Characters / Mortal Kombat II

Mortal Kombat Main Character Index
Original and Reboot Timeline: MK (1992) | MK2 | MK3 | MK4 | Deadly Alliance | Deception | Armageddon | MK vs. DC Universe | MK9 | MKX | MK11
The New Era: MK1
Spin-offs: Mythologies: Sub-Zero | Special Forces
Non-video game: The Movie | Conquest | Defenders of the Realm | 2021 Movie
Individual Characters: Scorpion I (Hanzo Hasashi) | Sub-Zero I/Noob Saibot (Bi-Han) | Johnny Cage | Liu Kang | Raiden | Shang Tsung | Sub-Zero II/Scorpion II (Kuai Liang) | Kitana | Mileena | Shao Kahn/General Shao | Quan Chi

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Here, we're going to list the characters introduced in Mortal Kombat II.

For Sub-Zero II; Kitana; Mileena; Shao Kahn, or Noob Saibot, see their respective pages.

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Jax

Major Jackson "Jax" Briggs

"BRING IT!"

^{Click here to see his Revenant self}
"You won't be dead for long."

Debut game: Mortal Kombat II (John Parrish/Ed Boon)

Other appearances: Mortal Kombat 3 (John Parrish/Ed Boon), Mortal Kombat 4 (John Parrish/Ed Boon), Mortal Kombat: Special Forces (Craig J. Harris), Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (Craig J. Harris), Mortal Kombat: Unchained (Craig J. Harris), Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (Craig J. Harris), Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (Dan Washington), Mortal Kombat 9 (Marz Timms), Mortal Kombat X (Greg Eagles and Carl Weathers, English; Gerardo Vásquez, Latin American Spanish), Mortal Kombat 11 (William Stephens, English; Israel Idonije, Face Model; Héctor Estrada, Latin American Spanish), Mortal Kombat 1 (Kameo)

Non-game appearances: Mortal Kombat: The Movie (Gregory McKinney), Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (Lynn "Red" Williams), Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm (Dorian Harewood), Mortal Kombat: Rebirth / Mortal Kombat: Legacy (Michael Jai White), Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge (Ike Amadi), Mortal Kombat (2021) (Mehcad Brooks), Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (Ike Amadi)

Major Jackson "Jax" Briggs was the first African-American character in the Mortal Kombat series and an archetypal American hero. Leader of the Outer World Investigation Agency (OIA), he is an extremely capable fighter when it comes to protecting Earthrealm. His most prominent traits are his cybernetically-enhanced arms.

Prior the start of the series, Jax was a member of the Special Forces and was dedicated to the dismantling of the Black Dragon Clan. He almost succeeded: after disposing of the rest of their members, Jax faced the clan's leader Kano and beat him in combat. Kano was captured, but the criminal escaped at a later date. Following the events of Mortal Kombat, Briggs went in search of both the escaped Kano and Lt. Sonya Blade. He confronted Johnny Cage about the tournament, but at first didn't believe Cage's claims. However, after receiving a video signal from Sonya herself, he visited Johnny at a commercial shoot with the intent to apologize to Cage for not believing him. Jax found the actor fighting a horde of Tarkatans led by Kintaro; he helped fight off the intruders until the other Earthrealm warriors showed up to help. Afterwards Jax traveled into Outworld to compete in the next tournament along with the Earthrealm warriors in hopes of finding Sonya and Kano. Here, Jax soon came to learn of the Emperor Shao Kahn's plans for Earthrealm. He was successful in freeing Sonya, but not only did Kano escape once more, the Earth government did not believe the Major's warnings. Jax began to prepare for the imminent conflict, and donned himself bionic implants. When Kahn come to Earth, Jackson Briggs was ready for it.

After Shao Kahn's attempt at claiming Earthrealm failed, Jax became the commanding officer of the Outer World Investigation Agency; the OIA was not only assigned to explore and map other realms, but were also committed to the destruction of portals that could lead to Earth. After briefly assisting Raiden in the defeat of Shinnok in Edenia, Jax and Sonya found the Lin Kuei cyborg Cyrax, malfunctioning and trapped in a desert. Returning with him to their home base, they restored his humanity and gained a new ally. Years later, trouble would occur again, as not only were agents Kenshi and Cyrax lost in Outworld, but the OIA underground facility was nuked into oblivion by the traitor Hsu Hao. Jax tracked him in Outworld and killed the Red Dragon member. Afterward, he was among the group of warriors who made a final stand against the Deadly Alliance of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, but was unfortunately killed in the ensuing fight along with the rest of his allies. He, like his friends, was eventually found by Onaga and revived as a mindless drone.

Jax is pretty much the same hardass as always in Mortal Kombat 9, but with a few changes to his story. At the outset of the story, he is held captive on Shang Tsung's island and Sonya becomes involved in the tournament with the goal of extracting him. He enters the Outworld tournament on a rescue mission when Sonya is captured during an Outworld invasion of the Shaolin temple. Unlike the original timeline, Jax did not voluntarily change his arms to mechanical arms, but had his arms destroyed by Ermac during the Outworld tournament — the mechanical arms he has are prosthetic. He aids the Earthrealm warriors until Sindel and the cybernetic Lin Kuei attack their base of operations, where he is slain. His soul is resurrected by Quan Chi in the Netherrealm but Mortal Kombat X shows how he escaped enslavement. He has an adult daughter by the time of Mortal Kombat X named "Jacqueline" (who goes by "Jacqui").

Unfortunately, his life didn't get better, even after being discharged honorably in Mortal Kombat 11. His time as a revenant, combined with the stress of losing his original arms, losing his wife to sickness, having PTSD, and his fear of losing Jacqui, resulted with him making a deal with Kronika in hopes of a better world where Jacqui won't have to fight anymore. Another Jax is brought back from the past due to Kronika's machinations and is far from pleased at what his future self has done.

