Line #12 VideoGame/MortalKombat3


1	[[quoteright:269:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mk_3_2701.jpg]]
2	''[[caption-width-right:269:[[TagLine There is no knowledge that is not power.]]]]''
3
4	->''"You have been chosen to represent Earth in Mortal Kombat. Be warned. Although your souls are protected against Shao Kahn's evil; your lives are not. I cannot interfere any longer as your Earth is now ruled by the Outworld Gods."''
5	-->-- ''These are the words of '''Raiden'''.''
6
7	The ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' series was at the peak of its popularity in [[TheNineties the mid-90s]]. In 1995, the long-awaited ''Mortal Kombat 3'' premiered in arcades before being ported to the [[Platform/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]], UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis, Platform/GameBoy, UsefulNotes/GameGear, Platform/Nintendo64, Platform/PlayStation, UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn, and PC. Roughly half of the second game's cast returned, along with the {{secret character}}s. Several new characters were introduced including the cybernetic ninjas Cyrax and Sektor, the maimed warrior Kabal, the female Shokan Sheeva (a DistaffCounterpart to Goro), BadassNative Nightwolf, off-duty cop Kurtis Stryker, evil robo-[[OurCentaursAreDifferent centaur]] Motaro, and Kitana's resurrected mother Sindel.
8
9	Sindel's presence is the key to this game's story: Shao Kahn murdered her husband and Kitana's father King Jerrod before claiming her for himself, forcing Sindel to flee to Earth where she eventually died. She was resurrected and brainwashed by Shang Tsung's Shadow Priests on Earth, allowing Kahn to enter Earthrealm to reclaim his Queen...[[LoopholeAbuse and summon his forces to conquer Earth at the same time]]. Raiden, [[GodsHandsAreTied unable to take an active role in Earth's defense due to his status as a god]], gathers Earthrealm's best remaining fighters together in order to beat back Kahn's forces and isolate the havoc to a single U.S. city.
10
11	On the gameplay side, ''Mortal Kombat 3'' introduced the "Run" button (along with a sprint meter), Kombat Kodes that allow players to unlock secret characters and other bonuses, chain {{combo}}s (referred to as "Dial-A-Kombos"), Animalities, and [[AlienBlood character-dependent blood]].
12
13	''[=MK3=]'' received two {{update\|drerelease}}s. The first, ''Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3'' (or ''Mortal Kombat 3 Ultimate''), brought back all of the masked ninjas from the previous games and introduced the AscendedMeme Ermac. The second, the home-console-exclusive ''Mortal Kombat Trilogy'', restored the remainder of the missing roster, added Goro and Kintaro as playable characters, and introduced yet another masked ninja in Chameleon/Khameleon depending on which version you're playing: The female Khameleon is exclusive to the [=N64=] version, but the bosses are unplayable. The male Chameleon is playable in the CD versions.
14
15	''[=MK3=]'' spawned a GaidenGame titled ''VideoGame/MortalKombatMythologiesSubZero,'' an ambitous-but-failed BeatEmUp/[[PlatformGame platformer]] hybrid. Midway's focus later returned to [[FightingGame fighting]] with ''VideoGame/MortalKombat4''.
16
17	[[folder:Character roster]]
18	!! Playable
19	* ''Returning from VideoGame/MortalKombat1992'':
20	** ''3'': Liu Kang, Shang Tsung, Sonya, Kano.
21	** ''Ultimate'': Masked Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Reptile.
22	** ''Trilogy'': Raiden, Johnny Cage.
23	* ''Returning from VideoGame/MortalKombatII'':
24	** ''3'': Kung Lao, Jax, Noob Saibot.[[note]]As a dark-skinned Kano, ''Ultimate'' replaced him with the black ninja outfit[[/note]]
25	** ''Ultimate'': Kitana, Mileena, Jade.
26	** ''Trilogy'': Baraka.
27	* ''Newcomers'':
28	** ''3'': Unmasked Sub-Zero, Cyber Smoke, Cyrax, Sektor, Kabal, Sheeva, Nightwolf, Kurtis Stryker, Sindel.
29	** ''Ultimate'': Ermac, Rain.
30	** ''Trilogy'': Chameleon, Khameleon.
31
32	!! Unplayable/Secret
33	* ''Returning from VideoGame/MortalKombatII'':
34	** ''Ultimate'': Human Smoke.
