History VideoGame / MortalKombat1

* ChurchMilitant: The Umgadi are a religious order of female warriors worshipping the Outworld gods Delia and Argus (e.g. Tanya called them the "Blessed of Delia" and warned Reiko that she considered insults against them as blasphemy against their patron deity) and are tasked with guarding the royal family. They are selected from the firstborn daughters of Outworld's noble families and have to, much to Mileena and Tanya's chagrin, also take a VowOfCelibacy (Johnny is also quite vocal about how this is a crime, but this is just a part of his [[CasanovaWannabe doomed quest to make Tanya or any of the royals interested in him]]).

* EvilCostumeSwitch / GoodCostumeSwitch:
** The base character roster has alternate outfits labelled "Union of Light" or "Order of Darkness," which can result in either of these depending on the character's alignment. [[spoiler:The Union of Light skins represent the playable Titan versions of the characters that New Era Liu Kang recruits for the Battle of Armageddon in the final chapter. The Order of Darkness skins represent either the Titans that Titan Shang Tsung summons before he gathers the amalgam characters or variants that serve as the antagonists of each season of the Invasions mode.]]
** The latter is {{Downplayed}} with Reptile. He loses his mask following his fight with Baraka, which is almost immediately followed by his HeelFaceTurn. Of course, this does fit with him being ForcedIntoEvil in the first place.

* GoryDiscretionShot: Oddly enough, Shang Tsung's stabbing of Dark Reiko is partially obscured by his body in one shot.

* FreezeFrameBonus: [[spoiler:During Scorpion's struggle with a dagger-wielding Sub-Zero after the latter's betrayal, eagle-eyed gamers will notice that Bi-Han quickly moved the dagger to his left hand and made a stabbing motion with his ''empty'' right hand [[FiveSecondForeshadowing a moment before Kuai Liang does]].]]

** In Chapter 2, Cage's wife Cris mentions that Cage wasted $30,000 on a drone. Fast foward to Chapter 13, Cage uses the drone to spy on the Dragon Army.

--> '''Liu Kang:''' I would not send my champions unwittingly into ''Mortal Kombat''.

--> '''Johnny''': You look like the dad I never had.
--> '''Omni-Man''': You're fragile. ''My'' son... is ComicBook/{{Invincible}}.

-->'''Mileena''': Haven't we fought enough today?
-->'''Tanya''': Do you wish to be trained or not, Your Highness?

* TheTreesHaveFaces: The Living Forest has been reimagined in the New Era, no longer haunted and perpetually shadowed. It instead is a living shrine to the souls of the honored dead in Outworld and houses spirits as benevolent [[SceneryPorn as it looks]]. [[spoiler:It's only after Quan-chi robs the forest of the souls inhabiting it for his Soul Battery that the Forest takes on the more familar and grotesque look as The Corrupted Forest, [[SceneryGorn with faces twisted in agony and pain, and green fire ravaging it in the background.]]]]

* TheCameo: In addition to the Kameo system, the final battle at the Pyramid of Argus features alternate versions of characters that don't exist yet in the New Era such as [[spoiler:Cassie Cage and Jacqui Briggs]].

* GoodCostumeSwitch:
** {{Downplayed}} with Reptile. He loses his mask following his fight with Baraka, which is almost immediately followed by his HeelFaceTurn. Of course, this does fit with him being ForcedIntoEvil in the first place.
** In the final battle, [[spoiler:variants of villainous characters are available for choosing to play as. To help distinguish your character they have more bright and colorful outfits to contrast with the dark ones worn by your enemies.]]
* GoryDiscretionShot: Oddly enough, Shang Tsung's stabbing of Dark Reiko is partially obscured by his body in one shot.

* From '''''VideoGame/MortalKombat3'':''' [[KungFuWizard Rain]], [[TheHighQueen Sindel]], [[IAmLegion ''Ermac'']]

* From '''''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'':''' [[DualWielding ''Takeda Takahashi'']]

''[[RecycledTitle Mortal Kombat 1]]'' is the twelfth installment in the ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' franchise, serving as a second rebooted installment of the franchise. It was released for the Platform/PlayStation5, Platform/XboxSeriesXAndS, Platform/NintendoSwitch, Platform/{{Steam}}, and Platform/EpicGamesStore on September 19, 2023. It runs under a modified version of Creator/EpicGames's UsefulNotes/UnrealEngine 4.

** On a meta level, the first game that uses a modified UsefulNotes/UnrealEngine 4 rather than the heavily modified Unreal Engine 3 that powered ''everything'' between 2008's ''VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse'' and 2019's ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11''. Note that this list ''also'' includes ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' and ''VideoGame/Injustice2''. That's 11 years and 6 games of using the same, heavily modified engine, with evolving visuals.

* From '''''VideoGame/{{Mortal Kombat|1992}}'':''' [[Characters/MortalKombatBiHan Sub-Zero I]], [[Characters/MortalKombatLiuKang Liu Kang]], [[Characters/MortalKombatRaiden Raiden]], [[Characters/MortalKombatJohnnyCage Johnny Cage]], Reptile, ''[[Characters/MortalKombatShangTsung Shang Tsung]]''
* From '''''VideoGame/MortalKombatII'':''' [[Characters/MortalKombatKitana Kitana]], [[Characters/MortalKombatMileena Mileena]], Kung Lao, Smoke, Baraka
* From '''''VideoGame/MortalKombat3'':''' Rain, Sindel, ''Ermac''

* From '''''VideoGame/MortalKombat4'':''' Tanya, Reiko
* From '''''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance'':''' Kenshi Takahashi, Li Mei, Nitara
* From '''''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception:''''' Ashrah
* From '''''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'':''' ''Takeda Takahashi''
* From '''''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'':''' Geras
* New to '''''Mortal Kombat 1'':''' [[Characters/MortalKombatKuaiLiang Scorpion II]], [[Characters/MortalKombatShao General Shao]], Havik II

** Li Mei is modeled after her voice actress, Creator/KellyHu. Sindel also uses her likeness - but with a different voice actress.