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• All-American Face: He's played up as a quintessential American hero, as the embodiment of courage and self-sacrifice for the good of others. His victory pose in 9 sees him drape himself in Old Glory, and in 11, even the Joker compares him to Superman, albeit backhandedly:
  The Joker: A lifetime of sacrifice, and for what?
  Jax: The pride of serving my family and country.
  The Joker: You sound like that big blue boy scout.
• An Arm and a Leg: We find out in 9, at least as far as that timeline is concerned, he gains his cybernetic arms due to Ermac destroying both of his original ones. He himself has a few fatalities that involve this, most notably his Klassic fatality in X.
  • In the Scorpion's Revenge continuity, he gets the arms ripped out by Goro.
• Artificial Limbs: Since 3. It was not explained if they were mere upgrades or actual replacements. 9 went with the replacement route, as he had his arms ripped off by Ermac.
• Bald Head of Toughness: He is depicted as bald in Annihilation, MK vs. DCU and the 2021 movie. He is just as tough in those entries as he is in any depiction where he has hair.
• Bald of Evil: During his unwitting tenure in Quan Chi's Netherrealm army as a revenant.
• Batter Up!: His Fatality in 11, "Still Got It", where Jax severed an arm using his metal arms, chucks the head flying up. Cue Charge! theme as he hits the head, releasing a skull using an arm as a bat and the skull flies to the camera.
• Berserk Button: Finding out that Jacqui is joining the Special Forces really pissed him off royally. Just ask Johnny Cage, who upon telling him the news, came back home with a broken jaw.
• The Big Guy: Of the group of heroes, he's one of the most combat-oriented, and also noticeably has the largest physique among the good guys in X.
• Big "OMG!": Knock him off of the Sky Temple in Armageddon and he'll utter one of these before screaming that he can't believe this is happening to him right before he hits the ground.
• Call to Agriculture: Becomes a farmer after being restored to life and retiring from the army in MKX. However, he's still willing to go out and fight alongside the Special Forces to protect Jacqui if needed.
• Carry a Big Stick: Jax's weapon of choice in 4 is a spiked club.
• Catchphrase: "Gotcha!" Later installments also add "Oh yeah!" or "Aww yeah!"
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Even before getting the metal arms, Jax was freakishly strong; the MKII comic shows him grappling with Kintaro, whose strength is exceptional even by Shokan standards.
• Cigar Chomper: MK9 and X have given him a fine appreciation of cigars, especially following his resurrection. He even uses it to add insult to injury during a fatality.
• The Comically Serious: Commonly during his intro dialogues in X, when not snarking it up.
  Jax: I'm too old for this shit...
• Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: Revenant Jax is a dead ringer for Terry Crews, and one of his alternate skins in X is modeled on Carl Weathers.
• Cool Old Guy: Given the 25-year Time Skip in X, he's at least in his fifties then, so he qualifies.
• Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: What happens to him in his endings in Armageddon and DC Universe.
• Cyborg: From Mortal Kombat 3 onward. However, dialogue in 11 seems to indicate that, in the Mortal Kombat universe, the term "cyborg" is reserved for full-body converts like the Cyber Lin Kuei. Jax's intro dialogue with the Terminator has him deny the label of "cyborg", referring to himself as "just cybernetically enhanced."
• Da Chief: To Sonya.
• A Day in the Limelight:
  • In MK vs. DCU, he's the focus of Chapter 3.
  • In Mortal Kombat 9, he's the focus of Chapter 6.
  • In Mortal Kombat X, he's the focus of Chapter 8.
  • In Mortal Kombat 11, his past self gets the focus of Chapter 9, along with his future daughter, Jacqui.
• Deadpan Snarker: Not as much as the rest of the cast, but similarly to Sub-Zero, he has his moments. And good god, his blows can hit low.
  Kano: Just a second-rate Sonya.
  Jax: Just a second-rate Jarek.
  Kano: Rack off...!
• Depending on the Writer: Jax is supposed to be Sonya's level-headed CO and a typical American hero, but this characterization doesn't always stick from game to game. To wit:
  • Special Forces and Deadly Alliance made Jax akin to a Blaxploitation character.
  • Shaolin Monks and vs. DCU show him as very cool-headed and sagely, putting him more in line with his intended personality. On top of that vs. DCU gives him shades of being a Spirited Competitor as well.
  • 9 strays closer to the original trilogy, as he's more relaxed than Sonya, though he does have more of a temper here; at one point he picks a fight with the mouthy Johnny Cage, but does later admit he was out of line. X expands on this portrayal by making Jax an Older and Wiser, overprotective father who's a Shell-Shocked Veteran due to serving Quan Chi against his will for years.
• Elites Are More Glamorous: He's a Major in the U.S. Special Forces, leads almost all the military operations that deal with the opposing realms in the original timeline and kicks ass while doing it.
• Expy: Was initially inspired by Power Man in Mortal Kombat II.
• Florence Nightingale Effect: Met his wife who helped him as he recovered from the trauma of being a revenant. This eventually leads to them marrying and having Jacqui.
• Future Me Scares Me: In 11. Jax's past self is disgusted with his present self for selling out to Kronika, and unhesitatingly agrees to fight him in place of Jacqui. Overlaps with Gameplay and Story Integration; the fight takes place in Jax and Jacqui's shared chapter and normally allows the player to choose who they want to control for every given encounter, but it is not given for when future Jax shows up to force the usage of past Jax in that specific battle.
  Past!Jax: Never thought I'd stoop so low.
• Genius Bruiser: A tech wiz. His expertise with computers is almost singlehandedly responsible for the respective Heel-Face Turns of Cyrax in 4/Gold and Cyber Sub-Zero in 9. And one of 11's intros has him reprogram a Terminator as well.
  Jax: Heard you're a tech geek.
  Takeda: I've got some toys you'll like.
  Jax: Well, who do you think designed them?
• Giant Foot of Stomping: One of his MK3 Fatalities has him somehow grow huge and crush the opponent underneath his boot. It returns as a Brutality in 11, and as his Kameo Fatality in 1.
• Good Parents: Justified overprotectiveness aside, he's shown to be a loving father to Jacqui and the two of them are quite close.
• The Grappler: He has a series of special command throws that can be chained together. In fact, his most famous attack is the "Gotcha!" Grab, in which he lifts an opponent off the ground and hits them repeatedly.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: Crossing over with Despair Event Horizon. It's revealed in 11 the toll of servitude under Quan Chi and his strained family life was ultimately too much for him, and he's easily seduced to Kronika's side. It isn't until the end when he returns to the side of good after being convinced by Raiden.
• He's Back!: His chapter in MKX is all about him getting his confidence back and showing he can still fight with the best of them, in a battle through the Netherrealm to capture Quan Chi, no less.
• Honorary Uncle: To Cassie Cage in Mortal Kombat X, whereas 11 confirms that he's her godfather in one intro. Since he's retired and now holds no formal rank, Cassie is free to call him "Uncle" at any given time, which Jax has no objections to; contrast with Jacqui, who acknowledges Sonya as her aunt but is not allowed to refer to her as that while on duty.
• Hunk: With or without cybernetic arms.
• In Spite of a Nail: In the original timeline, he voluntarily changed his arms to cybernetic ones in order to be able to better combat the Outworld forces. In the MK9 timeline, Ermac destroyed his human arms, and they had to be replaced with cybernetic ones.
• It's All About Me: His Defection to Kronikas side is motivated by what he thinks is the best case scenario for Jacqui, that if he helps Kronika out, Jacqui will not join the Special Forces (which she did of her own volition and doesn't regret it) and settle down to be a housewife. As honorable and well intentioned his motives are, they are only what HE wants, not Jacqui, making it more selfish than altruistic. That said, the amount of trauma Jax has been subjected to in the rebooted timeline and the fact he returns to the side of good makes him a more sympathetic example of this trope.
• It's Personal:
  • With Ermac, for destroying his human arms.
  Ermac: And now you seek revenge...
  Jax: Let's call it my "pound of flesh."
  • With Quan Chi as well, what with him making him a revenant and all.
• Karmic Jackpot: In his Tower ending in 11, he uses Kronika's power to speed up Black History, to make sure to minimize the amount of time blacks spent as slaves (or prevent it entirely) instead of merely working for the interests of himself & his family. That said, through his efforts, not only is the world a better place, he lives happily with his family.
• King of Beasts: Jax can turn into a Lion as his Animality in MK3.
• Large and in Charge: He's 6'8" and a Special Forces Major.
• Lightning Bruiser: As of 3 and UMK3 and onwards. When he first debuted, Jax and Baraka were the only Kombatants that didn't have a rush attack. After getting the Dash Punch special move, Jax moves as a blur and crashes into enemies with an outstretched fist.
• The Lost Lenore: The present day version loses his wife between X and 11, which ties into his motivation for joining Kronika's side.
• Majorly Awesome: Jax is a Major in the U.S. Special Forces, and he kicks butt while leading his troops.
• Megaton Punch: As a special move. His Dash Punch sends opponents flying as does the augmented version of "Gotcha!" Grab.
• Metronomic Man Mashing: Perhaps the first example in fighting game history, his quad slam had him bodyslam enemies up to 4 times for 40% of their life. Later games change how the move looks and in the latest game, up to 5 slams can be done.
• Mighty Glacier: Generally caters to this play style, packing a huge punch as grappler while not being very mobile.
• More Dakka: Jax's arms contain missile launchers and he has used machine guns, rocket launchers and grenade launchers in recent games starting from Deadly Alliance. X even gives him a variation called "Heavy Weapons".
• Neck Lift: One of his special moves, that follows with him punching the enemy multiple times.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In his MK9 arcade ending, he uses a new cyber scanner to track down the Big Bad's remaining forces. While in the virtual reality interface, he ends up connecting to the cybernetics in Kano's eye. Jax beats up Kano in cyberspace and traps his consciousness inside the Special Forces mainframe, supposedly trapping him forever. In Kano's ending, it's revealed that after this, he manages to break free as he gains control over all of the Special Forces weapons systems, basically becoming SkyNet.
  • In the Mortal Kombat 11 story mode, he joins Kronika's forces in the hope of gaining an Alternate Timeline in which he remains a proud soldier while his daughter Jacqui never joined the Special Forces. During his time as Kronika's ally, he helped to recover her crown from Shang Tsung's island, making him directly responsible for Kronika being able to reset the Mortal Kombat timeline even though he eventually rejoins the other heroes later in the story.
• Non-Dubbed Grunts: His "Gotcha!" soundbyte in 9, X and 11 is actually from vs. DC.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: It is very rare for Jax to be referred to by his full name Jackson.
• Open-Minded Parent: In contrast to the present-day Jax, the Jax from the past is much more tolerant of Jacqui's career as a soldier. Justified as due to being plucked from the timeline, he was unburdened by his future self's PTSD from his time as a revenant and in active service, hence he doesn't have as much worries about Jacqui's military service as much as his older self did.
• Overheating: In 11, his arms will heat up the more punches he lands. This in turn makes his punches deal more damage and allows him to pull off more special attacks and combos.
• Papa Wolf: Toward Jacqui, whom he loves more than life itself. Jax was strongly against her joining the Special Forces, especially in the aftermath of the Netherrealm War, when the military began to tackle threats from supernatural dimensions on top of standard threats. Understandably so, given Jax spent years as a revenant in Quan Chi's service. According to a memory she and Cassie share in one chapter, when Johnny broke the news to Jax, he came home with a broken jaw. It's also Played for Laughs in one pre-fight dialogue bit.
  Takeda: Is this 'cause I'm dating Jacqui?
  Jax: You're dating Jacqui?
  Takeda: Real smooth, Takeda...
• Parents as People: He genuinely cares about his daughter, but due to his PTSD and paranoia, he has many difficulties being a dad. When asked by Past Jax if he did alright raising her, she says vaguely that he "did the best [he] could", which the former notes is not a ringing endorsement.
• Pure Energy: He can throw purple energy waves as projectiles in some games.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: His Piston Punch.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Jax is the Blue to Sonya's Red, typically portrayed as being cool-headed and almost sagely in some portrayals as Sonya's superior. Meanwhile, Sonya is more likely to rush into action and pick fights.
• Reforged into a Minion: Like Sub-Zero, Jax was brainwashed to serve Quan Chi and Shinnok in 9, but he's brought Back from the Dead in X.
• Retired Badass: Following his resurrection, Jax retired from active service. Sonya and Johnny manage to convince him to come back, though not necessarily on the frontlines. That, he does on his own.
• Retirony: In his arcade ending, Jax agrees to lead the Cage Special Forces team while Johnny recovers from the injuries he received in Story Mode. The team is ambushed by Kotal Khan's forces, and Jax is shot in the chest while protecting Jacqui from Erron Black.
• Rocket Punch: In MK3, UMK3, MKT, and MK vs. DC, he could shoot missiles out of his bionic arms. It returns in MK11 as a fireball style attack once his arms have heated up from strikes.
• Scary Black Man:
  • Zig-zagged. Jax is generally a levelheaded guy (especially compared to some of his comrades), but when in a bad mood or under mind control, he's one dangerous man.
  • Played straight during his time as a revenant, but counterbalanced by him being depicted as clearly brainwashed, while some of the other revenants are Drunk on the Dark Side.
• Sexy Sax Man: His MK11 Friendship, Sexy Jax-O-Phone, which is pretty much Exactly What It Says on the Tin. It even doubles as a Shout-Out to the Epic Sax Guy himself!
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: Tells Cage this about his relationship with Sonya; it's apparently a strictly professional one, with Jax only acting as her CO. He had a... quibble with Cage for that.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: In MKX, after he's been resurrected, Jax is too traumatized by the ordeal to work for the army and retires. When he does go back into action after a visit from Sonya, it's glorious. Unfortunately, he never deals with this properly and it's still lingering in his mind come the events of 11. After his wife passes away, he breaks down emotionally and is forced into honorable discharge, living alone on his farm and worrying about Jacqui in the field.
• Shockwave Stomp: Jax can punch the ground hard enough to shake the whole area, damaging his opponent. This could also be used for a unique type of combo in the 2D Mortal Kombat games.
• Sickening "Crunch!": Landing his backbreaker in MKII produces a meaty "SNAP!" soundbite.
• Sizeshifter: In one of his fatalities in MK3 (later a brutality in 11 and his Kameo Fatality in 1), Jax grows to the size of a giant and smashes his opponent under his boot... somehow.
• Smoking Is Cool: In X and 11, after being restored to humanity, he has taken to smoking cigars in and out of battle.
• Spam Attack: His "Gotcha" grab is a downplayed example. If he grabs an enemy, he can punch the helpless foe up to 5 times. These punches aren't particularly quick, merely that his foes can't move while he's holding them. In X, Jax can enhance the grab so that he can lay a large barrage of lightning-fast punches on a captured foe.
• Spikes of Villainy: In X, Jax sports these on the shoulders of his cybernetic arms in his revenant form.
• Stance System: Keeps Muay Thai through Deadly Alliance to Armageddon. Also has Judo in DA and Unchained, a style which Smoke would go on to use as secondary.
• Super-Strength: His various depictions show him being at least as strong as a Shokan warrior, and this was before his bionics.
• Taking the Bullet: His X Ladder ending has him stopping Erron Black's ambush on Takeda, Jin, Cassie, and Jacqui by jumping in front and using his metal arms to block the bullets. Unfortunately, he goes into shock shortly after as one bullet hit his chest.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He's 6'8".
• Token Good Teammate: In 11's story mode, he joins Kronika's Legion of Doom. Among all of Kronika's allies, his motive for a better Alternate Timeline is (mostly) unselfish (to protect his daughter), if motivated by crippling despair and fear.
• Treachery Is a Special Kind of Evil: An interesting case in 11, in that he essentially invokes this on himself. During their Mirror Match, Past Jax says he genuinely sympathises with the trauma his present self went through, but it doesn't change the fact that he betrayed his entire team, and even his own daughter, to get the new timeline he wants, and Past Jax is appalled that any version of him would do that.
• Undeathly Pallor: A grayish-white skin after being revived as a brainwashed minion.
• Volcanic Veins: He gains these upon being revived as a brainwashed minion of Quan Chi.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Except in X, where he wears a vest in his default costume and wears a farmer's outfit at one point.
  • Averted completely in 11, where his default features him wearing a vest with a shirt under it.
• Whole Costume Reference: A DLC costume in X is based on Carl Weathers in Predator, complete with Weathers himself providing voicework.
• World's Strongest Man: His non-canon ending in 3 describes him as this and proves it by having him defeat all of Kahn's armies and then Kahn himself.
• Worthy Opponent: Sub-Zero considers Jax to be a very admirable warrior, as stated by him in MK vs DC.
• Wrestler in All of Us: Shades of it, including a backbreaker during his X-Ray in 9. And in X his X-Ray is a powerbomb chained into an inverted wheelbarrow suplex. One of his variations in X is even called "Wrestler". 11 takes it further; his quad slam is a bunch of various suplexes and piledrivers, his back throw is a sleeper hold and his anti-air attack is Kenta Kobashi's Burning Hammer.
• Your Head Asplode: He does this in his early Fatalities.

Baraka

Baraka

"My blades will find your heart."

Debut game: Mortal Kombat II (Richard Divizio)

Other appearances: Mortal Kombat Trilogy (Richard Divizio), Mortal Kombat Gold (Richard Divizio), Mortal Kombat: Deception, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (Ryan Rosenberg), Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (Dan Washington), Mortal Kombat 9 (Bob Carter), Mortal Kombat X (cameo) (Greg Eagles, English; Gerardo Vásquez, Latin American Spanish), Mortal Kombat 11 (Steve Blum, English; Carlos del Campo, Latin American Spanish), Mortal Kombat 1 (Steve Blum, English; Carlos del Campo, Latin American Spanish)

Non-game appearances: Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (Dennis Keiffer), Mortal Kombat: Rebirth (Lateef Crowder)

A mean, unforgiving, and unpredictable warrior, Baraka belongs to a race of nomadic beings called Tarkata, whose realm was conquered ages ago by Shao Kahn, causing him to swear loyalty as a result. Baraka, like most other members of his race, possesses long blades extending from his forearms that he uses to nasty effect in battle.

In the events leading up to Mortal Kombat II, Baraka led the attack on the Shaolin Temple in Earthrealm, which spurred Liu Kang to seek vengeance in Outworld as predicted by his master, Shao Kahn. During the ensuing tournament, Baraka partnered with Mileena, herself part-Tarkata, to overthrow the Emperor and rule together, but Mileena was murdered and Baraka fled to the lowlands of Outworld. In the time prior to the events of Mortal Kombat Gold, Baraka encountered the necromancer Quan Chi while wandering through Edenia. Quan Chi offered Baraka a chance to rule the realm at his side if he agreed to join the army of Shinnok. Eager for battle, he readily accepted. Once again Baraka planned to betray his new masters, but after Shinnok was defeated by Liu Kang, his opportunity was lost once again.

After the Deadly Alliance was defeated by the risen Onaga, Baraka and his Tarkata horde joined the Dragon King. After freeing Mileena from her prison, Baraka recruited her to Onaga's ranks. Posing as her sister Kitana, she misdirect the Edenian forces into combat against Baraka's Tarkatan raiding parties, thus giving time to Onaga for him to complete his schemes. However, Mileena gave command of Kitana's army to Bo' Rai Cho, and under his command, a lot of Tarkatans warriors were killed, angering Baraka. In the end, Onaga was defeated, Baraka finding himself once more allied with the losing faction.

Baraka is basically unchanged during the events of Mortal Kombat 9. He makes a couple of cameos in Mortal Kombat X, where he is killed by D'Vorah once Kotal Kahn makes his move to overthrow Mileena. Kronika would later bring another version of himself in Mortal Kombat 11 as one of her accomplices.

In the new era set in Mortal Kombat 1, Baraka's origins have changed: Baraka was a decorated tribune in the Outworld army, and he managed to become a wealthy merchant, providing for himself and his family to have a happy and fulfilled life. But the harmony was not meant to last: a deadly disease, Tarkat, started ravaging the realm and its people, among them Baraka's wife and children and later himself. They were all banished into a colony where the other afflicted were exiled to by the order of Empress Sindel. There, the illness has claimed the lives of his cherished family, making the grieving husband and father long for death to come. But his leadership and warfare skills made him a natural leader for the other infected and now, Baraka has enough reason to keep living until he is finally reunited with his loved ones.