35	* ''Bosses'': Goro, Kintaro, Motaro, Shao Kahn.
36	[[/folder]]
37	----
38	!!See also:
39	* [[DevelopersForesight/MortalKombat the franchise's Developers' Foresight page]]
40	* [[ShoutOut/MortalKombat the franchise's Shout Out page]]
41	* [[StageFatality/MortalKombat the franchise's Stage Fatality page]]
42	----
43	!!The game has examples of the following tropes:
44	* AbortedArc: According to his ''Ultimate [=MK3=]'' ending, Human Smoke vanished into the Hidden Forest to study the techniques of his rivals so "he can compete in Mortal Kombat 4." However, the character ''wasn't'' included in the sequel.
45	* AfterTheEnd: In ''3'', humanity is all but wiped out by the Outworld warriors. It's implied by the [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary comic for]] ''[[AllThereInTheManual 4]]'' that it has managed to rebuild a great deal, and very quickly.
46	* AggressivePlayIncentive: The ''Trilogy'' version adds the Aggressor bar, which fills up during the fight and grants a temporary bonus to damage and speed once full. If the opponent blocks your attacks, your meter fills up faster, meaning that a turtling playstyle will give the opponent the Aggressor bonus more often.
47	* AIBreaker: In the CD versions of Trilogy the AI, even on the hardest difficulty, is hilariously susceptible to Rain's Mind Control Orb into Lightning Bolt combo (Or Mind Control Orb into high kick for the bosses.)
48	* AlienBlood: Sheeva and Motaro (and Reptile, in ''Ultimate'') both bleed green blood, while the Lin Kuei cyborgs [[MachineBlood bleed oil]]. Averted with Khameleon and Chameleon, although ''Armageddon'' later retconned both to have green blood as well.
49	* AllForNothing: In ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'', it is revealed that everything the heroes did to defeat Shao Kahn was for naught. Shao Kahn would have been stopped anyway by the Elder Gods for trying to merge realms without a victory in Mortal Kombat. To make it worse, Shao Kahn's defeat would set into motion events that would lead to the end of all realms.
50	* AnimatedAdaptation: ''WesternAnimation/MortalKombatDefendersOfTheRealm'' took a few elements from this game.
51	* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The disc based versions of Mortal Kombat Trilogy, possibly in anticipation of player frustration, included a wide selection of setting and options to help reduce the LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading including shutting off certain graphical flourishes in the Selection screens, restricting Shang Tsung to two morph options so that the game doesn't need to pause and load, disabling Versus screens so that the game can load directly into fights from Character Select, removing Buy-In screens so that the game can go straight back to Character Select without P2 having to re-join and a Match Recycle option that causes the game to simply replay the current match settings for a certain number of cycles before a Game Over, which can also come in handy for long gaming sessions and tournament settings.
52	* ArtifactTitle: According to the series canon, this is the first game where this applies, as there is no "Mortal Kombat" tournament being contested at all. The tournament would not return to canon until ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'' (which itself is just a retelling of the original game anyway and the tournament is once again done away with once the timeline arrives to the point at which ''Mortal Kombat 3'' happens. There is a tournament going on in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance Deadly Alliance]]'', but it's not a Mortal Kombat tournament).
53	* AttractMode: This was the first game to feature a ratings board advisory screen. It also had the largest number of screens dedicated to the game's backstory than the other two, albeit you'd have to wait through the whole thing for the next slide to show up. ''Trilogy'' did something similar, although the plot was relayed as scrolling text with Goro's Lair as the background.
54	* AwesomeButImpractical: Pulling off a Brutality requires the player to input a combo of 10 to 12 buttons, which differs from character to character, not to mention the possibility of accidentally dropping the opponent with one hit. The end result, however, is pretty jaw-dropping.
55	* BarredFromTheAfterlife: This is how Johnny Cage is back among the living in ''Trilogy'', due to Shao Kahn's invasion destabilizing the connection between the realms of the living and the afterlife; thus ironically, the same event that led to his death is what's preventing his spirit from passing on. Also occurs during Sindel's backstory when she 86ed herself in attempt to escape eternal subservience to the warlord who slaughtered her husband. [[Main/YourSoulIsMine It didn't work.]] Shao-Kahn basically held her soul hostage in Outworld, blocking her transition to the Hereafter.
