Mortal Kombat 11 became so prolific in memes, it deserved its own page.
Back to 11's YMMV page - Back to the franchise's Memes page
- Mortal Kombat trailers and rap: name a more iconic duo.Explanation Not even 12 hours after the announcement trailer hit the web, fans threw themselves at it due to the questionable choice of song for it and started mixing it with even odder choices of music. Perhaps the best one so far is the Gucci Gang trailer.
And for the Shaggy memers... - Dabbing Scorpion. Explanation One particular moment in the revealed footage (specifically the chapter where there is a focus on the Shaolin Monks) shows Scorpion after being beaten by either Liu Kang or Kung Lao. Decide to make his exit after the traps in the Shaolin Temple activate... by doing a move that seems like dabbing. This move instantly went viral.
- Hsu Hao for MK11! Explanation Hsu Hao is quite possibly the least popular character in Mortal Kombat history, being despised by fans as much as by the creators themselves. This led to fans starting a movement where they sarcastically requested his inclusion in the game. The fanbase started spamming Hsu Hao memes on Reddit, and a petition for his inclusion as DLC was also made. By the release of the game, he was eventually included... as a mutilated corpse that Erron Black carries around in a burlap sack during one of his intros. Although some fans got a bit of a bone thrown to them when Hsu Hao made an appearance in Joker's Tower Ending.
- Shaggy as a playable character. Explanation Crossing over from the Memetic Badass Shaggy meme, many clamored for him to become DLC to the point of starting a petition. Even Ed Boon responded to this. Ultimately, Shaggy's inclusion was jossed during a Kombat Kast live stream. This meme saw another resurgence with the release of Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms where Shaggy in his Ultra Instict power dragged Scorpion back to WB logo. Though hilariously, the Ultra Instinct Shaggy meme would be officially used later in another Warner Bros. fighting game.
- "My name is Kabal, and I am the fastest man alive." Explanation Kabal's appearance and intro dialogues in MK11 have put more focus on his Super-Speed abilities than before, making him a straighter counterpart to the Flash from Injustice.
- Boner Culture/Kulture Explanation One Angry Gamer posted a couple articles complaining about the more modest redesigns for the female characters, saying they're an attack on "boner culture". His insistence on the latter term made him a target of mockery for some fans, who co-opted the term and renamed it with a "K".
- Austin Aries. Explanation After Kano's new design was revealed, fans quickly pointed out his face bears heavy similarities to Aries', and, combined with the facts that Kano uses a lot of wrestling moves and his Arch-Nemesis Sonya is voiced by Ronda Rousey, the meme spread among wrestling fan communities like wildfire, and eventually reached the man himself.
- "I did a bad." Explanation The announcement of Noob Saibot's return was slightly premature; the presenter accidentally skipped ahead to his splash art during a concept art showcase. The presenter took it in stride.
- Kaballin'. Explanation Kabal says this word after winning every round, which, coupled with the fact that he's a high-tier character and tends to win a a lot, keeps being repeated very often.
- Got the spins? Explanation Another very-often repeated quote from Kabal, usually after a combo involving his Nomad Dash.
- Too Much Violence Explanation GamesRadar+'s review listed "Needlessly violent fatalities ruin the flow of fights" as a con of the game. The Internet immediately lambasted this as the equivalent of the infamous "too much water" complaint of IGN's review of Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire. This was later corrected to list the Fatal Blows as one of the cons.
- Make Outworld great again. Explanation A line from Shao Kahn in one of his pre-fight interactions. The extremely out of place reference to Donald Trump made it a prime target for many, who derided the line for feeling forced.
- "I must consult with the Elder Gods."Explanation It was already a joke in the MK community with how very frequently Raiden defaults to consulting with the Elder Gods whenever a problem with Earthrealm arises. But reached true memetic proportions in Mortal Kombat 11 with how he, once again, announces that he will consult with the Elder Gods over the issue of what is happening, saying the aforementioned line, when it's revealed much later on that by this point Cetrion, by order of Kronika, had executed the remaining members of the Elder Gods and is now helping Kronika reset time in her image, throwing Raiden's very well known utter trust of them on its head. Now the line is mocked to absurd degrees, and used as a punchline for hypothetical I Need to Go Iron My Dog moments, or as a punchline for a situation where literally anything slightly bad happens.
- Raiden is your best friend's dad. Explanation Raiden's appearance and voice after he's Brought Down to Normal can be best described as ultra normal and rather fatherly.
- "Sup" *pop* Explanation One of Cassie's intros is to slide down on a rope from a helicopter and say "sup" before popping a gum bubble. It's both popular and annoying, depending who you ask.
- Jax's Arcade ending is racist. Explanation Jax's Arcade ending where he uses the Hourglass to stop slavery was decried by some detractors being as "anti-white", which many fans of the game mercilessly mocked in response.
- Scorpion is Kratos. Explanation Scorpion's Arcade ending in which he sets out to kill the other Titans, beings equal to Kronika, for allegedly ensuring his family's death despite his using the Hourglass is reminiscent of the premise of Kratos's plight in the God of War series. It helps that the two have officially been in the same game.
- Praise the sun! Explanation Kotal Kahn says this as a mid-fight quote rather frequently. Combined with his utilization of a sun beam in his default intro, along with his moveset, brutality win pose and a victory cutscene, many have taken to making fun of it for how common it is.
- "Would you settle for me sausage?" Explanation In what is considered one of the funniest intros in the game. In context, Kano offers Skarlet to "taste Australia's best blood sausage", she retorts that she'd rather taste his blood, which Kano responds with the above line. It has become a meme thanks to the not-so-subtle flirting Kano gives but the sheer audacity of the line.