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• Abhorrent Admirer: In some games, he's this to Mileena. She never displays any attraction to him, but he is very fixated on her. (This was not the case in early games, which suggested that he and Mileena were a couple or at least friendly with each other—most notably in Mileena's ending in 2, where she puts him on the throne alongside herself.)
  • His Armageddon ending has him force her to marry him or die and she simply chooses the better option of living.
  • In X, Mileena is outraged at Johnny suggesting she slept with him.
  • 11 sees one match intro Baraka proposing mating to Mileena's face. She harshly ridicules the very notion of her having sex with him. Another has Baraka trying to (unsuccessfully) sway Mileena away from Shao Kahn, claiming she belongs more with the Tarkatans.
• Adaptational Dumbass: In Scorpion's Revenge, Baraka's personality is reverted to his Midway characterization as a mindless beast.
• All Take and No Give: Multiple pre-fight intros show that while Kitana Kahn is very interested in changing Outworld to be better than what her father made it, Baraka isn't willing to let Tarkata change with it. Kitana offers equal rights to all Outworld races, but Baraka seems to be pushing his luck. In fact, he is hoping that he can convince Kitana to go back on her word of friendship to Earthrrealm.
  Baraka: Earthrealm is still in Tarkata's sights.
  Fujin: You would ignore Kitana Kahn's will?
  Baraka: We can change her mind.
• Always Chaotic Evil: His species, the Tarkatans, are said to be like this and generally depicted as nothing more than bloodthirsty animals. It is mostly subverted by 11, where not all Tarkatans are revealed to be evil as with any sentient species, and he is willing to listen to Kitana once she gets his men to calm down.
  • Played straight again in his Arcade ladder ending: he abuses Kronika's power to empower his race and go on a bloodthirsty multiverse conquest.
• Anti-Villain: Portrayed as a Type III (Well-Intentioned Anti-Villain) in 11, although Baraka is still a much edgier and less heroic take. He is largely characterized as a leader among the Tarkatans willing to do whatever is necessary to save his people. His people being an orc-ish nomadic tribe that eats people.
• Arch-Enemy:
  • Seems to be this to Kung Lao, judging by Shaolin Monks and Armageddon's intro cinematics. This animosity is drawn from Baraka's hordes having a hand in the shaolin masters' deaths in II. In fact, it is Kung Lao who manages to kill him in the end, judging by the intro to 9.
  • D'Vorah, and the feeling is mutual. The Baraka pulled from the past is made aware of his fate at her hands, and she endlessly ridicules and mocks him for it in their match banter.
• An Arm and a Leg:
  • In one of his Fatalities from Deception, Baraka uses his blades to slices the arms, legs, and neck of his victim. He then stabs the torso and rips it out...
  • If the opening of MK9 depicting Armageddon's aftermath is any indication, he lost his left arm before being sliced in half by Kung Lao, having it lodged in Sub-Zero's back.
• Art Evolution: Has undergone several redesigns over the course of his appearances across the series. In Mortal Kombat Gold, he has several large staples across his body and a more humanoid shaped head, alluding to Kung Lao supposedly bisecting him during the events of the third game. In Deception, he loses the staples and has a more monstrous appearance, complete with rows of spikes down his back. Come the reboot, he returns to a more humanoid design, although he is given cheek spikes and a unique arm build to separate him from the other Tarkata in Mortal Kombat X. Mortal Kombat 11 swaps the cheek spikes for ones on his arms in his default look and redesigns his skin to look more wrinkly and gives him rows of teeth that are more numerous.
• Artistic License – Biology: Given the fact that Tarkatans don't have lips, as well as the design of their lower face and teeth leaving them with a constantly open mouth, none of them, Baraka included, should be able to speak with any degree of fluency. That being said, it sure does look intimidating to have all those chompers, doesn't it?
• Artistic License – Physics: His signature projectile and an 11 intro involve him grinding his bone blades together, which spark. Obviously impossible, but the Rule of Cool wins out again.
• Audible Sharpness: His Tarkata blades are prone to constantly making sharp noises. Think of them like Wolverine's claws.
• Ax-Crazy: Played straight in the original continuity, where he is little more than an animalistic monster. Mostly subverted in the new timeline, where Baraka is much more civil and stoic out of kombat.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: Some levels in the challenge tower in 9 are a "hold-the-line" type, where you have to spam a certain move as a character to prevent zombies/Tarkatans from reaching your end of the screen. Baraka stars in one, but back-to-back with Mileena, whom you have to control at the same time.
• Bad with the Bone: In 11, his arm blades are retractable bony protrusions by default. They still slice as good as the metallic ones, though.
• Badass Normal: Relative to this series at any rate. Baraka has no real supernatural abilities to his name, being a fairly standard issue Tarkatan. His superior intelligence and skill to the rest of his kind, coupled with what comes with being a Tarkatan, makes up for this.
• Bald of Evil: Tarkatans seem to be naturally bald and Baraka is plenty mean.
• The Berserker: Several of his moves involve violently attacking the opponent with his blades and Baraka himself is quite eager to kill people.
• Better to Die than Be Killed: He remarks about believing in a variant in 11, where an intro with Jade has him remark he prefers death over becoming a revenant as she does.
• Berserk Button: While his stoicism rarely lets him be openly provoked by insults, an intro with the Terminator indicates Baraka does not take kindly to being called ugly, let alone an "ugly motherfucker".
• Blade Below the Shoulder: Like all Tarkatans, Baraka sports twin razor-sharp blades in his arms, along with several sharp growths. The blades can be customized with gear in 11.
• Blood Knight: Tarkatan culture is built around two things — waging war, and eating the losers. He takes this very seriously, to the point the heroes finally get him on their side by defeating him in a fair fight.
• Brain Food: 11 shows that he's developed a taste for gray matter. Not only does one of his Fatalities end with him eating his opponent's brain, but his Brutality win pose and a mid-round taunt shows that he keeps a brain on himself to eat as a snack.
• The Bus Came Back: Returns as a playable character in 11 after being non-playable in the previous game.
• Butter Face: A male example. Has a muscular, saliently sculpted body... but the face is anything but attractive. This is downplayed in 11, where he has a more ravaged looking physique despite retaining his muscles.
• Butt-Monkey: In MKX, Baraka seems to exist to be humiliated. Not only is he beaten up twice in Story Mode, but Alien's (non-canon) storyline sees him as the victim of a chestburster. To add even more insult to injury, one player who experimented with a modded copy of the game discovered that Baraka was severely nerfed from his MK9 incarnation.
• Cannibal Clan:
  • According to Jade's ending in Deception, Tarkatans will viciously attack and devour any Tarkatan from foreign tribes. Tanya, being smeared with Tarkatan essence by Jade while standing with Baraka and his horde, learns this the hard way. It's also heavily hinted through the series that Tarkatans aren't afraid of eating regular people as well, which is confirmed by Baraka’s Brain Food tendencies in Mortal Kombat 11.
  • Speaking of which, a flashback in the MKX comics reveals that Tarkatans aren't themselves above being eaten by regular people. Just ask Kotal Kahn, Ferra and Torr.
• Cool Helmet: Some of Baraka's gear options in 11 give him helmets to wear, including a samurai-esque one.
• The Comically Serious: As seen thoroughly in character interactions, Baraka has no sense of humor. Some characters like Johnny Cage and even Kitana enjoy snarking at his unpleasant personality.
  Cassie: Dude! You're so metal, Baraka!
  Baraka: Mettle is proved in kombat!
  Cassie: Ugh; why do I even try with you?
• Defector from Decadence: Realizing where serving someone like Shao Kahn leads him and his people down the line, he defects and joins the side of good with Sheeva and the Shokan following after.
• The Dragon: While he has always been implied to be highly favored by Shao Kahn, 11 implies he is closer to this than being a mere general. His defection elevates Skarlet to this position, something she brags about to his face.
• Dumb Muscle: In the Midway days, this was what Baraka's "character" amounted to. He gradually subverts this since the reboot, where he has an actual personality and motives.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • His MK Gold ending sees he and the now god Quan Chi conquer Edenia. Baraka is fine and happy, until Quan Chi then murders everybody. Baraka finds this completely insane and calls Quan Chi a madman. Unsurprisingly, Baraka doesn't live long after that.
  • An intro with Jade in 11 indicates he finds the existence of Netherrealm revenants to be a Fate Worse than Death.
    Jade: In the future, you're dead, I'm a revenant.
    Baraka: I prefer my fate to yours.
    Jade: I must agree, Baraka.
  • He has no time for Omni-Man in 1. When Omni-Man offers a cure for Tarkat using Viltrum's technology, Baraka's response is to ask what strings would be attached to it.
• Evil Is Petty: Despite Kitana giving him and his people the best lives they could ask for, Baraka decides in one match continuity, it's worth less than being able to freely eat people and defects over it.
  Liu Kang: You gave Kitana your word...
  Baraka: She goes back on hers!
  Liu Kang: Peace requires compromise, Baraka.
• Evil Sounds Deep: This vicious killer has a deep, guttural voice in most of his appearances. In particular, he is voiced in MKX by Greg Eagles and in 11 by Steve Blum, both of who are famous for their deep voices.
• Evil Sounds Raspy: In 11, his voice appears to have gained a pronounced rasp to go alongside his unpleasant mannerisms.
• Eye Scream: His X-Ray move in MK9 has him impale his foe on one blade and use the other to stab their throat, and finally their eye. One of his win quotes in 11 also implies he has a taste for eating them.
  Baraka: Save me the eyes!
• Fatal Flaw: Honor Before Reason. Baraka knows Shao Kahn treats his people like garbage, and yet still believes it is dishonorable to rebel against him. Even when other characters begin to turn on Shao Kahn for good reason, Baraka refuses to do so. Taken a step further with Mileena after Shao Kahn dies, who he serves to the last breath to honor the late Kahn's will. D'Vorah lampshades how idiotic this is, and he mostly grows out of it by 11.
• Flat Character: For a long time, the only things Baraka had going for him was his terrifying appearance, abilities, and the fact that his race was Always Chaotic Evil and served evil people like Shao Kahn, Mileena, or Quan Chi. That was it. It took 10 games of him to actually give him some characterization as a snide hunter who values his tribe above all else, and even gives the Tarkatans a Heel–Face Turn. Too bad it didn't stick in his ending...or Aftermath.
• Fluffy the Terrible: "Baraka" means "blessing" in Arabic, and refers to the blessed energies that God grants those close to him. His feral behavior is anything but.
• Graceful Loser: Showing that his Blood Knight personality goes both ways, defeating Baraka in combat is the quickest way to earn his loyalty and respect. The heroes use this to have him pull a Heel–Face Turn in 11.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Not Baraka, but Skarlet and Kollector to him. Baraka's position in Shao Kahn's council is apparently so highly coveted and luxurious that the two express jealousy and a strong desire to replace him.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Nearly every one of his endings suggests this. However, Baraka is actually very stoic in the new continuity.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: Courtesy of Kung Lao at the end of 3. In Gold, he's held together with large metal staples. By Deception, he's back to normal.
  • This is true for his head at least, in the aftermath of Armageddon. Again, courtesy of Kung Lao.
• Heel–Face Turn: After trading blows with Jade and Kitana in 11, Baraka finally throws in his lot with them against Shao Kahn, and Kronika.
• Hero Killer: While we only see the aftermath he apparently managed to kill Sub-Zero during the Armageddon battle before being killed by Kung Lao, though both events were undone by Raiden's meddling in time.
• Heroic Willpower: Despite the Tarkat infection causing bouts of savage madness, he remains mostly in control of himself despite not getting a serum to suppress the effects like Mileena.
• I'm a Humanitarian: While always implied with the Cannibal Clan tendencies his species has shown, this was outright confirmed in 11 where he has several moves and finishers that involve biting the opponent and consuming their flesh.
• Hypocritical Humor: He calls Sindel a "hideous skag". As Sindel points out, he's pretty hideous himself.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice:
  • In II, Baraka could finish his opponents by lifting them with and letting them slide down his blades, while the victim screams and flails about helplessly before expiring. Several of his other fatalities and moves have a tendency to impale the opponent as well.
  • He inflicts this upon Kuai Liang during Armageddon in the original timeline and is killed this way in the new timeline.
• Improbable Weapon User: In 11, he now wields a flag, which he uses as a spear. It can be customized via gear options.
• Jabba Table Manners: Sort of. His Friendship in 11 features him pulling out a cake, throwing it in the air, and cutting it to pieces with his blades, showering himself in icing in the process, after which an intact lump of cake bounces off his head and confuses him. He doesn't eat the cake, though. Possibly because the Joker killed him with a cake in his reveal video.
• Jerkass: Big time in 11, where he expresses much more of a personality. Most of his interactions with other characters are rude or insulting, with about the only person him wholly respecting being Jade.
  Liu Kang: You respect Kitana, yes?
  Baraka: But not her concubine, Liu Kang.
  Liu Kang: ...concubine?!
• Jobber:
  • Has a tendency to repeatedly show up during 9's story mode to get beaten up. It gets a lot worse for him in MK X, where he gets Demoted to Extra as a character you must beat up to progress. The fight with D'Vorah gets him killed. Despite him getting more spotlight in 11, he still doesn’t fair a whole lot better in this regard. Geras is well aware of this tendency.
  Geras: Submit your tribe to Kronika.
  Baraka: Tarkatans do not submit, Geras!
  Geras: It is their entire history...
  • Looking at the win-loss ratios for Story Mode fights in the initial Netherrealm era trilogy, Baraka is actually the most common Story opponent in the series, being fought nine times over the course of 9, X, and 11.^Explanation Baraka is fought four times in 9 (During Johnny, Cyrax, Jax, and Jade's chapters), twice in X (During D'vorah and Raiden's chapters), twice in 11 (During Kotal Kahn and Kitana's chapters), and one last time in Aftermath (During Sheeva's chapter).
• Kick the Dog: In one of his intros in 11, he impales a small lizard on his blades.
• Kiss-Kiss-Slap: With Mileena. This being Mortal Kombat, and with both of them being Always Chaotic Evil, the "Kisses" are plots to rule Outworld together as king and queen, and the "Slaps" are betrayal and brutal attempts at murder.
• Kubrick Stare: His iconic victory pose has him bow with his arms crossed and blades extended while he looks up at the screen with his Slasher Smile. While one of his standard victory poses in 11 has him lean his head up and back so he's looking down at the screen, he still does the iconic head down, eyes up version for one of his brutality victory animations.
• Lean and Mean: Notably less bulky or buff than the majority of other male fighters in most of his appearances, but he more than makes up for it with ferocity.
• Looks Like Orlok: Has the pointy ears and and sharp teeth to resemble Orlok, which is a result of his original costume using an Orlok mask as its base.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: One Of his variations in 11, Flag Day, makes extensive use of a Tarkatan tribal flag that he plants into the ground, essentially giving him a stage interactable that he can place anywhere and that only he can use. He also gains a damage buff if he is near the planted flag, and while holding it it acts as a layer of armor and he can perform a full screen charge with it.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: The root of his face turn is thoroughly explained in his pre-match banter with Shao Kahn: it's revealed the Kahn horribly mistreated the Tarkatans and looked down upon them, reducing them to serfs claiming they're no better than dogs - and useless on the battlefield.
• More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Has a rather large amount of teeth far bigger than any normal human's.
• Nightmare Face: Oooh boy... Tarkatans are all about this trope with their sunken eyes and huge fangs.
• Noble Demon: To an extent: he highly values honor and loyalty, chiding some decidedly treacherous characters for their disloyalty even if they have good reasons. Unlike his master, he also averts being a poor sport when faced with defeat, and being beaten in kombat is the best way to earn his respect.
  • Deconstructed by X, where his undying loyalty to a tyrant that never deserved it leads to the destruction of him and his entire race. Figuring out where his allegiances best lie instead of being blindly loyal to anyone particularly powerful is an integral part of his character development in 11.
• The Nose Knows: According to his endings in Deception and 9, all Tarkatans have a really keen sense of smell.
  • This was proven further in "Aftermath", when Baraka was able to deduce the disguised Shokan was actually Shang Tsung. Keep in mind that Shang Tsung is a master of disguise, so either his transformation can't hide scent, or the Tarkatan's sense of smell is that impressive.
• Nominal Hero: After his mild Heel–Face Turn, he's not really so much a better person as he is simply securing a better future for the Tarkatans. Versus match intros zigzag on whether his face turn will stick, as some indicate he's pleased with Kotal, and others being very dissatisfied with Kitana enforcing regulations on the more barbaric Tarkatan traditions.
• Not So Above It All: Surprisingly for him, and only once, does he entertain Earthrealm's penchant for jokes with Jacqui.
  Baraka: Speak your joke to my face!
  Jacqui: Grandma, what big teeth you have!
  Baraka: My grandmother's were the biggest!
• Obfuscating Stupidity: He's a vicious, animalistic monster... and still Shao Kahn's most trusted general. In particular, this is shown well in his MK9 ladder ending. It's revealed that the Shao Kahn he killed was Shang Tsung, who had transformed into the emperor. It seemingly fooled everybody except him. The Tarkatans became Shao Kahn's favored race thanks to his loyalty!
• Off with His Head!: A classic Fatality for him is to use one of his blades to cut his opponent's head off in one clean slice. Even his own head, as an Hara-kiri in Deception.
• Our Orcs Are Different: Baraka and his race, the Tarkatans, fulfill this role in the setting, the most notable addition being the infamous arm blades.
• Pardon My Klingon: Quite literally tells Kano to fuck off in one of his intros:
  Kano: Better get right with Kronika.
  Baraka: NOKT you and Kronika!
  Kano: Heh, now that's a bonzer attitude.
• Pointy Ears: Comes as a result of his original costume being made from an Orlok mask.
• Posthumous Character: Died some time before the events of X at D'Vorah's hands. It gets played on for the Season 2 Kombat Pack, where his chest explodes, revealing a Xenomorph sprouting out.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: If MKX is any indication, he serves Shao Kahn out of admiration for his fighting skill due to him having conquered his realm. One of his intros with Sonya in 11 has her asking what it would take to earn his respect, and he responds with beating him down unmercifully.
  • Proven in the story mode: he honors Kitana of hearing reason when she bests him in a duel, despite the circumstances, and orders all his brethren to stand down.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: In all games barring X and 11, where his brain-eating fatality shows that his eyes are more of a milky beige color.
• Retcon: Originally, it was stated that the Tarkata were a cross between Outworld humans and demons from the Netherrealm. However, this seems to have been dropped come the reboot, as Baraka claims in the tenth game that Shao Kahn conquered his realm.
• Sinister Scythe: His weapon unique to Gold.
• Spin Attack: In certain games, Baraka has a special move that allows him to spin around like a top with his blades extended. In MKT he could spin indefinitely.
  • One of his fatalities in MK9 is an inversion; he impales his opponent on one of his arm blades, lifts them above his head, and then spins them on the blade while using his other blade to hack off all of their limbs.
• Spikes of Villainy: Not only is he a bad guy, Baraka also has plenty of bony stubs on his arms to go with his arm blades and alignment. The DA-D-A trilogy gave him spikes on his back while MKX added some on his cheeks. MK11 instead has his arms covered with spikes by default, although some costumes remove them and gear can bring back spikes on his head.
• Spot the Imposter: In his ending to 9, the Shao Kahn he kills is actually Shang Tsung in disguise, who was plotting to overthrow the real one; only Baraka recognized him. His loyalty is rewarded with leadership of the Shokkan and Centaur armies, along with the Tarkatans, and he's able to unite them into one Badass Army.
• Stance System: He has Silat and Hung Gar for Deception and Unchained. He only keeps the former for Armageddon, with Drahmin taking up the latter.
• Sword Drag: His "between rounds" victory animation in MK9 is him dragging an arm blade on the ground and snarling.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: Baraka's story in 11 starts to finally go his way after joining Kitana's Kahnship. He is promised a better future for his people than Shao Kahn has ever offered, he is given a lot more respect by the rest of the cast, and he loses his Jobber title during the story.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Baraka is depicted as more civil and reasonable in 11. He's not exactly respectful or nice, but it's definitely an improvement from his attitude in previous games.
• Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: Subverted. When he finds out that Spawn's body was "deep-fried in Hellfire," his response is, "Eh, that passes for edible."
• To Serve Man: His ending in 11 has every other realm serving this to the Tarkatan clans.
• Unexplained Recovery: How he survived getting cut in half to come back in the fourth game is a riddle for the ages.
• Undying Loyalty: To Shao Kahn in the rebooted timeline, even after his death. When D'Vorah calls him out on his enduring loyalty to Mileena despite the odds, he says he is honoring Shao Khan's will by serving her.
  • Subverted by 11, where he finally wisens up to what kind of person Shao Kahn is and what serving him entails. This is further cemented in their pre-match intros, where not a single one doesn't reek of mutual contempt.
• Villainous Cheekbones: In MKX, Baraka has tiny spikes growing out of his cheeks.
• Villain Respect: Jade's intervention of Kotal preparing to brutally execute a village of Tarkatans over an accident earns his respect, and he lets her know this.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: His Animality turns him into a vulture.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: His appearance in 4 and his alternate costumes in 11 have Baraka ditch his tunic.
• When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Baraka uses his arm blades for everything. If something challenges him that it would not work, he is only inspired to use them more.
  Baraka: I will cut you down, Geras.
  Geras: Be assured I will rise again.
  Baraka: Then I'll dice you to smaller pieces!
• Whole Costume Reference: 11 gives him a DLC skin that makes him look like Killer Croc.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: While he's seemingly not afraid by any means, Baraka is admittedly bothered by ghosts and revenants. His interactions with Noob Saibot amount to wondering what hell he came from or who summoned him, and telling him to shoo. Noob, of course, is seemingly amused by this. He also openly admits that he would rather be dead than live as a revenant.
• Wild Card: Judging from intro dialogues in 11, Baraka's allegiances appear to be up in the air. Numerous characters, including those from Earthrealm, try swaying him and the Tarakatans to their sides.
• Wolverine Wannabe: A savage, bestial warrior with a highly powerful nose, a Healing Factor, and two retractable blades hidden in his forearms. He's a lot uglier than Wolverine, though. According to the writers, his blades were meant to be longer, but they decided this would give Baraka an unfair reach, so they shortened them to be more standard Wolverine blades.
• Your Days Are Numbered: In the New Era, Tarkat is fatal. Baraka is fully aware how little time he has left, especially since finding a cure would take a lot of time, which he doesn't have.

