised the bar with incredibly graphic gore from incredibly detailed character models, while also muting and darkening the overall color palette from ''9'', which still had a stylized, vibrant look to it.
177** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' manages to deliver exceptionally graphical violence. Fatal Blows and new radical Fatalities outshine everything the [=MK=] series done so far. The gore was so next-level that Fatality videos were actually triggering [=YouTube=] automated content flags, the system algorithm believing actual dismemberment videos were being uploaded. And that's just scratching the surface, with an incredibly bleak and depressing storyline that reaches its DarkestHour, starting with Sonya's HeroicSacrifice, culminating all the way with [[EverybodyDiesEnding everyone dead]], and despite our heroes' efforts, the universe ends up being destroyed.
178** Also, ''[[WebVideo/MortalKombatRebirth Rebirth]]'', which was Kevin Tancharoen's way of pitching his idea for a new film to Warner Bros.
179* DeathByCameo: The creators tended to do cameos in the games as severed heads on spikes. Their names also appeared on headstones.
180* DeathIsCheap: Considering that this is a fighting game series where brutally maiming opponents is commonplace, you bet this trope applies. If a major playable character dies in the storyline, don't expect them to stay dead for long. Towards the end of the 3D Midway era, the writing team [[CreatorsApathy stopped bothering to give excuses for characters inexplicably coming back to life]], as they openly admit in Hsu Hao's ''Armageddon'' Kombat Kard.
181** Reversing the backwards dialogue from a Chaosrealm or Neatherrealm NPC in ''Deception'' confirms that none of the Mortal Kombat characters truly die (this could also link to GameplayAndStoryIntegration, as the series' trademark Fatalities are never permanent).
182** The Netherrealm Studios instalments tend to give character deaths slightly more weight, though the fact that many dead warriors come back through Quan Chi's magic or time travel hijinks means that the trope is still very much in effect.
183* DeathWorld: Outworld, and any realm that gets merged with it. The dominant biomes are {{Mordor}}, ShiftingSandLand, and [[DontGoInTheWoods Evil Forest]], and every single one of them [[SceneryGorn is perpetually littered with mutilated corpses]]. Further, anyone not a part of the Emperor's inner circle can look forward only to a life of hardship and enslavement, and even those who are a part of Shao Kahn's cadre get punished harshly the first time they screw up (just ask Shang Tsung about that). Luckily Outworld does get a little better over the series, as the heroes beat back Kahn's forces.
184* DebugRoom: Nearly all games had one.
185* DeckOfWildCards: Outworld, especially the inner circle surrounding its ruler Shao Khan, heavily embraces an every-man-for-himself outlook, and even those most closely aligned with or fiercely loyal to Shao Kahn (such as Baraka, Sheeva and Sindel) are willing to betray him at the first sign of weakness or that Khan [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness will have them replaced]].
186* DigitizedSprites: A distinguishing feature of the series for the first several games. It were among the first to make this successful, thanks to smooth animation and consistent hitbox detection, two things its imitators usually lacked.
187* DisownedSibling: Bi-Han and Kuai Liang were once close, with Kuai Liang looking up to his older brother. But as Sub-Zero and Noob Saibot, the two have grown to despise each other; Sub-Zero for his brother's vile deeds, and Noob for his younger brother's perceived betrayal. Each has said to the other at one point or another "We share blood. We are ''not'' brothers."
188* DivergentCharacterEvolution: Due to using digitized sprites, the cast was expanded by taking the same sprites and re-colorling them to create new characters. Most famously, this was the case for the male ninjas (Scorpion, Sub-Zero, etc.), female ninjas (Kitana, Mileena, etc.), and cyborgs (Sektor, Cyrax, etc.). After the series made the jump to 3D, different models were used for those characters further distigushing them. In particular, Reptile, who started off with Scorpion and Sub-Zero's moveset combined, was given his own unique moveset in his next appearance and gradually became more reptilian in each successive game. Similarly, Ermac gradually became more like an undead mummy.
189* DivineRanks: ''Mortal Kombat'' has a fairly detailed hierarchy of gods in its expanded lore:
190** 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 once 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.]]
191** 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]] (only a more powerful god can possibly execute them).
192** 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 the same game reveals that many other Titans and eldritch horrors exist in the cosmos.
193** 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, including the Elder Gods. As such, it subtly [[UnwittingPawn influences the actions of the series' main antagonists (namely Shao Kahn, Shinnok and Onaga)]] in order to have them successfully merge the realms, allowing it to become whole again.
194* DontGoInTheWoods: Seriously, do not go for a walk in the forests of Outworld. [[WhenTreesAttack Those trees]] have mouths [[ManEatingPlant for a reason]].
195* DragonsUpTheYinYang: All over the place.
196* DuelToTheDeath: Even outside of the tournaments, many characters are enemies or have personal feud going left and right against many others, or are simply [[AxCrazy AxCrazy]] enough to want nothing but this, however when allied or more moderate characters are put against each other, they will often handwave the fight as training, or as a test of their abilities, and so on.
197* EthnicityMonarch:
198** Depending on the continuity, Sindel or Kitana reigns as Queen of the Edenians, meaning all of the people that originate from their realm, Edenia. In the reboot continuity, Edenia is stated to be permanently gone as its own realm, which means that all Edenians are now Outworlders. Some still look up to Sindel/Kitana as their leader, but it's irrelevant because all Outworlders have to obey whoever rules as Khan.
199** Goro is the Prince of the Shokan (half-Dragon) race. Later, he is succeeded by Sheeva.