- Wi-Fi Scorpion Explanation This meme came about as a mockery of players who fight online on wireless connections. They are generally portrayed as scrubs falling back on Complacent Gaming Syndrome involving spamming low jabs and teleports and being rewarded for it due to their poor connection. Scorpion players have been singled out for derision as his popularity in the game is associated with the commonality of a wireless connection.
- YOU'RE A JOKE Explanation A mutation of Shang Tsung's default win pose, where he says something in Chinese, popularized by Maximilian Dood.
- "You’re not going to wear a bikini to a fight." Explanation The art director addressed criticism of the female characters being dressed more and more conservatively over time by claiming that it's purely for practical reasons, and that you wouldn't show up to a life-or-death struggle in a Stripperiffic outfit. This was immediately mocked as people pointed out the plethora of male characters who either fight shirtless or in a very-exposing top to show off their muscles.
- We Live in a Realm Explanation Once Joker was announced as a DLC character, the "We Live in a Society" meme associated with him was adapted to the context of Mortal Kombat.
- #NotMySindelExplanation Sindel's retcon from a tragic woman into an Evil All Along Visionary Villain left most of the fans upset, leading to this hashtag being used in art and content related to Sindel online. They also start looking back to the original timeline's Sindel much more fondly.
- Too bad YOU... will die!Explanation For those who actually tolerate the new evil Sindel, bringing back "The Worst Line in Scriptwriting History" has become popular. Ironically, even the pro-original timeline Sindel found use of the phrase, citing that the new evil Sindel was also less consistent than Annihilation Sindel. It's even been refferenced in-game as one of the possible names for Sindel's variations is "YOU... will die!"
- Epic Jax GuyExplanation Jax's Friendship features him putting on a pair of sunglasses and playing a solo on a saxophone while doing some slick moves. A lot of edits featuring other music have popped up almost instantly after the reveal. Even NetherRealm itself gets into it, by literally cranking it up to eleven hours.
- We did it, guys. Mileena's in the game. Explanation Fans have jokingly declared this when it's revealed that Kitana's Friendship has the none other than Mileena come out and act all lovey-dovey and sisterly with her, playing patty cake in the process. And then Mileena herself was added as a DLC character.
- Fujin is Jesus Explanation Fujin's arcade ending has him discover what it's like to be mortal by going through many lifetimes, and the last image in his arcade ending is The Last Supper with him in Jesus' position and making Shang Tsung a literal Obvious Judas. Fans loved this ending of him being Jesus.
- "She kinda bad tho... is that Frost?" Explanation YouTuber Berleezy's reaction to Raiden being approached by someone offscreen, who then walked onscreen feet first as the camera panned up their legs and their butt was rather prominent in the shot. Berleezy said this line, only for the camera to reveal right as he finished talking that it's Jax. Cue Berleezy vehemently claiming he's not gay.
- "Such wasted potential." Explanation Sub-Zero's line towards Frost's descent into villainy has been frequently thrown back at NetherRealm for bringing back characters and doing nothing with them, or doing something with them that really doesn't charm people. (I.E. Sindel, Superman, Kotal Kahn, and Frost herself)
- Jade's D2Explanation Jade players have developed a reputation for spamming her Down+2 (officially titled "Rising Staff"), to the point where Jade has become just as despised as an opponent online as Scorpion. It's also inspired many jokes including "D2 is Jade's only move" and memes making fun of the move.◊
- Fujin Vergilposting. Explanation Fujin has an alt skin where he sweeps his hair back, which makes him resemble Vergil from the Devil May Cry series. It became common for players to quote Vergil lines when defeating opponents.
- I lived, bitch. Explanation After being Killed Off for Real by D'Vorah, Mileena makes a return as a DLC character, making the players joke she would send this exact message◊ to her killer.
- MK is turning into boomer Smash Bros.Explanation Since the announcement of Rambo for Kombat Pack 2 and the huge amount of guest fighters, players have been speculating that MK11 is becoming the next Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - this time, for 80s action flick nostalgia rather than gaming.
- Mileena gotta go fast!Explanation Mileena's first Fatality has instantly drawn comparisons to Sonic's Spin Dash, and the fans started making jokes that NetherRealm is a fan of Sonic, not being helped by Stephanie Brownback retweeting such memes.
- "WhyDidNrsDoThis" Explanation After a pro player was disqualified and banned from a tournament for using the variation name "WhyDidNrsDoThis" for Sheeva, lots of people immediately used the variation name as a hashtag to mock Netherrealm for the situation as well as to poke fun at Sheeva being a High-Tier Scrappy.
- KK In A Wheelchair Explanation Kotal Kahn gets his spine broken by Shao Kahn during story mode, putting him out of action. This resulted in a large number of image macros featuring Kotal riding a wheelchair to battle. This, in turn led to the birth of one of the oddest cases of Memetic Badass, with fans declaring the paraplegic Kotal to be one of the strongest, if not THE strongest character in the series...but only if he's riding his wheelchair.
- "I DON'T FEAR YOU, NI—"Explanation One of Shao Kahn's voice lines when he faces off against Scorpion, strategically cut off to make it sound like he's about to say the n-word instead of the word he actually said ("ninja", which ironically is sometimes used as an euphemism for the n-word). This is usually done to make jokes about Shao being a Politically Incorrect Villain by having him say it to Jax, Jacqui or Jade in place of his normal pre-fight banter (some go even further and have him actually say the n-word to these characters through even more creative video editing).