Kung Lao

Kung Lao

"For the Shaolin!"

^{Click her to see his Revenant form}
"I serve Shinnok and the Netherrealm."

Debut game: Mortal Kombat II (Tony Marquez)

Other appearances: Mortal Kombat 3 (Tony Marquez), Mortal Kombat Gold (Joshua Y. Tsui), Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, Mortal Kombat 9 (Jin Hyong), Mortal Kombat X (Will Yun Lee, English; Eduardo Garza, Latin American Spanish), Mortal Kombat 11 (Sunil Malhotra, English; Alan Fernando Velázquez, Latin American Spanish; Tian Shuai, face model), Mortal Kombat 1 (Sunil Malhotra, English; Alan Fernando Velázquez, Latin American Spanish; Tian Shuai, face model)

Non-game appearances: Mortal Kombat: Legacy (Mark Dacascos), Mortal Kombat (2021) (Max Huang; Arturo Castañeda, Latin American Spanish), Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (Matthew Yang King)

A member of the same Shaolin order as Liu Kang, Kung Lao is the descendant of the Great Kung Lao who defeated Shang Tsung many generations before. His trademark feature is his razor-brimmed hat, which he can throw as a weapon.

Kung Lao is a quiet man who does not advocate violence or conflict. As such, he decided to omit himself from the Mortal Kombat tournament that Liu Kang attended and subsequently won (though this is retconned in 9). Later on, the Shaolin temple was attacked by Outworld monsters and Kung Lao decided that now was the time to act and stepped through the portal to Outworld to fight off the evil alongside Liu Kang. Upon returning from their success in Outworld, Kung Lao attempted to reunite the White Lotus Society, but was derailed when Shao Kahn invaded Earthrealm. Chosen as one of Raiden's protected warriors, he once again left his life of peace to defend Earthrealm from Outworld.

After driving back Shao Kahn's invasion, Kung Lao decided to retire to a solitary existence and led his companions to believe he perished from injury. When word of Shinnok's ambition reaches him along with rumors that Goro, the man who had killed his namesake ancestor, is still living he returns to battle. He encounters Goro but rather than come to blows, the two warriors come to peace and end generations of bitterness. Kung Lao was the first to discover Liu Kang's body following Shang Tsung and Quan Chi's ambush and swears vengeance. He trains himself under the same master as Liu Kang with the hopes that his newfound skill would bring justice. Unfortunately, this was not the case and he would find himself unable to stand against Tsung and was vanquished. He was revived to serve Onaga's goals during Deception but frees his spirit in time to climb the pyramid in Armageddon.

Kung Lao's story changes quite dramatically in Mortal Kombat 9. For starters, he is present at the original tournament, unlike the first canon (though it does take after the events of Shaolin Monks where he dresses up as a guard), having snuck into the tournament out of jealousy towards Liu Kang. Raiden exposes him and has him fight Scorpion so he can be eliminated and not affect the course of events. Later on he participates in the Outworld tournament and this time Raiden allows him to face Outworld's champion, Kintaro, instead of Liu Kang. Unfortunately this has the negative effect of Shao Kahn simply snapping his neck from behind and killing him instantly after he wins, leaving Liu Kang to avenge his death and events mostly play out as they did in Mortal Kombat II as a result. His soul is resurrected as a Netherrealm slave by Quan Chi, and he does not escape from his captor come the events of Mortal Kombat X.

Thanks to Kronika meddling with time in Mortal Kombat 11, another version of himself and Liu Kang ended up being involved with the plot and they're clearly disgusted at what their older revenant selves have become as servants of Kronika and the Netherrealm.

In the new Mortal Kombat 1 era, Kung Lao's backstory has changed. Tales of heroes and legends were always present in Kung Lao's life, especially since his namesake ancestor was the great champion of the tournament between Earthrealm and Outworld. He has constantly imagined himself wreathed in glory much like the characters from those myths, but his simple life as a farmer in Fengjian is quite the opposite of his dreams, making him yearn for new adventures. Still, under Madame Bo's tutelage, Kung Lao may yet achieve the greatness he has always dreamed of.