56	* CeilingSmash: You can uppercut an opponent through the ceiling in certain stages. Also in the Kombat Tomb and Goro's Lair allowed you to uppercut your opponent into the spiked ceiling for a StageFatality.
57	* TheChooserOfTheOne: Until ''Trilogy'' made him playable in the ''[=MK3=]'' storyline again, this was all Raiden could do for the warriors of earth due to deity laws.
58	* ChromaticArrangement: The [[CyberNinja Cyber Ninjas]]; Sektor (red), Smoke (blue), and Cyrax (yellow).
59	* CompositeCharacter: Due to memory limitations, the N64 version of ''Trilogy'' only features one Sub-Zero -- the masked "Classic" version with his moves, fatalities and ending, but who can also use Unmasked Sub-Zero's Ice Shower and Ice Clone moves.
60	* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Probably one of the most infamous examples is ''[=MK3=]'' and its updates, due to the CPU reading the player's controls and countering every move. And then there are moves that simply can't be done by a human player that are done effortlessly by the CPU, such as performing Jade's projectile invulnerability on reaction or Liu Kang's Bicycle Kick twice in a row.
61	* ContinuityNod: Classic Sub-Zero from ''Ultimate [=MK3=]'' is a reference to the fact that there are two Sub-Zeros in canon. [[spoiler:The first one becomes Noob Saibot, but we don't learn that until ''Deception''.]]
62	* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: The {{Cyber Ninja}}s. Smoke's case also includes BrainwashedAndCrazy. This trope taken literally is the reason the cyber ninjas survived Shao Kahn's soul-stealing DepopulationBomb, despite not being aligned with Kahn or Raiden.
63	* DarkerAndEdgier: Continuing the trend from ''2'', which was itself this compared to the original game. Rather than a formalized tournament setting, ''Mortal Kombat 3'' opens with Earthrealm being invaded and conquered near-effortlessly by Outworld, wiping out nearly all of humanity with a soul-stealing DepopulationBomb. Earthrealm's chosen kombatants are only spared thanks to Raiden's magic, leaving them alone amid the ruins of HellOnEarth.
64	** DenserAndWackier: Paradoxically, [=MK3=] is this, too. It also added in far more cheesy character designs and intentionally silly "-alities" than the first two games combined.
65	* {{Defeat Means\|Friendship}}... [[DefeatMeansFriendship Friendship?]] ''[[MetaGuy Again?]]''
66	* DemotedToExtra:
67	** Raiden, who appears only in the attract sequence to explain that GodsHandsAreTied. He returned as a playable character in ''Trilogy''.
68	** Kitana shows up in Liu Kang's ending before she was made into a playable character in ''Ultimate''.
69	* DepopulationBomb: Shao Kahn's invasion is marked by nearly every human soul on Earth being stolen away, emptying entire cities. The only earthborn survivors are the warriors chosen by Raiden to fight in Mortal Kombat, and the Lin Kuei's cyborg ninjas ([[CyberneticsEatYourSoul who simply lack souls to steal]]).
70	* DivergentCharacterEvolution: Played straight with the unmasked Sub-Zero and robot version of Smoke in the original ''[=MK3=]'' and then subverted with the addition of their masked variants in ''Ultimate'' (as far as their character designs are concerned, since everyone have the same basic moves anyway and only differ in special moves and fatalities).
71	* DoubleUnlock:
72	** One Kombat Kode simply prints "Hold Flipper Buttons During Casino Run" on the screen. Any normal player would be baffled as to what "Casino Run" is, but some people would figure out that it means "play the almost completely unrelated {{pinball}} game ''Pinball/JackBot'' and hold the flippers at the start of [[WizardMode "Casino Run"]]... sometimes".
73	** One of the Kombat Kodes feature a reference to ''Pinball/NoFearDangerousSports'': "No Fear: EB Button, Skydive, Max Countdown".
74	* DownerBeginning: Shao Kahn invades Earthrealm after his EvilPlan to resurrect his queen, Sindel, within Earthrealm itself comes to fruition. Billions of people lose their souls, and the survivors (whose souls are protected by Raiden) are being hunted by Shao Kahn's extermination squads and have to fight for survival. In the meantime, the Lin Kuei have turned to [[CyberNinja cybernization]] to protect themselves from Shao Kahn at the cost of their souls, with Sub-Zero being the only one who won't go through with the conversion and being hunted by his former brethren for it.