200* EverybodyDiesEnding: As revealed at the start of ''[=MK9=]'', roughly 99% of the established characters from ''[=MK1=]''-''Armageddon'' are killed in the Battle of Armageddon. The only ones left alive in the original timeline are Taven, Shinnok and Shao Kahn, who is the one that ultimately wins and dooms the original timeline.
201* ExposedToTheElements: Just look at all of the fantastic and bizarre locales the cast visits and try to tell us that the [[WalkingShirtlessScene shirtless men]] and [[{{Stripperiffic}} half-naked ladies]] are appropriately dressed.
202* FantasyKitchenSink: Ninjas, shaolin monks, cyborgs, gods, aliens, U.S. Special Forces, cops, actors, and whatever the fuck Kabal is supposed to be, all beating the ever-loving crap out of each other.
203** Interestingly justified in case of Outworld. A myriad of different lifeforms inhabit Outworld, and it was Shao Kahn's lust for conquest that brought them all together. Whenever he defeated a realm in Mortal Kombat, he subsequently annexed that realm (along with the resident population) and merged it with Outworld. So don't be surprised if you see reptilians, insectoids, four-armed humanoids and various other monsters running about Outworld.
204* FemaleGroinInvincibility: In the first two games, Johnny Cage's GroinAttack special move doesn't work on female characters. This doesn't apply to the third game and onwards, where they get affected by it regardless of gender.
205* FarEast: The series loves this, with some InterchangeableAsianCultures at hand (for starters, Scorpion and Sub-Zero are Chinese ninja).
206* FinishingMove: Multiple fatalities for each character, Brutalities, Animalities, and stage-specific Fatalities. The Friendships and Babalities are the LighterAndSofter versions of this.
207* FireAndBrimstoneHell: The Netherrealm. ''[=UMK3=]'' even called it "Hell".
208* FixedFloorFighting: The first two games, as well as the reboot.
209* FlawlessVictory: The TropeNamer. Actually pulling it off, [[{{SNKBoss}} specially against bosses]], is not so easy.
210* FreeFloorFighting: Most of the games starting with the third one, corresponding to the switch into 3D, although ''[=MK3=]'' and its updates were 2D.
211* FrequentlyBrokenUnbreakableVow: The rule that Mortal Kombat is required to merge the realms is the premise of the first game. After that, though, Shao Kahn starts using either LoopholeAbuse or flat out disobeying the rules, and [[TheGodsMustBeLazy the Elder Gods consistently do nothing about it]].
212* FromBadToWorse: The storylines became rife with problem escalations starting in ''Deadly Alliance''.
213[[/folder]]
214
215[[folder:G-M]]
216* GameplayRoulette: The endless minigame cycles in the 3D entries.
217* GameplayAndStorySegregation: In certain matchups, the fatalities count as this since there's nothing preventing characters who are canonically friends/allies (or even family members/love interests) in the series lore from brutally murdering each other at the end of a match. You get stuff like Liu Kang turning into a dragon and eating Kitana, Cassie Cage kicking her father's heart out, or Jax tearing his own daughter's arm off. All of this is completely out of character for them.
218* GenreShift: ''MK'' started out as another tournament fighter in ''Enter the Dragon'' fashion. Then came the second installment, which introduced the battle-for-souls plot that has driven the series since, and then the third installment, which took things in a post-apocalyptic direction.
219* GodAndSatanAreBothJerks: Sort of. The closest two characters, The One Being for God and Shinnok for Satan, are both morally awful, with the former feeding on the Elder Gods from the beginning and being willing to destroy all realms, while the latter is, well, [[OmnicidalManiac Shinnok]].
220* TheGodsMustBeLazy: Averted by younger gods like Fujin and Raiden, as well as the Fallen Elder God Shinnok - but the Elder Gods definitely play this trope straight, as they're notorious for being slackers. They are loathe to interfere in the events of the multiverse. Even when [[GodzillaThreshold their hand is forced]] by [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt a cataclysmic threat to the multiverse]], they're more likely to institute some roundabout scheme like the Mortal Kombat tournament or Blaze's contest in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon'', to keep from having to deal with it themselves. [[spoiler:To the extent that the plot of the reboot game comes down to Raiden trying everything he can to finally get them to ''do something''.]]
221* GoodIsNotSoft: The various heroes are ''very'' willing to kill if it'll protect their homeworlds from the Forces of Darkness. Most of them are shown to be otherwise morally upstanding, virtuous, and overall likable characters when the fate of the universe isn't at stake.
222* {{Gorn}}: Being a series flooded with over-the-top violence, this was expected. The MoralGuardians went apewire.
223* GoshDangItToHeck: Despite all the violence, ''MK'' has almost little to no swear words uttered at all. So far, Scorpion has indulged in it in ''Shaolin Monks'', which sometimes he'll alter his iconic "Get Over here!" into more profane versions. It's subverted because they (mostly) avoid the phrases where the swears would go, obviating the need for narmy substitute words. Sonya also swears a few times in ''9'', with most of her profanities [[CurseCutShort being somehow interrupted.]] This is averted in ''Mortal Kombat X'' onward, where there is actually quite a bit of profanity, ''especially'' from [[SirSwearsALot Cassie Cage]].
224* GreaterScopeVillain: The One Being. It is responsible for all events that occur throughout the franchise and [[TheManBehindTheMan subtly manipulates powerful beings such as Shinnok, Shao Kahn and Onaga]], into achieving their goals by merging all the realms so it could be whole again.
225* GuestFighter: Starting with ''9'', [=NetherRealm=] has been adding guest characters to each game as DLC.