---

• Adaptational Jerkass:
  • In Shaolin Monks, the same Kung Lao who was once a humble warrior who did not seek the spotlight is now an honor-obsessed, ill-tempered Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy who endlessly teases Liu Kang about Kitana, not to mention buying into Shang Tsung's scheme.
  • Downplayed in Armageddon and MK9 and X'' in the rebooted timeline. He's still a humble warrior like his old characterization but he wants to prove that he can be as good as, if not better than, Liu Kang.
  • However, it comes back in full force in the intro dialogues of 11; he's very arrogant, narcissistic and jealous to the point that he's as bad as Johnny Cage pre-Character Development. Lao believes he deserves be the "The Chosen One" and thinks he's a better match for Kitana (of course she disagrees). His revenant is no better compared his normal self, and throws in his lot with Kronika, completely lacking the Being Evil Sucks mentality displayed in MKX.
• Adapted Out: Of the original live-action movie, where Liu Kang is stated to be the Great Kung Lao's descendant instead. He was also left out of the Defenders of the Realm cartoon despite it being largely inspired by the third game, in which he was a playable character.
• Always Second Best:
  • Towards Liu Kang in Armageddon and 9 a little bit. Extremely blatant in Shaolin Monks.
  • A favorite insult against him among the X and 11 roster is to unfavorably compare him to Liu Kang.
• Animal-Themed Fighting Style: He uses Mantis Kung Fu in Deadly Alliance.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Initially, he was the exact opposite of this but ever since he was re-written as a battle hungry, glory seeker in Shaolin Monks, this has been his default personality.
• Back from the Dead: Subverted in Mortal Kombat X. His regular appearance belongs to the multiplayer Alternate Universe; he's still a revenant by the end of the story mode.
• Bald of Evil: An interesting variation. While as a revenant under the service of Quan Chi (and bound to his will), he's completely bald. Other revenants like Stryker or Liu Kang have full heads of hair.
• Bash Brothers: With Liu Kang. Shaolin Monks is practically this trope and they have a chapter in 11 focused on them infiltrating the Wu Shi Academy and taking on their undead counterparts.
• Berserk Button:
  • Some interactions in X and 11 show that he quite likes his hat, and does not appreciate people insulting it.
    Kung Lao: Why are you here, Cage?
    Johnny Cage: To tell you Zorro's mom wants her hat back.
    Kung Lao: Any hope for mercy is lost.
  • His interactions with Bo' Rai Cho, Cassie Cage and Kitana show he's also not very happy with the idea of being compared to Liu Kang.
    Kung Lao: The lesser Cage.
    Cassie Cage: Liu Kang lite.
    Kung Lao: A mouth in search of a fist.
  • Similar to Liu Kang and Kitana, Raiden is probably this in X since he most likely blames their deaths on him as well, since he "allowed" them to happen. Unlike Liu Kang and Kitana, he doesn't actually enjoy being a revenant, so he pretty much seems just as unhappy with him as they are.
  • As revealed by certain intro dialogues in 11, he doesn't take kindly to people mocking his name.
• Big Brother Instinct: He despises his family's treatment of Kung Jin, in which he tells Raiden in one of his intros.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: While obviously a capable fighter, his interactions with Liu Kang in 11 suggests that he's a bit of a slacker when it comes to his duties as a monk.
  • Demonstrated well in 11 when attempting to pass traps in the Shaolin temple, Liu Kang watches the swinging blades and jumps through at the perfect moment of safety. Kung Lao opts for a more creative, but equally effective tactic. He uses his hat to jam the gears of the blades movement, stopping them all with a single move, take his hat back once he'd walked through safely.
• Cain and Abel: Being revived as a revenant and his cousin becomes one of Earthrealm's heroes, Lao becomes the Cain to Jin's Abel.
• Celibate Hero: As a Shaolin, this is almost a requirement. But that doesn't stop him from flirting with women in 11.
• Characterization Marches On: Kung Lao's appearances before Shaolin Monks indicated that he was a serious, humble warrior with no rivalry or insecure feelings towards his best friend, Liu Kang. Come Shaolin Monks, he's presented as jealous of Liu Kang and driven to show he's just as worthy to be a hero as him. While the game is of dubious canonicity, elements of it were used in later games, in this case namely Kung Lao's characterization (the earliest game after SM to have this is Armageddon in the case of Kung Lao's ending).
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: In general, he's rash, immature, and definitely not as great as he wants anyone to believe. However, he is shown to be stronger than most of the kombatants when push comes to shove. He was able to take down Goro, Kintaro and even the Deadly Alliance, a duo that even Raiden couldn't beat.
• A Day in the Limelight:
  • In Mortal Kombat 9, he's the focus of Chapter 11.
  • In Mortal Kombat 11, he's the focus of Chapter 3, along with Liu Kang.
• Deadpan Snarker: Kung Lao does this quite a bit more in pre-fight banter in both MKX and 11, especially if he's facing a comedic character.
  Kung Lao: What have you done to your body?
  Frost: Allowed Kronika to make me the greatest.
  Kung Lao: To think, all I needed was a hat.
• A Death in the Limelight: At the end of his chapter in MK9, his neck is snapped by Shao Kahn.
• Defector from Decadence: His ladder ending in X shows that he wants to find a way out of the Netherrealm. Kung Jin, who has not given up any hope on Lao, aids him to redeem his soul and return him to the side of good.
• Dressing as the Enemy: According to both Shaolin Monks and 9, Kung Lao disguised himself as one of Shang Tsung's bodyguards to infiltrate the first game's tournament. In the latter, one of Raiden's "hot flashes" tips him off to this, causing the Thunder God to berate the monk and force him into battle against Scorpion so that he'd lose and be disqualified.
• Driven by Envy: In 11, Kung Lao's Revenant incarnation is excessively envious of Liu Kang. Once the Revenant Liu Kang is taken out of the picture, Kung Lao shreds any prior restraint in expressing his seething jealousy.
  It should have been me!
• Earn Your Happy Ending:
  • His MKX Arcade ending has Kung Jin coming to his aid to help redeem his soul and return him to life. Unfortunately, this ending is shown to be non-canon in 11.
  • In the MK11 Arcade ending, after acquiring Kronika's time manipulation powers, he manages to prevent his ancestor's death at Goro's hands and becomes a revered leader of the White Lotus Society, with its members counted in millions. Due to the timeline being fractured by Liu Kang and Shang Tsung's battle, this Kung Lao becomes a Titan and a Keeper of Time, later aiding his friend in a war against Titan Shang Tsung.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Even the usually cocky Lao can't stand Frost's arrogance in 11, remarking in one intro that he at least respects his elders.
  • He does not support his family's treatment of Kung Jin.
  Kung Lao: You know of Kung Jin's interests?
  Raiden: You sit in judgement, Kung Lao?
  Kung Lao: Of my family's shameful treatment of him.
• The Expy With No Name: Elements of his design in the original games, namely his badass demeanor and his face being constantly obscured by the shadow of his hat, were inspired by Clint Eastwood as The Man with No Name.
  • His primary weapon being a razor-sharp hat seem to be taken from Auric Goldfinger's chief henchman, Oddjob.
• Faking the Dead: He was apparently killed by Shao Kahn during Trilogy. He survived, but for a time allowed his allies to believe him dead.
• Famous Ancestor: The descendant of the Great Kung Lao, the Champion of Mortal Kombat who prevented Shang Tsung's tenth victory ages ago and was eventually killed by Goro. This Kung Lao is Kung Lao X. In his arcade ending in 9, it turns out he's actually the Great Kung Lao reincarnate.
• Fantastic Racism: Kung Lao hates Tarkatans quite passionately. The Tarkatans may have started the conflict, but Kung Lao is willing to commit genocide against them, whereas Raiden and Liu Kang understand He Who Fights Monsters and are generally more level-headed in their contempt. In 11, Kung Lao is appalled that Kotal Kahn made peace with the Tarkatans and outright states that Mileena's Tarkatan blood is enough of a reason to hate her. But in his defense, Baraka outwardly admits that he hopes he can change Kitana's mind so they they may attack Earthrealm once more.
• Fatal Flaw: In 9, Pride. It gets him into a fight he can't win in the first tournament and he gets a nice Neck Snap while he's grandstanding after a victory.
• Femme Fatalons: As a revenant, disturbingly enough.
• Fighting Spirit: In 11, one of his equip abilities allows him to call upon the spirit of his ancestor to aid him in battle.
• Flying Weapon: Kung Lao can telekinetically control the direction and movement of his hat. One of his moves involves him knocking his opponent against the hat while it spins and hovers in place.
• Future Me Scares Me: In 11, due to Timey-Wimey Ball, the living Kung Lao is able to meet the revenant Kung Lao… and he's not pleased of what he becomes.
  The thought of me becoming you sickens me!
• Glory Seeker: Ever since Shaolin Monks rewrote him into this, Lao has been depicted this way. Played with in that, more than just being The Chosen One, he wants to prove worthy of the name of his ancestor, who died at the hands of Goro, and that he'd also rather live a life of peace and solitude.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Revenant Kung Lao drops any pretense of respect he has towards his rival and proudly declares he'll help Kronika destroy the current timeline if it lets him one-up Liu Kang in the next.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: He can invoke this on his enemies by subjecting them to a number of fatalities involving his hat, usually bisecting them vertically.
• Heel–Face Turn: With Kung Jin's aid, he is able to pull one in his MKX ending.
• Heroic Neutral: Played with. Kung Lao is a key player in the battle against evil, and he can be quite brash and cocky, but at his core, he's a man of peace and would prefer to live a life of solitude and tranquility after demonstrating his worth.
• Heroic Willpower: In his (and Kung Jin's) MKX Arcade Ladder endings with Jin's help he's able to fight the corruption in his soul and fight for good.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Liu Kang. Shaolin Monks goes the Vitriolic Best Buds route (more so from Kung Lao's side), whereas 9 and 11 try to strike a fine balance: they don't always get along, but they're nonetheless stalwart friends and allies.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: He has this going for him, big time. Best shown when Sheeva teases Kung Lao by making a light jab at Earthrealmers, to which he responds by angrily asserting he is as strong as any Shokan. She then lampshades how easily his ego is bruised.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Kung Lao is very self-assured to the point of arrogance and comparisons to Liu Kang are a sore spot for him. When actually in contact with Liu Kang, however, any animosity mostly amounts to playful ribbing and he shows nothing short of pride in witness to his friends' accomplishments, even when he became a god.
  • In 11, he's understandably more openly skeptical of Raiden after learning that he was responsible for his fate in the new timeline. When confronted over this by the revenants, he makes it clear that he doesn't hold it against him like they do.
  Kung Lao: Lord Raiden may make mistakes, but he doesn't murder his followers.
  • Unlike Liu Kang in the last game, Kung Lao, in one of his intro dialogues, is accepting of his nephew’s sexual orientation and laments how the rest of his family mistreated the boy.
• Killer Rabbit: Literally! Two of his Vs. Fatalities in Shaolin Monks involve him pulling a rabbit out of his hat; the first has him beat them to death with it, the second has the rabbit viciously maul them until they're dead.
• The Lancer: To Liu Kang, who he generally accompanies as a fellow Shaolin and is frequently shown to be his best friend and closest confidant.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Generally depicted with long hair, often wrapped in a ponytail. Subverted as a revenant.
• Manchild: He's 24, but has the temperament of a lazy teenager. His bio in MKX outright states that his immaturity and impetuousness are the reasons to why he's not taken as seriously as Liu Kang.
• Martial Pacifist: Generally avoids picking fights, but is more than capable of finishing them.
• Named After Somebody Famous: His name comes from his ancestor, The Great Kung Lao.
• "No. Just… No" Reaction: When Mileena flirts with him. "Do not even THINK of it!" indeed.
• Opposites Attract: He and Liu Kang are best friends in spite of having completely different personalities.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: This is increasingly the case with him when it comes to Liu Kang, in spite of the former being a decent warrior and being more well-received in his debut by the fandom than the latter. This is most glaring in 9; while Liu Kang was (once again) the hero and involved with and included in many of the storylines, Kung Lao's time on-screen alive didn't even span 15 minutes.
• Panthera Awesome: He turns into a cheetah for his Animality.
• Reforged into a Minion: Like Sub-Zero and Jax, he was brainwashed to serve Quan Chi and Shinnok in 9, and remains a brainwashed one in X. However, his MKX arcade ending shows that he seems to dislike his current status as a revenant, and wants to get out of the Netherrealm. Kung Jin, who didn't give up any hope on him, comes to his aid and redeems his soul to the side of good thanks to his Heroic Willpower.
• Refusal of the Call: Original canon only; in both Shaolin Monks and 9, he decides to disguise himself as a bodyguard and head to the MK tournament anyway (however, the latter gives him a justifiable reason, by having Kung Lao wanting to defeat Goro to avenge his ancestor).
• Reincarnation: His MK9 arcade ending reveals that he is The Great Kung Lao reborn in the modern day, which also means he got the chance to redeem his loss against Goro from 500 years ago.
• Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: Kung Lao's ending in 3 has him dying in battle against Shao Kahn and his absence in vanilla 4 reinforced the idea he was Killed Off for Real. The Updated Re-release, Gold, revealed that Lao had simply gone into hiding to live a life of peace until he learned of Goro's return and decided to avenge his ancestor's death at the Shokan prince's hands.
• Revenge Before Reason: Kung Lao decided that the best time get his revenge on Goro is when the latter is in the midst of peaceful negotiations with Kitana by scarring the Shokan's chest. Indeed, Kitana does call him out on it and the only reason Lao's stunt doesn't ruin the negotiations is because Goro is very understanding.
• The Rival: Kung Lao has been depicted as Liu Kang's rival in Shaolin Monks. However, later games make this more of a Friendly Rivalry.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He's the first to discover Liu Kang's corpse when Shang Tsung and Quan Chi kill Liu Kang in Deadly Alliance. He doesn't take it well, and trains with Bo' Rai Cho to learn some new tricks to defeat the two. It... doesn't quite work out the way Kung Lao intended.
• Sacrificial Lion: Poor Kung Lao tends to get saddled with the role of "designated hero casualty" more often than not. He's killed off fairly early in Mortal Kombat 9, and gets offed in two films. It's especially ironic because he actually outlived The Hero, Liu Kang, in the original games' timeline.
• Self-Serving Memory: He tells his past human self that Shao Kahn snapped his neck and Raiden saw it coming, but did not intervene. In actuality, Raiden (and nobody for that matter) did not anticipate it and was incredibly furious at Shao Kahn for doing so.
• Shadow Archetype: Serves as one to his past self in 11. Revenant Kung Lao is what would happen if Kung Lao was purely Driven by Envy towards his friend and rival Liu Kang, and only cared about avenging the death of his ancestor instead of fighting for a greater good just as his ancestor did. His entire reason for joining Kronika is so he can have a do-over and defeat Shao Kahn in the tournament to one-up Liu Kang.
• Soul Power: In 11, Kung Lao has an equip ability called "Soul Burst" which allows him to fire blasts of spirit energy.
• Sour Outside, Sad Inside: In his and Kung Jin's MKX arcade endings, Kung Lao seems to dislike his current status as a revenant, and wants to get out of the Netherrealm. Kung Jin, who didn't give up any hope on him, comes to his aid and redeems his soul to the side of good. Though this ending is not canonical.
• Spin Attack: Kung Lao has a special move in which he spins like a tornado to launch the opponent into the air, setting them up for a combo. In some games, he can move back and forth while spinning.
• Stance System: Mantis Kung Fu and Shaolin Fist in Deadly Alliance, and just Shaolin Fist in Armageddon, as Shujinko becomes the Mantis practitioner.
• The Stoic: In the original timeline only, Kung Lao was a serious, strong-and-silent type who hated the spotlight, almost the exact opposite of his counterpart from the rebooted timeline.
• Summon Magic: In 11, a customization move allows him to summon the spirit of the Great Kung Lao to assist him.
• Technical Pacifist: In the original timeline, Kung Lao, like Liu Kang, is a pacifistic Shaolin warrior who refuses to kill unless as a last resort. This runs contrary to the fact that he wields a deadly bladed weapon and has some of the bloodiest, most gruesome Fatalities in the series...
• Teleportation: One of his signature moves allows him to teleport near the opponent.
• There Is Another: He is Earthrealm's backup champion in case Liu Kang fails or is killed somehow. He knows this and isn't all that pleased about it.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: A lot in 11 where his personality more resembles Kung Jin or pre Character Development Johhny Cage than it does the Kung Lao from previous games.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He's 5'10".
• They Killed Kenny Again: He was supposedly killed in MK3 but revealed to be alive in the update of MK4, was revealed to have been killed along with all the other heroes except Sub-Zero in the opening of Deception, was shown to be dead again in the events of Armageddon in the opening of 9 and died during the story mode of 9. In Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath, Kung Lao is drowned in the Sea of Blood by Shao Kahn and Sindel while his Revenant self is killed by Shang Tsung. Mortal Kombat (2021) continues the trend by having Kung Lao be the only casualty among the heroes and Mortal Kombat Battle For The Realms has him as one of the only two heroes killed. It seems that Kung Lao has taken Jonny Cage's place as the hero who dies to show serious the threat is.
• Uncertain Doom: In 11. His past self in Aftermath is tossed overboard into the bottomless Sea of Blood, courtesy of Sindel or Shao Kahn. Considering how his revenant is still alive and kicking when Shang Tsung assaulted Kronika's hideout later, it's safe to assume that the original isn't dead, somehow.
• The Unchosen One: A huge source of Angst for Kung Lao in the rebooted timeline is that he is never selected as Earthrealm's champion by Raiden and would've missed the first Mortal Kombat tournament entirely if he hadn't infilitrated it by disguising himself as one of Shang Tsung's guards. During the second tournament, Raiden finally considers Kung Lao as "he who must win" after Liu Kang forfeits, but he is Instantly Proven Wrong.
• Undeathly Pallor: A grayish-white skin after being revived as a brainwashed minion.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: While he is envious of Liu Kang and the two bicker constantly, they are still best friends and practically brothers who will do anything to help when the other is in need.
• Volcanic Veins: He gains these upon being revived as a brainwashed minion of Quan Chi.
• Warrior Monk: Like Liu Kang, he's a shaolin monk who fights for Earthrealm, although he's far more reluctant about it in the original timeline.
• Weaponized Headgear: Kung Lao has one of the most iconic killer hats in fiction, which is inspired by Oddjob's. Not only is his hat's brim an Absurdly Sharp Blade that can easily slice someone in half, he can also psychically control it for precise long-range attacks.
• You're Insane!: Not to the enemy, but in his own words to Liu Kang in 11, their future is "insane".

