History VideoGame / MortalKombat1

* FlexibleTourneyRules: Heavily downplayed compared to past games, here the Mortal Kombat tournament ''does'' have a standard set of rules that both realms abide by, and while they don't go into detail on them, it is clear both realms are following them. For instance, Liu Kang explains that because Outworld is the host of this round, they have the right to field several opponents while Earthrealm can only field Raiden (presumably the other warriors who accompany Liu Kang are there for ceremonial purposes). Outworld has traditional opponents they field, like their first constable, a warrior from the army hand-picked by their general, the ruler's heir-apparent, and ending with their general. In fact, when Kitana is announced to fight in place of Mileena, Liu Kang protests that it's against the rules to pit Raiden against someone he wasn't informed about beforehand, but he's convinced to let it slide by Sindel and Raiden. The only fuzzy part is when Liu Kang grants Raiden an amulet to grant him lightning powers, and says it is to level the playing field against Outworld's combatants who have their own magic; no one ever brings up if this is within tournament rules or not, but the Outworlders don't question his powers either way.

* ForceFeeding: The Thanksgiving Fatality has the player character dislodging their opponent's jaw on the edge of a table, cramming potato salad, pumpkin pie and a turkey down their throat and then jumping on their BalloonBelly, causing vomit to violently erupt from their mouth and the top of their head.

** The three {{Guest Fighter}}s are all visually designed to resemble their actors from their comics' respective television adaptations: Creator/AntonyStarr for [[Series/TheBoys2019 Homelander]], Creator/JKSimmons for [[WesternAnimation/Invincible2021 Omni-Man]] and Creator/JohnCena for Series/{{Peacemaker|2022}}. Simmons and Cena are confirmed to reprise their roles, though Antony Starr would not.

** The three {{Guest Fighter}}s are all visually designed to resemble their actors from their comics' respective television adaptations: Creator/AntonyStarr for [[Series/TheBoys2019 Homelander]], Creator/JKSimmons for [[WesternAnimation/Invincible2021 Omni-Man]] and Creator/JohnCena for Series/{{Peacemaker|2022}}. Simmons and Cena are confirmed to reprise their roles... unfortunately for fans, [[https://www.dexerto.com/mortal-kombat/antony-starr-confirms-hes-not-voicing-homelander-in-mortal-kombat-1-2379809 Starr has denied that he'll do the same with his character]], [[VideoGame/MortalKombat11 just like with the Terminator]]. What is more devastating, however, is that his response is comprised of a single word: "Nope."
** Nitara's inclusion into the playable roster may not seem surprising at first… until Creator/MeganFox herself was revealed to be the one voicing the character. Nitara even has Megan's facial features lovingly depicted in [=3D=].

** Li Mei is modeled after her voice actor, Creator/KellyHu. Sindel also uses her likeness but with a different voice actor.
** The three {{Guest Fighter}}s are all visually designed to resemble their actors from their comics' respective television adaptations: Creator/AntonyStarr for [[Series/TheBoys2019 Homelander]], Creator/JKSimmons for [[WesternAnimation/Invincible2021 Omni-Man]] and Creator/JohnCena for Series/{{Peacemaker|2022}}. Simmons and Cena are confirmed to reprise their roles, but time will tell if Starr will do the same ([[VideoGame/MortalKombat11 unlike with the Terminator]]).

** In a pre-kombat intro with Johnny, guest character Omniman drops the title of his home franchise:

--> '''Omniman''': You're fragile. ''My'' son... is ComicBook/{{Invincible}}.

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: In the Story Mode preview, one of the patrons of Madam Bo's teahouse is seen casually enjoying a drink while Raiden and Sub-Zero brawl with each other nearby, taking advantage of Raiden swipes with a meat cleaver cutting open a bottle to get a free drink. When Sub-Zero freezes Raiden's hands to the bar table, the patron casually plucks off a shard of ice and drops it in his drink.

* TitleDrop: Done by way of subversion of the series titular feature in the story.

* ChurchMilitant: The Umgadi are a religious order of female warriors worshipping the Outworld gods Delia and Argus 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 any of the royals interested in him]]).

** After the first two games, Reptile became a ChewToy, whose only purpose was to lose to anyone he fought. This game [[CharacterRerailment rerails]] him to the skilled fighter he was back then. While initially defeated by Baraka, Reptile gets to show how formidable he is in his chapter where he defeats Li Mei, Kitana, Tanya and ''Shao'' in quick succession.

* TheChosenMany: [[spoiler:In the [[FinalBattle Second Battle of Armageddon]], the player can choose a character as Liu Kang's champion, ranging from the heroes from Liu Kang's timeline, to GoodCounterpart versions of the villains, an alternate version of Sindel who’s still alive,and even a second version of Liu Kang. Liu Kang himself lampshades this with the player-chosen fighter showing their gratitude]].

** When Nitara tries to tempt Tomas with a promise of immortality by her Coven in a pre-kombat dialogue, he refuses by quoting the line from the song by Music/QueenBand the article took its title from.

** When Nitara made the same offer to Kitana, she refused because of ''how'' Vaeternians live forever (through vampirism).

** When Nitara tries to tempt Tomas with a promise of immortality by her Coven, he refuses by quoting the line from the song by Music/QueenBand the articles took its title from.

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: The Klassic Ladder endings for each character take place after the events of Story Mode, with none of the endings contradicting any other, making them natural continuations of the story. To name a few examples: [[spoiler:Scorpion and Smoke co-found the Shirai Ryu to counter Bi-Han's corrupt Lin Kuei (which has begun building cyberized soldiers), General Shao and Reiko escape imprisonment and make preparations to restart their rebellion, Sindel joins Jerrod's soul within Ermac's body and fights alongside him for control over Ermac, Mileena enlists Baraka's help in providing humanitarian aid to the Tarkatans and Havik convinces Rain to help him destroy Seido's capital.]]

* OhMyGods: Many Outworld characters (especially Tanya) invoke the Outworld gods Delia (often to ask her for blessings or miracles) and Argus (often to ask him to curse the wicked and give the faithful strength to defeat them).

* ChurchMilitant: The Umgadi are a religious order of female warriors worshipping the Outworld gods Delia and Argus 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 either Tanya or Mileena intersted in him]]).

** [[spoiler:Liu Kang and an ally of the player's choosing defeat the Titan Shang Tsung, win the Battle of Armageddon, and bring peace to the New Era. However, a Titan Havik, arriving too late to participate in Armageddon, admires the carnage and promises to start a new, bloodier war in the future.]]

* AsideGlance: In pre-fight dialogue with Geras, Reptile states that he doesn't need Geras' or Liu Kang's opinions on his relationship with Ashrah. When he says Liu Kang's name, he breaks the fourth wall by looking directly at it, acknowledging that Liu Kang is the default announcer for that part of the game's interface.

** A lot of characters in Story Mode will lack moves that depend on attributes/weaponry they've yet to acquire by that point. Kung Lao, for example, has yet to come up with his signature WeaponizedHeadgear in the first chapter, meaning he can only use moves and strings that don't involve it.

* AdaptationalSympathy: Despite Liu Kang failing to make certain characters like Shang Tsung, General Shao, and Quan Chi less of a threat in this timeline, a majority of them have slightly more sympathetic reasons for being a villain this time around, instead of just being straight evil-because-they-are antagonists.

* YouFightLikeACow: As seen in the "It Has Begun" Kombat Kast, one of Johnny Cage's mid-round taunts is "My agent is tougher than you".