226** ''9'' has [[VideoGame/GodOfWar Kratos]] (who is exclusive to the [=PS3=] and [=PS Vita=] versions) and [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]] (who is available in all versions of the game).
227** ''X'' has [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason Voorhees]], [[Franchise/TheTexasChainsawMassacre Leatherface]], [[Franchise/{{Predator}} The Predator]] and [[Franchise/{{Alien}} the Xenomorph]].
228** ''11'' has the Franchise/{{Terminator}}, [[ComicBook/TheJoker Joker]], ComicBook/{{Spawn}}, Franchise/RoboCop, and Franchise/{{Rambo}}.
229* GuideDangIt: Every SecretCharacter and fatalities in the older games.
230* HammeredIntoTheGround: Has been seen throughout the series, especially with Sheeva's Nail Driver fatality which involves her driving her defeated opponent to the ground with her four arms. Jax does the same with his Three Points fatality in ''9''.[[note]]The name comes from the fact that, once he finishes hammering the opponent into the ground, he scores a field goal with their head.[[/note]]
231* HeadCrushing: The series is laden with fatalities like these, appearing as early as the arcade games.
232** Jax's Head Clap fatality has him clap his hand against his opponent's head, crushing it to pieces.
233** Tremor's "Stalag-Might" has him impale his opponent with three stalagtites and then finishes them off by turning his arms into hammers and smashing them between their head.
234** Erron Black has a fatality involving stomping on a head (while it's being dissolved by acid).
235* HealthyGreenHarmfulRed: Green is full health, red is low, in some games:
236** In ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1'' (Arcade, Genesis/Mega Drive/SNES) as seen [[https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/arcade/583599-mortal-kombat/images/213 here]].
237** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatII'': Seen [[https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/arcade/583600-mortal-kombat-ii/images/235 here]].
238** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance''
239** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception'' ([=PS2=]/Game Cube) seen [[https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps2/919922-mortal-kombat-deception/images/213 here]]
240** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatMythologiesSubZero'': The bosses' life meter is coloured a green, and becomes red when it depletes to near zero. See: [[https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps/197993-mortal-kombat-mythologies-sub-zero/images/2242 here]].
241* HighHeelPower: Several female characters wear high heels (like princesses Kitana and Mileena), which seem strangely practical in combat.
242* HighlyVisibleNinja: [[TechnicolorNinjas In all the colors of the rainbow]].
243* HighPressureBlood: Several entries definitely enjoyed seeing blood rocket out of the body.
244* HotterAndSexier: The fanservice gradually increased in every game, especially once graphical technology got good enough to the point where real actresses/actors were no longer required to make a decent 3D model. In addition, each game in and of itself would feature alternate costumes that were usually sexier than the defaults. Reached its logical peak in ''9'', featuring [[{{Stripperiffic}} outfits]] that you really ''would'' expect to see in a strip club. This trend was reversed in ''Mortal Kombat X'', which opted for realistic proportions and less revealing outfits. Compare [[DarkActionGirl Mileena]], who has the skimpiest outfit in both games, [[http://mortalkombat.wikia.com/wiki/Mileena/Gallery?file=Mileena_Render.jpg between 9]] [[http://mortalkombat.wikia.com/wiki/Mileena/Gallery?file=Millena_render2015-04-14_13-07-57.png and X]].
245* AnIceSuit: Sub-Zero and Frost's outfits. In some games, Sub-Zero even has a coat of ice covering his forearms and hands.
246* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Anyone who gets knocked into The Pit, except in the second and third games, where the loser hits the pavementbelow really hard or gets shredded to bits by revolving blades, respectively. Other stage fatalities do this too (such as the Kombat Tomb in ''II'', which has spikes on the ceiling into which the losing fighter can be uppercut), and some characters too, such as [[BladeBelowTheShoulder Baraka]]. ''Deadly Alliance'' also allowed certain fighters to lodge their weapons into the opponent's body, albeit non-fatally.
247* InevitableTournament: Even after the story progresses beyond the necessity of the tournament, the games still function as one-on-one battles. Also, in order to accomplish anything in the series, a character inevitably has to enter and win -- there's no chance of just sniping the BigBad from fifty feet away, or just fighting until you've killed the guy you're after then quitting while you're ahead, or whatever. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation Some characters actually do just that in the story.]]
248* InSpiteOfANail: The ContinuityReboot of the series may have changed several key aspects of the timeline, but there are some things that remain constants regardless of what happened:
249** The younger Sub-Zero becoming the Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei, despite being automated, killed and turned into an undead revenant in the new timeline.
250** The older Sub-Zero being murdered by Scorpion and revived as Noob Saibot, despite Raiden's attempt to stop Scorpion.
251** In both timelines, Liu Kang will die and become undead, just under different circumstances.
252** Scorpion finding out about Quan Chi's murder of his family and clan and turn on him, despite the fact that the latter interfered a lot more in the rebooted timeline to keep the former under his thumb.
253** In both timelines, Raiden CameBackWrong as a darker version of himself, just under different situations.
254* InteractiveNarrator: In the early games, the announcer is Shao Kahn. Understandably, if he beats you, instead of "Shao Kahn wins", he just declares "''I'' win."
255* InvisibleToNormals: With the exception of a few key individuals, towns, sects, and organizations scattered the world wide, most of Earthrealm did not know of Outworld's existence (and by proxy, the existence of the other realms) until Shao Kahn's invasion in ''3''. Even so, most Earthrealmers are probably considered {{Muggles}} on the overall scale.