Jade

Jade

"This will be easy."

^{Click here to see her Revenant form}
"Rise in Shinnok's name!"

Debut game: Mortal Kombat II (Katalin Zamiar)

Other appearances: Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (Becky Gable), Mortal Kombat: Deception, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, Mortal Kombat 9 (Linda Lee), Mortal Kombat 11 (Mela Lee, English; Alicia Barragán, Latin American Spanish; Alexis Gaube, face model)

Non-game appearances: Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (Irina Pantaeva), Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (Emily O'Brien), Mortal Kombat 2 (Tati Gabrielle)

Jade is Kitana's best friend and bodyguard. Although loyal to Shao Kahn at first, she later joins Earthrealm's champions when Kitana defects and helps repel his invasion of Earthrealm. After Kitana's death and subsequent brainwashing by Onaga alongside the rest of Raiden's champions, Jade is forced to imprison her friend and joins forces with Sindel to free the captured heroes and hunt down the traitorous Tanya in Outworld during the events of Mortal Kombat: Deception. She also appears in the game's Konquest Mode to give Shujinko the task of apprehending Rain and would later join the Forces of Light during the Battle of Armageddon.

She pretty much has the same storyline in Mortal Kombat 9, initially serving Shao Kahn but leaves Outworld and joins Earthrealm when Kitana does. However, she is killed during Outworld's invasion, unlike the original canon, when Queen Sindel attacks the Earthrealm base of operations. Her soul is given over to Quan Chi, who enslaves her as a soldier of the Netherrealm. She is mysteriously absent from the events of Mortal Kombat X outside of a cameo in Kitana's arcade ending, although Kitana has a moveset variation called Mournful incorporating her tools that implies her revenant form was seemingly killed. This is not the case as she returned in Mortal Kombat 11 as a Netherrealm minion allied with Kronika. Her living self would be brought back thanks to Kronika's actions and allies with the heroes to stop her, with it also being revealed she and Kotal Kahn were lovers long before the events of the games.

---

• Arch-Enemy: Tanya, due to the latter's Chronic Backstabbing Disorder and betrayal towards Edenia.
• Battle Boomerang: Her signature Razor-Rang. It becomes a Retractable Weapon in 11.
• Battle Couple: Her dialogue in Cetrion's reveal trailer and the names of a few of her costume parts imply a romance with Kotal Kahn. In the story, it's revealed that Kotal has been her lover long before the events of the game occurred.
• Being Evil Sucks: An intro with Baraka in 11 has her agree that dying is preferable than coming back as a revenant as she has.
• Better to Die than Be Killed:
  • Has a Hara-Kiri move where she throws her Razor-Rang and then stands in its path, so that when it flies back, it slices off her head.
  • She believes this in 11 in a conversation with Baraka, as detailed under Being Evil Sucks.
    Jade: In the future, you are dead; I am a Revenant.
    Baraka: I prefer my destiny to yours.
    Jade: I must agree, Baraka.
• Bodyguard Babe: Personally serves as Kitana's. A formidable kombatant in her own fight: in MK9, on her way to break out Kitana from prison, she defeats both Baraka and Sheeva. Upon fleeing at Kitana's command, she encounters Mileena, and defeats her before facing and defeating Smoke as well.
• Bodyguarding a Badass: Serves as Kitana's bodyguard, though Kitana herself is no slouch in kombat.
• Braids of Action: Her alternate in 9. Coupled with the bikini she dons, she's a dead ringer for a darker-skinned Princess Leia in Return of the Jedi. Her alternate costume in Deception also sported these in the form of Girlish Pigtails.
• The Bus Came Back: She returns in 11 after making no appearance whatsoever in MKX, barring a cameo in Kitana's ending and a reference in her Mournful variation. She also has her living selves as alternative loadouts too besides her primary revenant self.
• Cats Are Mean: Her Animality turns her into a cat that attacks the opponent in a vicious clawing flurry.
• Combat Stilettos: Most of her outfits give her heels in some fashion.
• Composite Character: Her moveset in 11 now has her boomerangs collapse as daggers she uses in some of her moves, making Jade now share some attributes with Kitana.
• Curb Stomp Cushion: In the final battle of Aftermath, her Revenant self actually manages to hold her own against Sindel for a good 20 seconds before ultimately being stabbed and killed.
• A Day in the Limelight:
  • In Mortal Kombat 9, she's the focus of Chapter 10.
  • In Mortal Kombat 11, she's the focus of Chapter 5.
• Deadpan Snarker: Especially in 11, where many of her intros practically ooze with sass.
  Jade: Sub-Zero's former student.
  Frost: I exceed him in every way.
  Jade: In your mind, perhaps.
  
