Web Animation / Mortal Kombat: Reconciliation

Mortal Kombat: Reconciliation is a 2010 YouTube video series by creator Scott Hunt, that retells the events of Mortal Kombat 3, using sprite animation from that game plus a few original sprites to bring the battles between the characters to life. The series doesn't quite follow the events of the canon game, however, instead electing to tell a revamped story that ties together the various story elements into a more cohesive narrative than the game had provided.

Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung, who were thought to have been killed during the events of Mortal Kombat II, are back and ready to commence their invasion of Earthrealm. To carry out their plans, they need to collect seven mysterious emeralds that contain incredible power, and so far they've collected five of them. They proceed to use the power of the five that they have to warp Kahn's fortress to Earthrealm, bringing their invasion forces to bear against Earthrealm's forces.

Sonya Blade, Jax Briggs, Johnny Cage, Kurtis Stryker and Kabal spearhead the defenses in the city where Kahn's fortress has landed, but with Kano's Black Dragon working alongside the Outworld forces, the battle's outcome looks grim. Meanwhile, Raiden commissions Liu Kang and Kung Lao—who're still recovering from the events of the last tournament—to unite Earthrealm's forces in order to put an end to Kahn's plot of conquest.

The trope list is incomplete at this time.

Tropes present in Mortal Kombat: Reconciliation include:

• Adaptational Heroism: Frost is on the good guys' side, and shows none of the selfish bitchiness she's known for in canon.
• Adaptational Villainy: Scorpion is explicitly working for Shao Kahn to help collect the seven mysterious emeralds that Kahn wants to use to conquer Earthrealm...at least at first glance, as it's eventually revealed that he's working specifically under orders from Quan Chi. Once he finds out the truth about his being Quan Chi's puppet, though, he goes on to be the Wild Card he is in canon, though just like in the games, he's driven more by Revenge Before Reason and couldn't care less about protecting Earthrealm from Outworld.
• Amazing Technicolor Population: Reptile's got green skin, Noob Saibot's got ebon-black skin, and Smoke's skin is gray. Justified with the first two as they aren't human, while Smoke's skin color could be explained by his Super Smoke abilities.
• An Arm and a Leg: Numerous times, mooks get their extremities torn off in battle. Jax's bionic arms come as a result of his natural arms being torn off by Ermac's telekinesis, while Stryker gets one leg ripped off by Motaro (he gets better, though).
• Ascended Extra: Black Dragon members Jarek, Tasia and Tremor get a good deal more to do in this story. No sign of No-Face, though.
• Bad Boss: Shao Kahn, by far. At the beginning of Episode 14, he's shown beating up mooks who report to him that Sindel's revival isn't yet complete, Scorpion hasn't returned from Outworld yet, and that they've just run out of toilet paper.
  Shao Kahn: Why am I surrounded by imbeciles??
• Badass Boast: Younger Sub-Zero delivers one of these while confronting the Lin Kuei Grandmaster in Episode 6.
  Lin Kuei Grandmaster: It is against the taboo to walk away from the Lin Kuei. You will join us, or we will kill you.
  Sub-Zero: You can try to kill me.
• Barrier Warrior: Nightwolf can create a blue spherical barrier immediately around himself (different from his familiar green body-barrier) that can tank an energy blast from Motaro.
• Berserk Button: Mileena will attack in a blind rage if you mention that she was artificially created by Shang Tsung.
• Big Bad: Shao Kahn, natch. Except not really; Shinnok's actually pulling the strings.
• Big Damn Heroes: Happens more than once across the series.
  • In Episode 6, Younger Sub-Zero has been overpowered by the Lin Kuei's numerous cyber-ninja drones, and is about to be turned into one of them—then cue Smoke and Frost busting in, freeing him, and teaming up with him to kick metallic ass.
  • In Episode 8, Sektor and Cyrax have just wiped the floor with Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Sonya, Johnny Cage, Stryker, Kabal, Sub-Zero and Frost in rapid succession, and now both cyber-ninjas are closing in for the kill...then Jax shows up with his bionic arms, ready to wipe the floor with them. More metallic ass-kicking ensues.
• BFG: Jarek makes frequent use of a rocket-launcher, particularly during the city fight with the Special Forces.
• BFS: Ermac wields one during the Netherrealm fight in Episode 3. The Sub-Zero brothers can create and wield an icy variant.
• Black-and-White Morality: Smoke references this trope while describing what's likely to happen when the Lin Kuei's cyber-ninjas have their souls removed during the cyber-izing process.
  Smoke: That's what happens when you remove the soul from a man. His morality is turned black and white; blinded from the grey area in life.