256* JerkassGods: The Elder Gods are supposed to enforce the rules of Mortal Kombat. Yet they allow Shao Kahn to merge Earthrealm and Outworld in ''Mortal Kombat 3,'' reinterpret the rules to justify doing nothing in ''Mortal Kombat 9'', and generally screw over any mortal they have dealings with.
257* JigglePhysics: Only present in the ''DA-D-A'' trilogy and ''9'' in any great measure.
258* JokerImmunity: ''Every single character'' has it, apparently. Seriously, despite the fact that cruelly killing your opponent in the most brutal ways possible is ''encouraged'' in this series, it's almost ''impossible'' for a character to stay dead, at least plotwise. As far as GameplayAndStorySegregation goes, the two conflict so often that it almost makes the series a contradiction.
259* KillingYourAlternateSelf: Since the game allows [[{{mirrormatch}} mirror matches]], and its original gimmick was being able to gruesomely eradicate your defeated opponents, this one was inevitable.
260* KissOfDeath: How some of the female combatants finish off opponents.
261* LeotardOfPower: Nearly every female character has this as a main or alternate costume.
262* LizardFolk: The Saurians are reptilian humanoids who evolved from dinosaurs in Earthrealm's distant past and moved to the realm of Zaterra.
263* LudicrousGibs: Every Fatality and Brutality reduces its victim to this.
264* MachineBlood: Robotic characters, such Cyrax, Sektor, Smoke (post-cyberization), and Franchise/RoboCop, have blood that is colored dark brown or black, making it appear that they are bleeding oil.
265* MadeOfPlasticine: The losing fighter during a [[FinishingMove Fatality]].
266* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Characters rarely display more than minor annoyance towards such injuries as broken limbs and being impaled by their opponent's weapons, and it's taken to absurd levels with the X-Ray moves of [=MK9=] and [=MKX=], and Fatal Blows of [=MK11=]. Almost all the X-Ray moves (and every Fatal Blow) would hideously cripple the victim at best, if not outright murder them in real life.
267* MaskedVillainsUnmaskedHeroes:
268** Shao Kahn is the EvilOverlord of Outworld and wears a skull-like helmet. His primary opponents are [[TheHero Liu Kang]], [[BigGood Raiden]] and [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Kitana]]. Raiden and Liu Kang do not wear masks. Kitana does wear a mask but is more likely to be seen without it in contrast to Shao Kahn who almost always seen wearing his helmet.
269** Most of the mask-wearing characters in the games are either evil or [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor frequently switch alignments]]. Kitana, Jade and the second Sub-Zero are the only masked characters who have consistently been on the heroic side.
270* McNinja: Scorpion is the only ''actual'' ninja, hailing from Japan. The Lin Kuei are not ninjas, since they come from China, and in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatMythologiesSubZero'' they even [[BerserkButton get offended]] at being referred to by that word. The other "ninjas" (Kitana, Mileena, Ermac, etc.) are all from other dimensions where ninjas aren't even a thing, they just happen to use similar stylings.
271* MechanicallyUnusualFighter: Shang Tsung is capable of [[DittoFighter turning into other characters.]] In some games, he can turn into any character at will. In others, he can only turn into his opponent (at least, [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard when used by a human player]]). In later games, he can also heal himself by taking energy from his opponent.
272** A similar concept was used for Shinnok in ''4'', only instead of transforming into other characters, he simply copied their movesets.
273* MechanicalMuscles: Jax volunteered to have his arms reworked with prosthetics in ''[=MK3=]''. Subverted with the later games in which his arms appeared more robotic than human-shaped.
274* MedievalStasis: Outworld seems locked into this, despite having one guy there packing six-guns. This situation sort of ends, when Kano and the Black Dragons sells guns and missiles to the Outworlders but this really only improves their weapons tech and nothing else (this is demonstrated during the Story Mode of ''9'' when Baraka reprimands another Tarkatan who damn near shoves a shotgun into his face while trying to figure it out).
275* MergerOfSouls:
276** Shang Tsung's power is said to be derived from his having absorbed the souls of his vanquished opponents. He is dangerous because he is not one opponent, but ''thousands''.
277** Ermac, who is made up of the thousands of souls whose shells died resisting Shao Kahn's rule.
278* MonsterModesty: Goro and Kintaro both wear little black briefs and nothing else. Sheeva (depending on the game) either wears a leotard or a ChainmailBikini. Other characters, like the Netherrealm oni Moloch and Drahmin, wear as little as {{loincloth}}s, in the comics Goro's father King Gorbak just wears a cape and a {{loincloth}}.
279** Motaro and Blaze both enter battle in the nude, but given that Motaro is a Centaur with the lower body of a horse and Blaze is a being made of living flames and magma, there's nothing immodest to be exposed, although Blaze does wear a pair of black trunks in ''Deadly Alliance'' (in which he looks like a regular ManOnFire, rather than the giant with solid magma protusions from ''Armageddon''). Motaro does gain a {{loincloth}} after being mutated into a Minotaur for his single playable appearance in [[VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon Armageddon]].
280* MoodWhiplash: The series has a knack for doling out the gore with a nice helping of comedy. One minute, you're bisecting your opponent and the next minute you may be turning them into a baby. But the biggest example of the trope comes from the [[WorldOfPun names of the Fatalities themselves]], for as gory as they may be, expect their names to be loaded with puns related to how the opponent is killed. Ironically, as the Fatalities get more gruesome with the newer games, their names tend to get even cheesier. And then there's those Fatalities that are so ridiculous, they cross right over into BloodyHilarious: imagine breaking your opponent's jaw right off their skull, then posing for a selfie with them and posting it on your social network, like Cassie Cage in ''X''?