75	* DreamMatchGame: ''Trilogy'' is a rare American example. It follows the same basic story as ''Mortal Kombat 3'', but includes a few characters from the first two who were missing from the ''Ultimate'' roster (namely Johnny Cage, Baraka and Raiden, plus Goro and Kintaro in the [=PS1=], Saturn and PC versions), in addition to alternate versions of other characters in the CD based systems. Since Johnny Cage was killed off in ''Mortal Kombat 3'', they try to explain his presence in ''Trilogy'' by claiming that he was temporarily brought back to life so he could assist in the efforts against Shao Kahn, because his invasion affected so much the dimensional barriers that Johnny was basically BarredFromTheAfterlife. Raiden's appearance is explained as him giving up his godhood to join the Earth heroes in their fight against the Outworld invaders. Baraka's bio, though, simply ignores his absence from previous versions of the game.
76	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: This is the only game where Sheeva has green blood.
77	* EarthShatteringKaboom: One of Smoke's fatalies is dropping so many grenades that the entire planet explodes. Per ''Mortal Kombat'' logic, this not only counts as a win for Smoke, but the game progresses onto the next round like nothing happened.
78	* FateWorseThanDeath: Babalities in general.
79	* [[FictionalCountry Fictional City]]: While it can be assumed that the unnamed Earthrealm City where the Bank, Streets, Rooftop, Subway, Waterfront, and Bridge stages are set seems to be Chicago, where Midway was based, the presence of the Chrysler Building in the background of the Bank and Rooftop stages suggests its none other than [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity the Big Apple itself]]. The backstory for Stryker and his partner [[spoiler:Kabal]] in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'' confirms that this is indeed New York City.
80	* GodsHandsAreTied: Until ''Trilogy'', Raiden could not help repel Shao Kahn's invasion, claiming that Earth "is now ruled by the Outworld Gods." By ''Trilogy'', he simply gives up his immortality to muck in with the troops.
81	* GoryDiscretionShot: Scorpion and Classic Sub-Zero both have a fatality that cuts to black. Scorpion summons about 20 clones (or fellow Shirai Ryu) to brutally do God knows what to an opponent, while Sub-Zero's spine rip is not shown for a more practical reason; the game didn't have an existing spine rip animation in ''[=MK3=]'', so this was a way around it when it came to ''[=UMK3=]''.
82	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Players themselves could actually get hit with this trope; instead of performing a Fatality against an opponent, a player, through a button combo, could grant "Mercy" which would allow the opportunity to perform an Animality, but it also gave the opponent a little bit of a second wind, making it possible to mount a comeback and beat the player who granted mercy.
83	* IShallTauntYou: Shao Kahn taunts you throughout the final battle.
84	-->It's official: you suck!
85	* LaResistance: Liu Kang, Sub-Zero, Sonya, Nightwolf, Kabal, Jax, Kung Lao and Stryker. Later also [[spoiler: Kitana]] and possibly [[spoiler: Jade.]] And counting ''Trilogy'', there's also the resurrected Johnny Cage and, once he decides he can't just sit on his duff while all hell is breaking loose on Earthrealm, Raiden.
86	* LateArrivalSpoiler: In ''Ultimate'', a new stage set in a desert was added. Cyrax can be seen in the background, trapped in the sand; this is a reference to [[spoiler:his ending]].
87	* LighterAndSofter: Friendships and Babalities again.
88	* MercyRewarded: This game introduced the Mercy finisher, which would not be seen again until decades later in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11''. Show mercy on your opponent with a specific button combination and you can use an Animality on them instead.
89	* AMoltenDateWithDeath: In Scorpion's Lair in ''[=UMK3=]'' and ''Trilogy'', performing a stage fatality will have you uppercutting your opponent through the ceiling and he'll fall through the other side and fall into the lava.
90	* MythologyGag: Insomuch as anything about ''Mortal Kombat Advance'' could be considered thoughtful, Ermac's Friendship has him open a jack-in-the-box which produces a computer, a nod to his origins as a bit of debugging text that took on a life of its own.
91	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Kano's arcade ladder ending has him betray Shao Kahn and nuke his armies to oblivion, only to be messily devoured by a swarm of enslaved souls when he tries to harness Kahn's magic for his own gain. The text notes that Kano's greed had ironically saved the very world he was hoping to conquer.