• Brought Down to Normal: The seven emeralds were created by the Elder Gods in order to do this to Shinnok.
• Butt-Monkey: Even in situations where he's being a badass, Johnny Cage just cannot catch a break. Among the indignities he's forced to suffer: being crushed under the weight of a too-heavy Cyrax when he tries to pick him up, getting brained by a flying car-tire, being hit by a train, falling off a building's rooftop after its structure crumbled under his feet, getting hit off a motorcycle by a mook that Kabal had just sent flying, having a massive bell dropped on him...
• Canon Foreigner: Besides Sektor, Cyrax and Smoke, the Lin Kuei has also created four other cyber-ninjas that are reserved for emergencies. One is modeled after Rain (and is painted purple) and has Shock and Awe abilities; one is blue and can shape-shift into water; one is modeled after Reptile, painted green, and has acidic powers; and the last is cyan-colored and has ice abilities. While the last one is obviously a reference to Cyber-Sub-Zero, the other three are wholly original creations made specifically for this series.
• Car Fu: Episode 8 starts with Sonya running over multiple Outworld mooks with her pickup truck. Jax also makes use of two cars, as a thrown projectile and a club, during his fight with Sektor and Cyrax in Episode 9 (but they also return the favor with the same cars).
• Carry a Big Stick: Smoke utilizes a shadowy mace to club opponents with.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Chameleon first appears in a Freeze-Frame Bonus in Episode 9, and then shows up again in Episode 22 to aid the protagonists.
• Combo Platter Powers: The Lin Kuei Grandmaster has several abilities at his disposal, including freezing powers, teleportation, telekinesis, and the ability to fire a Kamehame Hadoken from his hands.
• Daddy's Little Villain: Mileena, as always, with Episode 29 showcasing her fighting the heroes alongside Shao Kahn (plus getting one-on-one fights against Kitana and Johnny Cage in sequence during the same melee).
• Decomposite Character: At one point we see a cyber-ninja with Sub-Zero's powers, but it's obviously not either version of Sub-Zero, since (unlike what we've seen of the MK timeline in the canon series) neither of the brothers ever underwent the cyber-fication process.
• Defector from Decadence: The younger Sub-Zero renounces the Lin Kuei due to their cyber-ninja plans and for working with Shao Kahn, and Frost goes with him; as in canon, Smoke tries to do likewise, only to get caught and turned into a cyber-ninja. And just like in the games, Jade turns on Shao Kahn in favor of protecting her longtime friend Kitana.
• Deus ex Machina: Raiden shows up at the end of the fourth episode to open a portal to free Liu Kang and Kung Lao from the Netherrealm, where they'd have been trapped otherwise.
• Dishing Out Dirt: Tremor.
• The Dragon: Shang Tsung, to Shao Kahn. And Quan Chi to Shinnok, with Tsung as a second Dragon.
• Fastball Special:
  • Kano pulls this with Tremor in Episode 7. He knocks Stryker skyward, then has Tremor throw him forward so he can build up extra speed for his rolling-cannonball attack to hit the cop out of the air.
  • Liu Kang and Kung Lao use this in Episode 15, with Kung Lao flinging Liu Kang forward to give him a boost for his flying kick into a random mook. They do it again in Episode 28, this time to send Liu Kang into a flying kick toward Sindel.
  • Kabal and Stryker perform one against Motaro in Episode 28, with Kabal running at Super-Speed and grabbing Stryker to fling him into a flying kick at the centaur.
• Fire and Brimstone Hell: The Netherrealm, natch. Liu Kang, Kung Lao and Elder Sub-Zero get dragged here by Scorpion at the end of Episode 2 and spend the subsequent two episodes trying to escape.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: At one point during Jax's fight with Cyrax and Sektor in the Subway stage in Episode 9, one of the passing trains has a familiar figure sitting by one of the windows. Pause it at just the right moment, and you'll identify who it is. It's Chameleon.
• Grievous Harm with a Body: Happens pretty often. In Episode 6, for instance, Sub-Zero uses a frozen Lin Kuei mook to smash another mook.
• Groin Attack: All over the place; Johnny Cage isn't the only one doing it this time around. Just for an early example, in Shang Tsung's flashback to the second tournament, Liu Kang pulled one on him with a low-fireball. An even more egregious example happens in Episode 26, where Kabal throws a decapitated mook's head into another mook's jewels.
• Healing Factor: Skarlet is revealed to have this ability in Episode 25. It allows her to come back from little things like being cut in half at the waist.
• Hero Killer: Motaro cuts off Johnny Cage's head in Episode 20.
• Hoist by His Own Petard:
  • Ermac gets crushed by the same heavy pillar he was going to use to crush Elder Sub-Zero in the Netherrealm battle. He comes back later, though, thanks to Shang Tsung.