281** The Friendships serve as this. One moment, the fighters are beating each other. The next moment, the winner finishes off by doing something sickeningly friendly and nonlethal.
282* {{Mordor}}: Outworld is often depicted like this under Shao Kahn's rule.
283* MsFanservice: Prior to ''Mortal Kombat X'' toning this aspect down considerably, you could count on one hand the number of times a named female character appeared in clothing that didn't invoke this to some extent. Even Ashrah, for whom the designers deliberately went for something modest, has a comparatively skimpier alternate costume.
284* MultipleEndings: For each character. Most of them contradicted each other, to the point where figuring out the official canon is a massive undertaking; to some fans, it's just easier to ignore the endings that contradict one another and see what's left. In the past, all you had to do was go by Liu Kang's ending. But well... he's kinda KilledOffForReal. [[spoiler:Well, he's ''technically'' BackFromTheDead, but he's a zombie slave of Quan Chi's for most of ''Mortal Kombat X'', so it doesn't really count. And at the end, he and Kitana are still undead revenants after Quan Chi's defeat, but they have taken control of the Netherrealm.]]
285[[/folder]]
286
287[[folder:N-Z]]
288* NamedAfterFirstInstallment: The original game was just titled ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1992'', 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.
289* NemesisMagnet:
290** Shao Kahn and Raiden are at each other's throats for control of earth realm. Liu-Kang becomes personally invested with Kahn's defeat after he [[spoiler: murders Kung Lao]]. And His adopted daughter Kitana grows a personal vendetta towards him after learning about what he did to her true father, and specifically after replacing her with Mileena.
291** Shang Tsung was the final boss of the first game and was defeated by Liu Kang who is TheHero for most of the franchise. In ''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance'', Tsung kills Liu Kang in revenge and earns himself the anger of Liu's friend Kung Lao who [[spoiler:dies trying to avenge him]]. ''Deadly Alliance'' also introduces Kenshi, a swordsman who was blinded by Shang Tsung's treachery and seeks to slay the sorcerer.
292** Due to his role in the death of the former's older brother and the destruction of the latter's family and clan, both Sub-Zero and Scorpion have a personal enmity with the sorcerer Quan Chi.
293* {{Ninja}}: Nine males, seven females, four cyborgs at last count. Only one is ''literally'' a ninja, however. The rest just have the look/style.
294* NintendoHard: The first three games abuse the hell out of PerfectPlayAI, SNKBoss, TheComputerIsACheatingBastard, and FakeDifficulty all in the interest of sucking as much quarters out of players as humanly possible. Things were toned down for ''VideoGame/MortalKombat4'', and none of them since have been quite as nasty. (Though ''9'' gets damn close at times.)
295%%* NoFlowInCGI: At least in the first games.
296* NonLethalKO: Averted by fighting game standards: This series ''beats the crap'' out of this with a scythe, then breathes fire on it for good measure.
297* OffWithHisHead: A lot of fatalities involve this. Johnny Cage's fatality in the first game can even take off three heads... somehow.
298* OurSoulsAreDifferent: If you lose your soul in ''Mortal Kombat'', you're usually dead. Unless you are a fully converted cyborg.
299* PaletteSwap: The ninjas, at least initially. Something funny about this is when you use the term for the {{mirror match}}es: in ''Mortal Kombat'', only Sonya had a completely different color set for her mirror match (red instead of the usual green). The other fighters were merely covered in a slightly darker shade, which sometimes makes the difference just that subtle (picture Liu Kang in a time he had neither the MartialArtsHeadband, nor the highlights on his pants).
300* TheParalyzer: One unique aspect to ''Mortal Kombat'' as a fighting game series is its prevalence of moves that make an enemy helpless, with the most famous being Subzero's Ice Ball and Scorpion's Harpoon. In contrast, many other fighting games only feature stunning when a character takes too many heavy damage hits in a short time, or else the stunning moves are restricted to "Super Attacks", such as in ''[[VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}} Darkstalkers 3]]''.
301* PersonalityPowers: Not everyone per se, but there are standout cases, such as [[UnstoppableRage Scorpion]] ([[PlayingWithFire fire]]), [[TheStoic Sub-Zero]] ([[AnIcePerson ice]]), and [[MadeOfEvil Noob Saibot]] ([[CastingAShadow shadow/darkness]]).
302* PossessingADeadBody: In ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance Deadly Alliance]]'', the VillainTeamUp of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, defeated and killed a lot of the Defenders of the Earth, especially the until-then protagonist Liu Kang. But later before the CosmicRetcon of ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombat9 MK9]]'' (''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception Deception]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon Armageddon]]''), a revived and [[FaceHeelTurn heel-turned]] Raiden reanimated Liu Kang's body as a zombie to fight with him against [[DraconicHumanoid Onaga]] and [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight everyone who stands in his way]], no matter if they're allies or enemies.
303%%* PowerEchoes
304* PrimpOfContempt: Three of the female ninjas have exercised this trope:
305** After performing a brutality in ''X'', Tanya crosses her arms and looks at her nails, saying either "You disgust me" or "You may die now."
306** In one of Jade's taunts from ''[=MK11=]'', she throws her bo onto the ground and leans against it while checking her nails, often accompanied by snarky lines such as "Take your time getting up."
307** Mileena's grab in ''11'' features her turning around and checking her nails while Sais fly into her opponent. In another one of her attacks, she stabs her opponent in the eye multiple times, checks her nails, and lands one final stab.