  Jade: That Kronika chose you speaks volumes.
  Shao Kahn: She'd have won, had she heeded me.
  Jade: What do you know of victory, Shao Kahn?
• Demonic Possession: Possibly. Her ending in 9 implies that a nameless woman's spirit took over her body. Kitana's ending in X shows that she's still in Jade's body, despite Jade being seen among Quan Chi's revenants in the previous game. While 11 doesn't continue this thread, it does reveal that the aforementioned woman is Kronika.
• Designated Girl Fight: A Designated Black Girl Fight with Tanya. That is, we think a Designated Black Girl Fight.
• Distaff Counterpart: If Kitana and Mileena are conceptually counterparts to Sub-Zero and Scorpion, then Jade has got to be one to Reptile.
• Divergent Character Evolution: In her first appearance in MK2, Jade was simply a Palette Swap of Kitana with darker skin, a green outfit and gold fans. When she was made playable in UMK3, she received the staff and Razor-rang she is so well known for.
• Downloadable Content: Klassic Jade from MKII/3 in MK9
• Dude Magnet: By the gods, yes. In 11, she has multiple guys chomping at the bit to be with her, but unfortunately for them, she's already given her heart to Kotal Kahn.
• Emerald Power: She's an assassin who wears green clothes and uses a staff that glows green and fires green energy as projectiles.
• Evil Brit: She retains her British accent as a Revenant in 11.
• Fanservice Pack: In Deception. Like the others, it continues on to Armageddon and 9. On top of this, her victory pose in 9 (should the player choose to not perform a Fatality) has Jade doing a pole dance with her staff for everyone's viewing pleasure.
• Fate Worse than Death: What Baraka claims of her Revenant state as of 11, to which she does not disagree with.
• Friend Versus Lover: The reveal of her relationship with Kotal Kahn creates this dilemma for Jade in 11. She tells Kitana in one intro that she wishes to support them both and faces this struggles again in her Tower ending, where she must decide between creating a timeline with Kitana or Kotal in it.
• Future Me Scares Me: The living Jade is horrified of her revenant self in 11.
  Jade: By the Gods, it's true? This is what I become?!
• Gainax Ending: In her ending in 9, after defeating Shao Kahn, she collapses from exhaustion, and has a vision of a mysterious woman. This character, who wasn't named, had never appeared in any other place in the franchise. The strange woman also appears in Kitana's Arcade Ladder ending to X (where Jade makes a cameo). This woman would later be revealed to be Kronika, the Big Bad of 11.
• The Ghost: One of the intro dialogues from MK1 mentions that Jade is a Countess in the New Era, with Liu Kang advising Kitana to keep her close.
• Girlish Pigtails: Her alternate costume in Deception. Braided, too.
• Groin Attack: The first part of her X-Ray in 9, delivered with her staff from behind.
• Hammerspace: Jade's staff is bigger than her. Averted in MK9, where Jade holds the staff in her hand at all times. It's shown to extend and shrink in a manner similar to Goku's Power Pole.
  • Averted even more in 11, where the staff is depicted as two handles kept at her waist which form the rest of the staff out of energy.
• The Heart: In 11, she's held in high regard for her moral compass, as stated by Raiden, Kotal Kahn and Kitana.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Kitana. This is perhaps driven home by her post-battle exchange with Mileena in 9's Story Mode ("I am more of a sister to Kitana than you"). Similar to the Kitana/Kotal example, Jade warns Liu Kang that if he ever hurts Kitana, he'll be answering to her.
• Hitman with a Heart: Same deal as Kitana, and likely her partner for many victims.
• I Am Very British: She speaks like this in 11.
• I Hate Past Me: Her revenant self in 11 has a low opinion towards her living self for still being loyal to Kitana.
• Immune to Bullets: She can put a force field around herself that makes all projectiles go through her, forcing her opponents to fight her in close quarters.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: In Aftermath, Sindel runs through Revenant Jade with her Kwan Dao. Then Shao Kahn hammers Revenant Kitana backwards onto the Kwan Dao and they die together.
• In the Hood: Her living self wears a brown hood in 11. As seen in the picture above, it can be customized to her usual green.
• Informed Attractiveness: Jade is obviously beautiful, but beginning in 11 she attracts more male attention than the majority of other (also objectively attractive) female characters.
• Interspecies Romance: She, an Edenian, is in a romantic relationship with Kotal Kahn, an Osh-Tekk.
• Leotard of Power: Frequently wears these if not wearing Underwear of Power.
• Long Hair Is Feminine: Albeit usually tied up in a braid.
• The Lost Lenore: She's revealed to be Kotal Kahn's. It's implied that Kotal himself is this for her in both the original and reboot timelines.
• Martial Arts Staff: Jade's main weapon is a bo staff.
• Meaningful Name: Not only does Jade favor green as the primary coloration of her attire, she also has green eyes in 9.
• Missed the Call: Jade wanted to aid Kitana and the others during Deadly Alliance, but was a bit late in joining up with them. This actually saved Jade's life in a Slept Through the Apocalypse-esque manner, as she wasn't slain by the Tarkatan horde and subsequently revived to do Onaga's bidding.
• Ms. Fanservice: Like the rest of the female Edenians, Jade is a curvy woman who tends to wear skin baring outfits. This is most evident in MK9, where she has a victory pose that involves her pole dancing and has two outfits that are essentially a bikini and a leotard with a Navel-Deep Neckline. Even her moves list in 11 starts embracing this, with moves named rather suggestively: “Simple Seduction,” “My Pleasure,” “Temptation,” “Pole Dance,” “Heaven’s Heel,” “Bow Before Me,” and “Fatal Attraction.” Her post-victory taunts in 11 also include licking her staff and swaying her hips with dialogue ranging from “Come closer…” to “Like what you see?” to “Don’t stare too long.”
• Navel-Deep Neckline: Starting with MKIII, her ninja leotards started getting necklines that would plunge to her stomach and lower, notably with the one in MK9 going past the navel.
• No-Sell: In MKII, Jade had complete immunity to projectiles: they simply go right through her. From UMK3 onward, she has a special that allows projectiles to phase through her. Klassic Jade in 9 retains the full invulnerability she possessed back in II.
• Non-Indicative Name: Why is the Jade's Desert arena named after her? No explanation has ever been given.
• Off with Her Head!: Three of her Fatalities involve ripping the opponent's head off with her staff. In her Hara-kiri move, she does this to herself with her Razor-rang.
• Optional Boss: She was one in her debut in the second game. Also, Klassic Jade in "Goro's Lair" in 9.
• Patriotic Fervor: Heavily implied, at the very least. She's the general of both the Edenian Resistance and the Edenian Freedom Fighters and the bracelets she wears are a symbol of her unshakable loyalty to Edenia. While normally warm and friendly to her allies and loved ones, she most definitely doesn't take kindly to traitors to her homeland, as seen with Rain and (most prominently) Tanya.
• Prim and Proper Bun: Her hairstyle in UMK3 (shared with every other female ninja who existed as of that game).
• Primp of Contempt: 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."
• Professional Killer: Her occupation under Shao Kahn. Notably, while she's far from a bad person, she doesn't regret her job and even boasts she was the best assassin in Outworld. To Kung Lao's dismay.
• Promoted to Playable: In her debut, Jade was an unplayable secret character who was just a green Palette Swap of Kitana and Mileena.
• Race Lift: Jade started out as a clearly darker-skinned palette swap of Kitana, then looked Asian in the movie, before finally settling on the brown-skinned tone we see above. Especially in pretty much every version of the second game developed by Probe. While a few, like the DOS and 32X versions, did darken her skin slightly, the most any of them got right was her green attire, and none of them came close to the right skin tone at all for her.
• Really 700 Years Old: Same deal as Kitana.
• Remember the New Guy?: Unlocking the fight with her in MKII is prefaced with text that states that she was an undiscovered warrior from the first game. There was no such character in MK1 proper, and although the first movie would've played on this by having her appear to fight Sonya, the scene was scrapped.
• Retractable Weapon: In 9, her staff was made into a shrinking weapon akin to Goku's Power Pole, which she pairs with her Razor-rangs which collapse into daggers in 11.
• Sassy Black Woman: Becomes this in 11, where her pre-fight dialogue with other characters ooze sass, though not in the stereotypical sense of a Sassy Black Woman, her lines being more of a Deadpan Snarker attitude.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Invoked in both timelines. When it comes between carrying out Shao Kahn's orders or saving Kitana's life, she chose the latter.
• Secret Character: She demanded that you win the fight before the ? in one-player mode using only low kicks.
• Shadow Archetype: Much like how Revenant Kitana is Shao Kahn's perfect daughter, Revenant Jade is his perfect assassin. Unlike the living Jade, who is a loyal bodyguard to Kitana that is still willing to stand up to both her and Kotal when she feels they're acting out of line, Revenant Jade is a cold-hearted killer that obeys whoever she currently serves without question, taking pride in the fact that she has discarded her compassion in favor of killing whoever she's ordered to. She even tells her past self that sticking to Kitana would lead to her death, an idea she is appalled by.
• And Show It to You: This is how Sindel killed her in MK9.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Kotal Kahn's heart is what attracted her the most of him. Even after the latter tries to commit genocide against the Tarkatans again, he comes to realize it was wrong, to which she doesn't hold it hard on him for it.
  Kotal Kahn: You would… have me? Even with my hardened heart?
  Jade: I know your heart. It can change.
• So Proud of You: Sports a huge smile when Kitana is hailed the new ruler of Outworld.
• Spinning Out of Here: In Deception, she gains a move called Vanishing Winds where she spins around a cloud of green smoke and reappears behind her opponent. Kitana and Khameleon would borrow this move in Armageddon.
• Spoof Aesop: Well, we can only hope she's kidding when she gives this advice. (Of course, as stated below, the source probably shouldn't be considered canon.)
• Stance System: Fan Zi and Kuo Shou. She only keeps Fan Zi for MKA, where none other than Shinnok's clone starts using Kuo Shou.
• Statuesque Stunner: As with many Edenians, she is quite tall (5'8" without the heels) and is able to stand toe to toe with many male characters. Being a Dude Magnet in 11 is proof of the "stunner" part. It helps that her face model, Alexis Gaube, has cheekbones sharper than Jade's Razor-rangs.
• Stripperiffic: Not only her costume and such; her non-Fatality win animation in MK9 features her planting her staff upright in the ground and twirling around it like a stripper pole.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Rare Female Example in 11, which technically makes it Tall, Dark and Beautiful. Jade is a dark-skinned Statuesque Stunner with multiple male characters admiring her.
  • Tall, Dark, and Snarky: And she's equal parts pretty and sassy, if her intros with other fighters are any indication.
• Take Up My Sword: Her arsenal is in Kitana's hands during her Mournful variation is chosen in X. Which is rather strange since 11 reveals that her revenant self is still alive.
• Teleport Spam: In 11. She could teleport in previous games, but 11 is where she starts doing it even if it's not really necessary.
• Telescoping Staff: Her staff has been depicted this way since 9.
• They Killed Kenny Again: If Johnny wasn't the poster boy for this trope already, Jade would run a close second, especially in media outside of the main games' continuity. To list them off, she gets offed by Liu Kang in Shaolin Monks, eaten by a demon in Annihilation, killed alongside everyone else in Armageddon, does not survive the events of MK9 and X's Continuity Snarl seems to imply she dies as a revenant sometime before the events of that game, until 11 reveals that she was in fact still alive as a revenant the whole time. However, her revenant dies defending Kronika in both the main story and Aftermath. Her past (non-revenant) self fares somewhat better, as she's only implied to be killed offscreen by either Sindel or Shao Kahn in Aftermath and is presumably brought back by Liu Kang (along with all the other heroes) in his ending.
• Third-Person Seductress: This speaks volumes. Apparently, Jade was kind enough to let us know that her BWH measurements are 36-24-36 and that her astrological sign is Scorpio (This is something of an example of Informed Attractiveness; Video Game Vixens probably shouldn't be counted as canon and while Jade is conventionally attractive, she's neither wasp-waisted nor more buxom than the other females as they all pretty much have the same perfect figure. And as for being a Scorpio, being ten-thousand years old, she was born long before the Western Zodiac system — or the calendar it is based on, for that matter was established).
• Token Good Teammate: Same deal as Kitana.
• Underwear of Power: As her primary costume in Deception and alternate in 9.
• Undying Loyalty: To Edenia, but Kitana most of all. When Kitana is imprisoned by Shao Kahn after learning of Mileena's creation and the death of her real father at Kahn's hands, Jade immediately sets off to rescue her best friend and then seeks out Raiden's help, effectively pulling a High-Heel–Face Turn on Kitana's behalf.
• Unexplained Accent: In 11, Jade speaks with a pronounced British accent, one not heard in her fellow Edenians Sindel and Kitana.
• Villainous Cheekbones: As a Revenant, she retains her living self's high cheekbones courtesy of Alexis Gaube.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: While she's clearly shown to have been raised as one of Quan Chi's revenants◊ after her death in 9, Jade is curiously absent from X except for Kitana's ending, where she cameos as a spirit reaching out to her emotionally tormented revenant friend. Her living and revenant selves would show up later in 11.
• Whole Costume Reference: Has a DLC costume in 11 patterned after The Wicked Witch of the West.
• World's Most Beautiful Woman: Her redesign in 11 is her most attractive so far, as she's gained multiple admirers and would-be suitors.
  • Not only does Johnny Cage hit on her, he makes it clear that he wants to tap it, which Jade snarkily declines. A seperate pre-fight dialogue between them has Johnny tell her that he once dated a beauty queen who looked exactly like her (with Jade dryly expressing pity for the woman), and one of his dialogues with Kotal Kahn has Johnny ask Kotal if Jade has any sisters.
  • Kotal himself also becomes taken by Jade's valor as well as her beauty. The two are confirmed to be lovers by 11.
    Past Jade: I'm surprised no woman has claimed your bed and become your queen.
    Present Kotal: Many have tried.
    Past Jade: Yet they failed? Why?
    Present Kotal: None of them were you.
  • Kung Lao is no exception and asks Jade if she'd be interested in joining him on a double date with Kitana and Liu Kang. Unlike with Johnny, Jade doesn't mince words and bluntly replies: "In your dreams, Kung Lao."

Smoke

Smoke (Tomas Vrbada)

"When there is smoke, there is fire"

^{Click here to see his Revenant form}
"Smoke is dead. I am Enenra!"

Debut game: Mortal Kombat II (Daniel Pesina)

Other appearances: Mortal Kombat 3 (Sal Divita, cyborg), Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (John Turk, human), Mortal Kombat: Deception, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, Mortal Kombat 9 (Ken Lally), Mortal Kombat X (cameo) (Andrew Bowen, English; Carlo Vázquez, Latin American Spanish), Mortal Kombat 1 (Yuri Lowenthal, English and face model; José Ángel Torres, Latin American Spanish)

Non-game appearances: Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (Ridley Tsui), Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm (Jeremy Ratchford), Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (Matthew Mercer)

Formerly a deadly Lin Kuei assassin from Prague named Tomas Vrbada, Smoke was forced against his will to become a cyborg assassin. However, unlike other warriors converted into killing machines, he retained his soul, which constantly battles against his programming to assert Smoke's free will.

During the second tournament in Outworld, Smoke was assigned to aid the sixth Sub-Zero in his assassination of Shang Tsung. The mission was unsuccessful, but the two did aid the Earthrealm warriors against Shao Kahn. Returning home to find the Lin Kuei planned to convert their members into cyborgs, Smoke and Sub-Zero fled to avoid being turned into machines. Unfortunately, Smoke was captured and then forcibly made into a cyborg assassin. Sent after his former friend Sub-Zero, he eventually realized that he still had a soul and overcame his programming. Despite aiding his ally in Cyrax and Sektor's defeat, Smoke was captured by Shao Kahn's forces.

Taken as a trophy to Outworld, he rotted in the Kahn's dungeon deactivated until revived by Noob Saibot to be his ally against his will. Noob intends to use Smoke as a template for a cyber-demonic army. But there have been signs that his true nature remains.

Smoke's story is probably the one which most dramatically changed in Mortal Kombat 9 when compared to his previous incarnation. He does NOT get automatized in lieu of Kuai Liang getting captured, aids the defenders of Earthrealm against Shao Kahn's invasion, dies against Sindel and gets bound to Quan Chi's service in the Netherrealm. In MKX, he is one of the many fallen warriors that Shinnok and Quan Chi use in their plan to conquer Earthrealm. In his words: "Smoke is dead. I am Enenra!" He is never seen or mentioned again afterward, only referenced in passing through the character Triborg utilizing the intended robotic vessel for his soul. Even in 11, he does not make an appearance, with the only implications as to his fate being subtle hints that his Revenant self was destroyed defending Shinnok's temple from Dark Raiden's assault on the Netherrealm.

In the new era of Mortal Kombat 1, Smoke's story is changed once again: Young Tomas was born into a family of hunters, who had to fight for their survival almost every day and hone their skills in order to see the tomorrow. However, during one of their hunts, the family trespassed onto the lands which were the territory of the Lin Kuei, a secretive clan of warriors. For such transgression, Tomas's parents and twin sister were killed, and the boy was left orphaned. Incensed at his subordinates' actions, the clan's Grandmaster took it upon himself to take him into his own family and raise him as his own child alongside his sons, Bi-Han and Kuai Liang. Over time, Tomas, now known as Smoke, become a formidable warrior himself, but due to lacking his brothers' innate talents, he took it upon himself to learn "practical" magic. As their father tragically passes away and Bi-Han gains the title of Grandmaster, Smoke has to choose between following his brother's ambition or living in accordance with the old ways.