  • Cyrax is killed after getting one of his own explosives shoved into his chest.
• Hypocrite: Shang Tsung calls out Shao Kahn for being this in Episode 19, dismissing Shang's vendetta against Liu Kang as irrelevant while nursing his own grudge against Jade for turning traitor and freeing Kitana.
  Shang Tsung: I want Liu Kang alive. I wish to kill him personally.
  Motaro: That will not be a problem. (leaves)
  Shao Kahn: Silence!! Your personal vendetta is unimportant!
  Shang Tsung: Your personal vendetta against Jade seems important, and Liu Kang has wronged us both in the past.
• An Ice Person: The Sub-Zero brothers and Frost, naturally. At least, before the elder brother becomes Noob Saibot. Some of the Lin Kuei mooks, as well as the Lin Kuei Grandmaster, also have this ability.
• Imagine Spot: While talking about how he'll conquer all realms with the power of all seven emeralds, Shao Kahn has a brief moment where he imagines himself withering Raiden to a soulless husk by simply pointing a finger at the thunder god.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: All throughout the episodes, but one of the crowners happens in the second episode, where Liu Kang does this to Reptile with his fist before knocking his opponent off a bridge. In the same episode, Elder Sub-Zero kills Rain with his icicle-impale fatality.
• The Juggernaut: Kintaro. Even Jax with his metal arms has trouble effectively landing blows on this Shokan.
• Leeroy Jenkins: Kabal in Episode 7. Instead of waiting for backup as Stryker recommends, he rushes into the fray and delivers a beat-down on the Black Dragon and Outworld forces...up until Tremor shows up and no-sells both his attacks and Stryker's bullets, giving Kano and Jarek enough time to recover and join him in facing down the two good guys.
  Stryker: So what's your Plan B?
  Kabal: I didn't even have a Plan A.
• Les Collaborateurs: Kano and the Black Dragon are providing weapons to Shao Kahn's army, just like in canon. The Lin Kuei Grandmaster has also been working to promote Outworld's takeover of Earthrealm.
  Lin Kuei Grandmaster: Shao Kahn is unbeatable! There are only those who join him, and those who die.
• Macguffin: The seven emeralds. Just one can give its wielder a significant boost in power, as demonstrated by Scorpion during his fight with Liu Kang, Kung Lao and Sub-Zero.
• Major Injury Underreaction: One mook in Episode 26 has an entire stone column fall on top of him. His only reaction? "Oh, my back!"
• Made of Iron: If you're a named character, then getting blown up, sliced, flung from great heights, frozen, burned, having your back broken, and every other grievous injury short of decapitation or being torn limb from limb is little more than an inconvenience; and in the case of the Lin Kuei cyber-ninjas, who are literally this trope, even those last two methods aren't foolproof.
• Mêlée à Trois: Scorpion vs. Ermac vs. Nightwolf in Episode 18, over one of the seven emeralds.
• Me's a Crowd: Noob Saibot makes three clones of himself to fight Scorpion in Episode 14.
• Missing Backblast:
  • Jarek uses his rocket launcher without any visible back-blast a number of times. It's especially noticeable during one such usage in Episode 25, where Kano, who's standing right behind Jarek at that moment, doesn't get fried.
  • Done again in Episode 28, this time when Sonya fires a rocket at Motaro (and misses) while Jax, immediately behind her, gets little more than a puff of smoke from the back of the rocket launcher. The same episode also provides something of a downplayed aversion, as Hsu Hao also fires a rocket at Motaro later in the fight, while Stryker, standing behind Hsu Hao with his hands over his ears, still gets knocked down by the shockwave from the backblast.
• Oh, Crap!: Several across the series.
  • Elder Sub-Zero has one in the second episode on seeing how overpowered Scorpion has become through using one of the mystery emeralds.
  • On being attacked by the newly cybernetic Cyrax in Episode 5, Smoke attempts to physically strike the cyber-ninja...only to discover that punches and kicks aren't worth shit against his opponent's metallic shell. His response is to take a step back and utter "Wha?" before Cyrax commences to kick his ass.
  • Younger Sub-Zero utters a horrified "No" on seeing Sektor and Cyrax show up just as the good guys have finished beating the Black Dragons in Episode 8.
  • In Episode 9, Jax has a car hoisted over his head and ready to use against the cyber-ninjas...only Sektor flies overhead and lands on top of the car, pinning Jax right underneath it. Jax manages to keep on his feet...but then Cyrax, taking advantage of his trapped position, lets loose with a bomb that lands right at Jax's feet. Jax can only utter "Fuck!" before the bomb blows up, knocking him away. Then Jax has another reaction of the exact same sort a little while later when Sektor activates his self-destruct sequence.