308* {{Pun}}: About ninety percent of the Fatalities are puns. Every once in a while, though, you'll receive a few {{stealth pun}}s.
309* PunchKickLayout:
310** Back when the series was new, the games 4 had two punch and two kick buttons, with the division being based on angles: High (head-level) and Low (torso-level) punches and kicks. Holding backwards and pressing high or low kicks would do a roundhouse or sweeping kicks respectively, and high punch while crouching becomes an Uppercut. The series used this sort of layout up to and including ''VideoGame/MortalKombat4''.
311** The installments from [[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance PS2]] [[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception era]] up to ''VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse'' would simply name the basic attack buttons as Attacks 1 to 4. At least two are these are still punches and the rest are kicks.
312** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'' would switch to the layout consisting of Front Punch, Back Punch, Front Kick, and Back Kick as its basic attack buttons. Whether "front" and "back" refer to the left or right limbs depends on your stance: attacks using the front-facing limb are faster, while those using limbs in the back hit harder. And while crouching, your back punch becomes an AntiAir whereas your back kick trips your opponent.
313* PunchedAcrossTheRoom: Besides the prevalence of [[TheParalyzer Stun Attacks]] in the game, the Mortal Kombat franchise is also well known for having a normal uppercut and roundhouse kick that sent victims flying for large amounts of damage (damage on it got toned down from 3rd game onwards). Prior to the Mortal Kombat games, uppercuts and roundhouse kicks were merely a stronger than normal attack that may or may not knock down depending on the game. Games like Tekken would take Mortal Kombat's powerhouse uppercut and turn it into a LauncherMove (Mortal Kombat in turn would have some characters use a special uppercut in a dial-a-combo as a launcher).
314* PurelyAestheticGender: In the early games, while all of the normal attacks looked/were performed the same, moves tended to have slightly different effects for each character. Also, the hitboxes were determined by the poses and body size of the actors who were greenscreened. Subverted with Johnny Cage's Ballbuster attack - in the first two games, it didn't work on female fighters at all.
315* RatedMForManly: It's a fighting game with as much blood as possible, and many bonafide badasses, including some manly women.
316* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Nearly everyone who isn't from Earthrealm is several centuries old, even if they don't look like it. An extreme case are the Edenians: Kitana, for instance, is around ''10,000 years old''. And there's her mother Sindel, too.
317* ReplacedWithReplica:
318** Done with Shinnok's amulet twice.
319** In the original timeline (as revealed in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat4''), after Bi-Han (Sub-Zero V) [[VideoGame/MortalKombatMythologiesSubZero retrieved Shinnok's amulet and gave it to Quan-Chi]], Quan-Chi switched it with a forgery. He gave the forgery to Shinnok and kept the real one to himself.
320** In ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'', set in the new timeline, Shinnok's Amulet is stolen from Raiden's Sky temple and replaced with an elaborate forgery (presumably the same one Quan-Chi had originally created for his own scheme described above) so that no one would realize that it was gone until Mileena began her renewed attacks on Kotal Kahn in the Outworld civil war.
321* ReplayMode: In both ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' and ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'', completing a fight or chapter in Story Mode makes it available for replay in a chapter select menu. This feature isn't present in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'', meaning that you have to replay the whole story mode if you wish to go through a desired chapter.
322* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Reptile and Khameleon subvert this, at least as far as lizard-humanoids are concerned: both are ultimately motivated simply to revive their extinct species, and Khameleon tries to convince Reptile to undergo a HeelFaceTurn in ''Trilogy''. Reptilian traits are used more as a straight example, though; when Reptile especially goes nuts, he becomes more reptilian and less humanoid, and in Kano's ''Armageddon'' ending, when he defeats Blaze, [[spoiler:the Red Dragon Clan's experiments on him seems to finally come to fruition, as he becomes a reptilian black dragon]]. On the snake side of things, Shang Tsung has a [[AnimalMotifs snake motif]]; he has snakes on his robes, he's turned into a snake multiple times, and he even uses Snake-style kung fu. [[BigBad Shao Kahn]] also has patchers of reptilian scales and spikes on his body, as well as facial features similar to other reptilian characters.
323* ResurrectionRevenge: There are two ninjas named Scorpion and Sub-Zero. In the back story, Sub-Zero killed Scorpion before entering the tournament. Scorpion has now come back from the dead for his revenge.
324* {{Retcon}}: Some of the characters have had their backstories altered thorough the series:
325* RobotHair: The Lin Kuei robots had a set of cables on the back of their heads which resembled pony tails.
326* RuderAndCruder: ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' and its successor ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' have more profanity than all of the prior ''[=MK=]'' media ''combined''. Notably, the profanity in these games comes exclusively from mortal Earthrealmers. Non-Earthrealmers and non-humans also have their own share of profanity, but it's either obfuscated, or archaic curses are used instead of modern ones.
327* RuleOfCool: Almost everything in the series. InstantAwesomeJustAddNinjas, LaserBlade, MadeOfExplodium... Boon and Tobias probably use that index as a checklist.
328* SchizoTech: The Mortal Kombat world has energy weapons capable of fitting inside someone's head, full-body cyborgs, and man-made dimensional gates. Even Lex Luthor was impressed at the technology they got. On the other hand, people are running around with swords, spears, maces and throwing stars. And that's Earthrealm, the other worlds seem to be stuck in MedievalStasis.
329* SdrawkcabName: Noob Saibot's name is [[{{Tuckerization}} the last names of the series' creators spelled backwards.]]