92	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: The Brutalities, the new finishers in the 16-bit versions of ''Ultimate'' and in ''Trilogy'': they consist of the winner assaulting the loser with a 20-something hit combo before finishing with an uppercut that explodes the enemy into the trademark LudicrousGibs.
93	* NoOntologicalInertia: Defeating Shao Kahn is implied to reverse the damage, deaths and resurrections caused by the invasion.
94	* NonIndicativeName: ''Mortal Kombat Trilogy'' is a name that implies its a CompilationRerelease of the first three games. In reality, it's merely an updated version of ''3'', story and all, that adds Johnny Cage, Baraka, Raiden, [=MK1=] and 2 versions of Raiden, Kano, Kung Lao and Jax, and almost every other arena from the previous games.
95	* ThePowerOfFriendship: Lampshaded. In response to parents complaining about the grotesque violence of the Fatality finishing moves, the second and third installments added a finishing move called [[DefeatMeansFriendship Friendship]], which would allow you to win the match without killing the opponent, along with showing an animation of your character doing something sickeningly friendly. Although one has to consider that Scorpion, Classic Sub-Zero, Reptile's and Ermac's ''[=UMK3=]'' Friendships weren't very nice, since the opponent runs off scared by the jack-in-the-box (especially since Scorpion has a ''skull'' in the box) and in Ermac's case, [[ForcedTransformation turns the poor guy into a bunny wabbit]].
96	--> "Friendship! ...Friendship?! AGAIN?"
97	* PromotedToPlayable: Series-wide, Jade, who went from a secret CPU-only challenger in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatII'' to starting character in ''[=UMK3=]''. Also, Goro and Kintaro in the CD-based versions of ''Trilogy''. Within the ''[=MK3=]'' engine, we have:
98	** Vanilla to ''Ultimate'': Human Smoke. While Cyber Smoke was unlockable in the vanilla version, Human Smoke required a bit more work in this one.
99	** Arcade/[[UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn Saturn]] ''Ultimate'' to 16-bit ''Ultimate'': Noob Saibot and Rain. Also, Classic Sub-Zero, Mileena and Ermac are made playable from the start rather than unlockable.
100	** Vanilla and ''Ultimate'' to ''Trilogy'': Motaro and Shao Kahn.
101	* RemixedLevel: The Nintendo 64 version of ''Trilogy'' includes what is billed as a brand new stage, the Star Bridge, but in practice is just The Pit II given a starry sky texture.
102	* SameCharacterButDifferent: In vanilla ''[=MK3=]'', Noob Saibot can be fought, but in a far cry from his original incarnation, he was an all-black palette swap of ''Kano''. He used Kano's combos and could move very quickly, but had no special moves at all. ''Ultimate'' returned him to being a proper ninja, though still with no specials. The console versions of [=UMK3=] (except the Saturn port where he was somehow still an all-black Kano) gave him unique specials such as his Teleport Slam and his Shadow Throw along with endings tying into the then-in development ''VideoGame/MortalKombat4''.
103	* ShoutOut: Shang Tsung’s Friendship has him turn into the player character from ''VideoGame/{{Joust}}'', another Midway title.
104	* SlidingScaleOfRealisticVersusFantastic: Most of the series sits on fantastic, but this game sits on the surreal end thanks to how bizarre the finishing moves can be.
105	* TakeThatAudience: Shao Kahn's taunt [[BreakingTheFourthWall to the player]] is an unmistakable "You Suck". The iPhone version made this an achievement for losing to him 3 times in a row, as well as one called [[NoYou "No, YOU Suck!"]] for beating him.
106	* TournamentArc: Averted. This time, Shao Kahn is simply invading Earthrealm without a Mortal Kombat tournament.
107	* UnwillingRoboticization: The Lin Kuei have begun turning their members into cyborgs. Most were willing, but Sub-Zero and Smoke were not. Sub-Zero escaped, but Smoke was not so lucky.
108	* YourSoulIsMine: According to the game's AttractMode, Shao Kahn managed to pull this on almost the entire population of Earthrealm. The moment he invaded, he started stealing every single soul that wasn't nailed down or protected by Raiden.
109	----
110	-> ''You have proven to be the surpreme Mortal Kombat warrior.''\
111	''The Elder Gods now descend upon your world to grant you eternal power.''
112

Context VideoGame / MortalKombat3