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Tropes related with Smoke (human) (MKII/UMK3/MKT/MK9)

• Anime Hair: His MK9 design grants him long, silver hair.
• Back from the Dead: Subverted in the main story of MKX. Played straight in the multiplayer AU, in which he also rejoined the Lin Kuei.
• Battle Aura: His body emits a constant fume of smoke. His cyborg form does the same, but this is by artificial means.
• Came Back Strong: His ladder ending reveals that he was offered as a ritual sacrifice to a demon-worshiping cult who sought to gain mystical powers. He was resurrected as an Enenra, a creature of smoke and used his newfound powers to kill his murderers.
• Canon Name: 9 confirmed his birth name to be Tomas Vrbada.
• A Day in the Limelight: In Mortal Kombat 9, he's the focus of Chapter 7.
• Devious Daggers: The Smoke of the New Era uses a karambit dagger for many of his attacks, in addition to his combat and magic skills, and is a shadow warrior of the Lin Kuei.
• Divergent Character Evolution: In his debut in II, human Smoke's moveset consisted of Scorpion's "Spear" and a faster version of Reptile's stance. In 3, he retained Scorpion's moves and had Ermac's uppercut Fatality. In 9, Smoke's moveset was given a massive overhaul consisting of teleporting and turning into smoke. Unlike other returning characters in that game, most of Smoke's moves in 9 are new ones created solely for his appearance here.
• Downloadable Content: In 9, Klassic Smoke from II.
• Fanservice Pack: His redesign in 9 shows off a lot more arm and gives him long hair, making much more ample eye candy than the other ninjas.
• Forgotten Fallen Friend: Averted. Kuai Liang is still upset about Smoke's death well into the future; when Noob Saibot mentions Smoke is in the Netherrealm, Kuai Liang is furious.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With the younger Sub-Zero. Smoke considers Sub-Zero to be like a brother to him.
• Invisibility: Can disappear into a cloud of smoke and use it to turn invisible.
• Irony: At his debut, Smoke just used Scorpion's moveset in addition to being faster. Later on, when he was actually given a story, he was made a Lin Kuei member instead.
• Leeroy Jenkins: Shows some shades of this in 9. When his friend is captured by the Lin Kuei to be automated, he almost blows his cover, risking his own capture. Later, after Jade defeats Mileena and attempts to contact Raiden, Smoke believes that Jade just knocked out Kitana and challenges her to a battle, despite Jade and Raiden telling him otherwise (given his words, it's likely that he perceived Jade's relationship with Kitana to mirror that of his own with his friend).
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: By the franchise's standards at least. He has a handsome look and long, silvery hair.
• McNinja: 9 reveals he's actually Czech.
• Meaningful Name: Uses smoke as a means of stealth and attack.
• Mysterious Past: According to his bio in 9, Smoke has no memory of his childhood and hopes that his time with the Lin Kuei will help him uncover his past and the origin of his powers. In his Arcade Ladder ending in 9, he remembers this: as a child, he was sacrificed to a demon by an unknown cult, returning to life as an Enenra, a creature made of smoke and vapor, and slaughtering the ones who killed him.
• Mystical White Hair: As seen in 9, which finally provides a look at Smoke's backstory and gives an explanation for his unnatural abilities.
• Neck Snap: This is how Sindel killed him in MK9.
• Optional Boss: He was one in his debut in the second game. Also, Klassic Smoke in "The Living Forest" in 9.
• Potty Failure: His Babality in MK9.
• Pun: His pre-battle quote in 9:
  Smoke: Where's there's smoke, there is fire!
• Related in the Adaptation: In the New Era Timeline, after his family was murdered by the Lin Kuei for accidently walking into their territory, the Grandmaster at the time adopts the young Smoke, making him siblings with his sons, Scorpion and Sub-Zero.
• Secret Character: In MKII, he required you be at the Portal. Whenever you uppercut, sometimes sound designer Dan Forden appears in the corner saying "Toasty!" If you're on the portal, hit Down and Start at the same time.
• Shown Their Work: His intro quote, "Where there is smoke, there is fire!", sounds a lot less corny once you realize that it is actually a fairly subtle allusion; traditionally, Enenras primarily manifest through open flame.
• Split-Personality Takeover: In X, the Enenra takes over Smoke's body and overrides his personality and mind, if his line in the That Man Is Dead example below is anything to go by.
• Stealth Pun: In the New Era Timeline, Smoke is a normal human with no supernatural abilities. He uses practical magic to be an effective Lin Kuei warrior alongside Sub-Zero and Scorpion. The term "Smoke and Mirrors" may come to mind, with the only difference being that magic among many other things is very real in the MK universe.
• Suddenly Ethnicity: According to 9, Smoke was born in the Czech Republic. That's right, a Slavic McNinja.
• Super Smoke: It's in his name. His special moves all involve smoke.
• Smoke Out: Inverted in 9, where he throws a wispy projectile at the ground. If it connects with his opponent, they are forcibly transported into the air.
• Super-Speed: In his MKII appearance, he was a Scorpion clone who had three distinguishing features: the smoke coming from his body, his throwing, and his insane speed.
• Teleport Spam: His quick teleports and teleport attack ensure a player will be aiming for this.
• That Man Is Dead: "Smoke is dead! I am Enenra!" Justified, as Smoke is literally dead, with the Enenra within him being instead a Revenant Zombie.
• Undeathly Pallor: A grayish-white skin after being revived as a brainwashed minion.
• Volcanic Veins: He gains these upon being revived as a brainwashed minion of Quan Chi.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: He and Stryker makes no appearances in the story of 11 or Aftermath despite them both still being Revenants. Dialogue between Nightwolf and Sub-Zero imply he was among the casualties of Raiden's war against the Netherrealm, but dialogue between Sub-Zero and Noob Saibot has the latter claim that Smoke still remains in the Netherrealm.
• The Worf Effect: A less severe case. In his chapter of Story Mode, he faces off against Kitana and Sektor and triumphs without much difficulty. When they meet again (Kitana and Nightwolf's chapters, respectively), Kitana beats him alongside Cage and Sektor treats Smoke like a rag doll, with Smoke being unable to successfully land a blow before Sektor gets him into a chokehold and Nightwolf has to intervene.
• Wrestler in All of Us: In 9, the first part of his X-Ray move has him German suplexing his opponent. He then turns around and kicks them hard in the face while telling them to "Stay down."
• Yank the Dog's Chain: In 9, he gets:
  • To escape his fate from the original canon and stay human.
  • More unique specials.
  • His own chapter in Story Mode.
    But then…
  • He's brutally offed by Sindel.
  • He's resurrected by Quan Chi to serve him in the Netherrealm. Oh, and he never gets resurrected after Shinnok's war.
  • It's also implied that whatever demon he was sacrificed to is what is in control of him now. That or Smoke has willingly embraced his demonic nature due to his turn to the dark side.

Smoke (LK-7T2)

Tropes related with Smoke (every other game, also UMK3/MKT)

• Assimilation Plot: His ending in Armageddon.
• Assist Character: Becomes one to Noob Saibot in Deception.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: In Deception and Armageddon, he has no weapon. In Deception, this was because he was a tag team with Noob, but in Armageddon, he doesn't pick up a weapon after Sub-Zero frees him from Noob's control. Instead, he has two unarmed fighting styles, Mi Tzu and Judo.
• The Cameo: Makes a brief appearance in Mortal Kombat 1 as an opponent who can be fought in the final battle. He even comes with his harpoon gun!
• Canon Immigrant: As part of Triborg, since Smoke was never turned into a cyborg in the new timeline.
• Cool Mask: His alt in Deception (later his default costume in Armageddon).
• Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: He's the most obvious subversion in the series. His personality and identity are suppressed, but his soul is still intact. However, while Cyrax and Sektor could not be detected by Shao Kahn for their lack of souls, Smoke did, though his couldn't be stolen as he was one of Raiden's chosen warriors, but it went From Bad to Worse for him: even his later reprogramming by Noob Saibot is implied to not be sticking. Hilariously, the timelines where he becomes a cyborg end up increasing his chances of retaining his soul.
• Dead Guy on Display: After MK3, Shao Kahn kept his deactivated body as a trophy.
• Divergent Character Evolution: In 3, Smoke used a variation of the spear (a three-pronged harpoon that shot from his chest) in addition to Reptile's invisibility and Sektor's teleport uppercut. It was not until Deception that Smoke arguably acquired his first original set of moves, many of which involved using the smoke from his body.
• Eat the Bomb: One of his Fatalities in MK3.
• Earth-Shattering Kaboom Used as an (obviously non-canon) Fatality.
• Fighting from the Inside: Deception hints that Smoke's good nature has not been entirely suppressed by Noob's programming. In Ashrah's ending, he starts to short-circuit in the Netherrealm, as only demons and truly evil people can remain there unharmed. In Konquest mode, Smoke passes along several messages and plans for Sub-Zero through Shujinko, suggesting that he's acting as The Mole.
• Grey Goo: His nanomachines become this in his Armageddon ending. The realms are, simply put, screwed.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: Good by default, but unwillingly turned evil in 3 and Deception. By Armageddon (or specifically, Konquest mode of that game), he's back on the side of good, seen with the Forces of Light during the Battle of Armageddon.
• I Am Legion: His ending in Armageddon.
• Nanomachines: Noob attempts to harness them in his conquest of the realms. They're responsible for repairing Smoke's robotic body, explaining his new appearance in Deception.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: From what info has been given between the two continuities, he's a Slavic human-turned Enenra-turned human again-turned cyborg.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: In Deception/Armageddon, he sports these as he partners with Noob Saibot. He also sports red eyes as Triborg, who is also evil.
• Stance System: Had Mi Tzu during his tag-team with Noob. In Armageddon he was also given Judo, since he was one of the two non-boss characters to not be given a weapon (the other being Mokap).
• Super Smoke: Starts using this ability in his moveset starting from Deception.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: For one of his Fatality moves in 3, he scatters enough bombs across the ground to blow up the entire planet. All for trying to take you with him.
• Unwilling Roboticisation: He was forced into the cyberization process against his will in the original timeline.

Kintaro

Kintaro

"I will eat your heart!"

Debut game: Mortal Kombat II

Other appearances: Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, Mortal Kombat 9 (Rhassan Orange), Mortal Kombat 11 (cameo)

Non-game appearances: Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (Dave B. Mitchell)

Stronger and more agile than his predecessor, he is enraged by Goro's defeat. Kintaro vows to take revenge on the earth warriors responsible.

After learning of Goro's apparent death at the hands of a mere mortal, Kintaro vowed to avenge him and destroy Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat. After a restored Shang Tsung was defeated again yet by Liu Kang, Kintaro then challenged Liu Kang to Mortal Kombat. He ultimately lost just as Goro did.

Kintaro is basically the same in Mortal Kombat 9, barring an appearance in the 3 portion of the story that shows him burning Kabal. However, he was strong-armed into the Outworld civil war when King Gorbak found out that Goro lost his arms. He has been ordered to lead the Shokan in attacking Kotal Kahn's capital while the opposing Emperor's strength is compromised. He is then killed by a brainwashed Sonya Blade in the Tie-in Comics leading to Mortal Kombat X.

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• Beast Man: According to his bio in 9, Kintaro hails from a lower lineage of Shokan known as the Tigrar, as opposed to Goro and Sheeva hailing from the more noble and aristocratic Draco lineage. In X, Goro calls him a "striped commoner", reinforcing this.
• Been There, Shaped History: In 9, it's revealed he's the one who nearly killed Kabal during the events of MK3.
• Breath Weapon: By MK9, has breathing a stream of fire as a move.
• The Brute: He has more use as muscle for Outworld than Goro.
• The Cameo: In 11, Kintaro's soul is used in one of Shang Tsung's fatalities, forced to manifest a corporeal form inside Shang's opponent and tear his way out.
• Co-Dragons: With Mileena to Shao Kahn after replacing Shang Tsung and Goro.
• Cute Kitten: What happens to him during his MK9 Babality transformation.
• Fantastic Racism: He seems to have a big distaste for humans.
  Kintaro: "Humans, less ugly when they burn!"
• In Name Only: He's named after a Japanese folk hero, but has nothing to do with him at all. The original Kintaro was more of a Japanese version of Tarzan.
• The Juggernaut: He is not so stunned from getting hit, and can sometimes counter attack you when he's blocking.
• Kick the Dog: He horrifically burns/permanently cripples Kabal with his Fire Breath in MK9's story mode, and mockingly states that humans are "less ugly when they burn".
• Kick Them While They Are Down: Losing a match to this guy is going to be humiliating even if he doesn't kill you; his non-Fatality winning pose in 9 consists of knocking his opponent into the air, catching him or her by the leg, and then holding the victim aloft by the heel, upside-down.
• Kill It with Fire: What he delivers to Kabal via Breath Weapon in 9, minus the killing part.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: He can be peacefully persuaded to stop hostilities, seeing how he made peace with Kotal Kahn.
• Lions and Tigers and Humans... Oh, My!: Originally designed as a tiger/human hybrid,◊ this look was ultimately scrapped due to it not being feasible to construct at the time and replaced with the "Shokan plus tiger stripes" look he sports in MKII. For his return in Armageddon he was given more tiger-like characteristics, an aspect carried over to MK9.
  • During an interview Gamepro did with John Tobias, John stated "Even in Mortal Kombat II, we still didn't have all the time to do everything we wanted", citing Kintaro. He says, "I based him on Goro's species, adding different markings, but I was never fully satisfied with the Kintaro character."
• Loincloth: Same deal as Goro.
• Monster Modesty: Like his fellow Shokan, Kintaro merely wears a loincloth and some light armor on his arms.
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Like Goro, he sports four arms.
• Noodle Incident: An intro between Kung Lao and Kollector reveals Kintaro owed the latter a debt for unknown reasons that was made void upon his defeat by Kung Lao in 9. Kollector attempts to kill Kung Lao over it.
• No True Scotsman: For him, true Outworlders do not ask for aid from Earthrealm (with Mileena enlisting the Red Dragon and Kotal Kahn being backed by the Special Forces until being relieved by the Black Dragon). No wonder the Shokan remained neutral, even at the price of becoming outcasts.
• Off with His Head!: He suffers this fate by a Blood Code controlled Sonya in the new timeline.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: He comes from the Tigrar lineage of Shokan, which are as proud as the Draco one.
• The Siege: What Kotal Kahn thought he would be doing to his capital. Until the Oni warlords show up...
• SNK Boss: All the stuff that made Goro hard applies to him, plus he has a really damaging air throw.
• Stance System: Has a style called Tiger Fist in Armageddon.
• Super Drowning Skills: The MKX comics have revealed he can't swim, and he thus finds himself in trouble when Havik blasts a ship he's on with Shinnok's Amulet, causing it to explode. Fortunately, Sheeva has no such issues.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To Goro, status-wise as a Shokan sub-boss.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Par the course for the four armed characters in the series.
• The Worf Effect: Gets his ass handed to him in every battle he's in 9's Story Mode, even though his bio states he became Shao Kahn's bodyguard by slaughtering several Centaurs single-handedly out of sheer grandstanding.

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