330* SerialEscalation: The Fatalities get more outrageous with succeeding titles. Not satisfied with simply melting, decapitating and immolating your enemy? How about you scare their souls out of their bodies? Or blow up the earth? Or whack them to death with a bunny rabbit?
331** If that's still not enough, you can pull them across Kung Lao's hat buzzsaw-style, or attach what can only be described as an Instant Rack to them, which dismembers all four limbs and head and lets the limbs hang there (Scarecrow, indeed), or for a little FanDisservice, watch Mileena pleasure herself after eating the head of her opponent. Watch that and try to sleep.
332** The X-Ray moves that first appear in 9 are subject to this as well. In the first game they appear in, while extremely brutal and crippling, they are generally something that a person could believably survive, at least for a bit. With X onward, many of the X-Ray attacks are comically over the top with how deadly they are, with many involving the recipient getting shot or stabbed in the face yet able to continue fighting if their health isn't depleted by it.
333* SexualKarma: Liu Kang and Kitana's relationship is shown to be more affectionate than [[UnholyMatrimony Sindel and Shao Kahn's]] relationship. While Liu Kang and Kitana are emotionally supportive and expressive towards each other; whereas, Sindel and Shao Kahn's relationship is enabling the worst aspects of the other and they are both perverted individuals.
334%%* ShiftingSandLand: The desert stage, complete with quicksand.
335* SlidingScaleOfSillinessVsSeriousness: All over the place. This is a series where a bloody fight to the death for the fate of the universe in a dark, creepy dungeon can have [[CreatorCameo Dan Forden]] pop up in the corner to shout “Toasty!” and end with a “Friendship” move where they draw something or bake a cake for their dizzied opponent, to the audible confusion of the announcer. Exactly where on the scale each game lands at can vary, with ''VideoGame/MortalKombat4'' and ''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception'' leaning towards the serious side, while ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3'' and ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' lean towards the sillier. Regardless of what game it is though, there’s guaranteed to be at least something that causes serious MoodWhiplash.
336* SigilSpam: The sigil of the Elder Gods -- the stylized Asian dragon logo -- is ''everywhere''.
337* SinglePlayerGauntlet: Arcade Mode is a recurring mode throughout every entry in the series, most of the time using the same format of a ladder.
338* SkywardScream: The famous TitleScream originates from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8V7TwlYCt0 one of those in the "Mortal Monday" TV ad]].
339* SongsInTheKeyOfPanic: When a match is over and the victor has a chance to finish an opponent, the background music becomes more hectic. This is a case in which the tension can cause ''both'' players to panic; the loser can be worried about being finished off, while the victor can also be worried about not performing a finisher within the short amount of time given.
340* SpeakingSimlish: Most of the fighters tend to belt out odd, usually incomprehensible warcries during attacks, leading to hilarious misinterpretations [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb4pEXK5Gdk on the player's part.]] In cutscenes, however, they speak fluent English.
341* SpontaneousWeaponCreation: The Kori Blade that Sub-Zero uses as his weapon style from ''Deadly Alliance'' onwards is created by Sub-Zero himself using his ice-based powers. Frost, being Sub-Zero's protege, uses the same technique to produce her own ice weapons, though her relative inexperience means that she can only create a pair of small daggers as opposed to Sub-Zero's entire sword.
342* StoryAndGameplaySegregation:
343** Many characters are portrayed as being TechnicalPacifist, either explicitly in their bios or their characterization. Johnny Cage and Kuai Liang are both extremely hesitant to kill according to their character sheets. This doesn't stop the player from being able to use Fatalities during any versus match, including against characters they care about.
344** Building off of this, the later games start off each match with some banter between the fighters, generally with the aim of justifying why the characters are fighting. While fights between allies are often framed as friendly sparring matches, the player can perform Fatalities all the same.
345** Only a very small number of characters have canonically died during the original timeline. However, the first 4 main titles in the series had no restrictions on Fatalities [[GuideDangIt other than not telling you how to do them.]]
346* {{Stripperiffic}}: Most of the female characters have tight, cleavage-baring outfits that don't exactly need a glass of water to swallow, and quite a few of the male characters bare plenty of skin themselves.
347* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: This is a franchise that doesn't just settle on simply knocking out your opponent like other games. When given the "FINISH HIM/HER" prompt, the victorious player is given the chance to deliver a grisly "Fatality" [[FinishingMove finisher]] with the right code, to ensure the loser is reduced to chunks of meat and bone.
348** 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.
349* TitleDrop: [[RunningGag Several times]]. It ''is'' the name of the tournament in which Earthrealm's fate hangs in the balance, after all.
350* {{Tuckerization}}: Sonya and Tanya are named after Ed Boon's sisters, and Johnny Cage's true name, John Carlton, is that of a programmer in another Midway title, ''Videogame/NbaJam''.
351* UnbreakableWeapons: Almost without exception, weapons never show damage or wear. In the reboot games, if this does happen (or even if the [[ThrowingYourGunAtTheEnemy weapon]] [[ThrowingYourShieldAlwaysWorks is]] [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks thrown]]), it disappears and fades back into the characters' hands.
352* UnexpectedGameplayChange: Several games in the series contain the old arcade shooter ''VideoGame/{{Galaga}}'' as a hidden minigame, unlocked after an unfeasibly large number of versus matches.
353** The game-within-a-game modes in ''Deception'' (Chess Kombat and Puzzle Kombat) and ''Armageddon'' (Motor Kombat) may also be this.
354** From the original game to the current, there has always been "tests" that differ from beating the shit out of somebody. These include Tests of [[BrickBreak Might]], Sight, Strike, and Balance (in the PS Vita version).
355* UnwillingRoboticisation: Smoke in ''3'', [[spoiler:Sub-Zero (the younger one, Kuai Liang)]] in the 2011 game. It's implied to have happened to other Lin Kuei as well, given the wide scope of their automation program.
356* VictoryPose: Every character has several - for winning a round, winning a match, winning with a Fatality, winning with a Brutality, and so on.
357* VideoGame3DLeap: The transition to 3D was made much more successfully than most other 2D fighting game series. Of course, the ''MK'' fanbase isn't as known for hardcore meta-gaming as some. The game's combo system has changed with just about every 3D incarnation released. In ''Mortal Kombat 9'', the game plays in 2D.
358* {{Video Game Cruelty|Potential}}: It was the whole purpose behind the Finishing Moves and the success of the series. You already won the match, but pulling off the finisher was likely the most stressful part of the game.
359* AVillainNamedKhan: Shao Kahn, ruler of Outworld and TheEmperor and BigBad of the series. This becomes subverted in ''X'', which reveals that "Kahn" is actually the title bestowed upon the ruler of Outworld, and Kotal Kahn is shown to be a NobleDemon at worst. [[spoiler:He goes on to pass the title on to Kitana in ''11'', even calling her by the official title "Kitana Kahn".]]
360* WalkingShirtlessScene: As a design counterpart to the {{Stripperriffic}} women, plenty of male characters have done this throughout the series. Liu Kang, Jax and Johnny Cage are the most frequent users (until ''X'' when their basic outfits included shirts), but there have been others.
361* WarriorVersusSorcerer:
362** TheHero of the first game is the WarriorMonk Liu Kang. The BigBad was Shang Tsung, an evil {{Shapeshifting}} sorcerer with a penchant for stealing souls. Liu Kang defeated Shang Tsung and the two have been bitter enemies ever since.
363** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance'': Shang Tsung earns the [[NemesisMagnet enmity of two warriors in this game]]. One is Kung Lao, Liu Kang's friend and fellow Shaolin Monk who seeks to avenge his friend's death at Shang Tsung's hands. The other is Kenshi, a swordsman who was blinded by Shang Tsung's treachery and seeks to kill him as revenge. [[spoiler:Kenshi never gets to confront Shang Tsung and Kung Lao dies in battle against the sorcerer.]]
364** One of the few evil Edenians in the franchise is Tanya, an evil LadyOfBlackMagic. Her chief enemies are Kitana, Jade and Sindel [[note]]Before her retcon as being EvilAllAlong[[/note]]. While these three do have superpowers, they are not explicitly stated to be magicians and are treated more as warriors.
365** Scorpion was the greatest warrior and assassin of the Shirai-Ryu clan before he was killed an resurrected as a specter with {{Hellfire}} powers. His ArchEnemy is the evil sorcerer Quan Chi who slaughtered Scorpion's family and clan.
366* WorldOfBadass: This being a fighting game setting, just about everyone is capable of kicking all kinds of ass, whether they be a WarriorMonk, a special forces member, a monarch from another dimension, a riot cop or even a Hollywood actor.
367* WorldOfBuxom: Apparently, UsefulNotes/{{Pettanko}}s don't exist in the ''MK'' universe. This is ''especially'' true [[HotterAndSexier as]] [[FanservicePack of]] ''Deadly Alliance''. The only exception is Ferra, who looks more like a kid, and so doesn't have the same... "[[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail tracts of land]]" as the other female kombatants. D'Vorah and Jacqui also do not have big breasts. Starting from ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'', the female characters' cup sizes become more varied.
368* WorldWreckingWave: Some of the more imaginative Fatalities can do this. Also what will happen should Earthrealm merge with Outworld.
369* WrestlerInAllOfUs: It's a good thing to know that if the forces of good and evil ever get bored, they can always go into showbiz and start their own wrestling federation.
370* XtremeKoolLetterz: Consider the first letter in the second word of the title to be the first of thousands of instances. Some games in the series will replace every single usage of the hard "c" (except in names such as Johnny Cage, titles such as ''[[Series/MortalKombatConquest Conquest]]'', or third party character names such as [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]]) with "k". Most arcade machines have an eternally blinking "Insert Koin" for example.
371** According to Creator/SteveRitchie, he came up with "Kombat" specifically [[http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/steve-ritchie-interview-from-2001-i-think because of this.]]
372--->'''Steve Ritchie:''' "I made up that name and gave it to Ed Boon. They had 'Mortal' on the white board. I added the word 'Kombat'... Because it was cool."
373* YouDontLookLikeYou: A common problem with the character designs for the games as they move from one to the next. Liu Kang and Jax in particular has this pretty bad as they never seem to maintain a consistent appearance. This also happened back in the digitized sprite days whenever actors were replaced between games. Liu Kang himself was an example of this, as Eddie Wong, who played him in ''3'' and its updates, looks nothing like Ho Sung Pak, who played Kang in the first two games.
374* YouKeepUsingThatWord: Sub-Zero will often correct someone to clarify that his clan, the Lin Kuei, are not ninja, despite their rivalry/alliance with (and similarities to) the Shirai Ryu ninja clan.
375* YourSizeMayVary: If you've bothered to pay attention to official heights, you'll see that most of them are not accurately conveyed in-universe.
376[[/folder]]
377----
378[[center:TROPER WINS]]
379
380''[[center:[[AC:FLAWLESS VICTORY]]]]''
381
382'''[[center:TROPALITY]]'''

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