  • In Episode 12, Stryker looks up and sees Cyber-Smoke launching a Spirit Bomb-like attack on their position. His response? "Oh, fuck."
  • During Outworld's attack on Nightwolf's village in Episode 17, an Outworld ninja flings a knife into one monk's head. You'd think that would be it for the monk...until he casually yanks the knife back out like it's no big thing. The ninja's response is a very appropriate "WHAT THE FUCK?!" before hauling ass.
  • Quan Chi shows up at the beginning of Episode 28 as smug as ever and ready to challenge the good guys...then Scorpion shows up, out for the necromancer's head. Quan Chi immediately takes a step back and gives a very appropriate "Fuck" in response.
• Off with His Head!: How Liu Kang killed Shang Tsung in the second tournament, via uppercut. And, of course, this being a Mortal Kombat story, lots of these happen all throughout the episodes.
• One-Man Army: Shao Kahn himself proves to be this in Episode 29, when the heroes confront him, as he's able to fight all of them on his own power (albeit with a little tag-teaming from Mileena thrown in for good measure]]. And that's before he busts out the power of the emerald he's got.
• Playing with Fire: Scorpion, obviously and often; incidentally, because he's an undead specter, this means knocking him into lava is about as effective as splashing a normal person with water. On a lesser note, Kintaro can also throw giant fireballs from all four hands and can also breathe fire.
• Precision F-Strike: Quite a few. There's Scorpion's "Get the fuck over here!" while chasing the fleeing Elder Sub-Zero in Episode 2; plus there's Kabal's "Fuck that" in response to Stryker telling him to wait for reinforcements to deal with the Black Dragon in Episode 7; and in Episode 15 Sonya tells the attacking Sindel to "go fuck yourself."
• Reckless Gun Usage: In Episode 8, Kano sends some Outworld mooks into battle against the Special Forces to test the results of the firearms training he's given them at Shang Tsung's orders. One mook holds up his pistol...only he's holding it with the barrel pointed at himself, with the end result that he shoots his own hand off. That guy proceeds to exit the scene. Then another mook attempts to use a rocket launcher...only he's holding it backwards, resulting in him blowing up the mook behind him instead.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
  • In Episode 5, on seeing Cyrax's attacks turn the Graveyard stage into a blazing inferno during the fight with Smoke, Kano decides to immediately haul ass.
  Kano: He'll torch the whole damn city! I gotta get outta here before I get fried! (jumps into his van and drives away)
  • Then in Episode 8, an Outworld mook bolts after his attempt to use a pistol at Kano's instructions results in him shooting his own arm off.
• Sealed Inside a Person-Shaped Can: One of the seven emeralds is sealed inside Kitana.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: Poor Stryker has this happen twice in succession in Episode 26 when Chameleon and then Khameleon appear near him out of nowhere.
• Shock and Awe: Rain's projectile attacks involve this, including his actual summoning of lightning. Stryker and the cyber-ninjas also have Tasers that have this feature.
• Shot in the Ass: Kabal, courtesy of Rain's lightning bolt. Even after Rain defects to the good guys' side, Kabal's not letting him forget it; Rain at least has the decency to sheepishly look away when confronted.
• Shout-Out:
  • The seven emeralds look an awful lot like the Chaos Emeralds.
  • The interior of one of the trains from the Subway stage looks like the interior of the train from Final Fight.
  • After the battle with Sektor and Cyrax, Jax complains, "I'm gettin' too old for this shit!"
  • During Kitana's escape from captivity in Episode 10, one of the guards spots her and reacts with a familiar "alert" sound.
  • In Episode 19, during Shang Tsung's flashback to Liu Kang's fight with Goro in the first tournament, we see a number of portraits hanging in the hall of Shang's fighting chamber. These include images of Robotnik, Ernie the Chicken, and Frieza.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Shang Tsung occasionally pops up out of nowhere, startling those he's come to see. One character lampshades it at one point: "Must you always make a sneaky entrance?"
• Stuff Blowing Up: All over the damn place, especially with the more powerful characters or the more powerful attacks. Jax even comments on the phenomenon after witnessing Scorpion summon a Spirit Bomb-style ball of fire to blow everything up.
  Jax: I'm gettin' sick of these big ass explosions!
• Super-Strength: Most characters in this version of the story seem to have this power by default, even the ones who'd usually be Badass Normal, as they're capable of sending people flying sky-high with uppercuts and send them flying several hundred meters with punches and kicks that hit hard enough. Jax is a notable example on his own, though, as he's able to lift up a dumpster and use it to smash several attacking ninjas without any strain—and that's BEFORE he gets his bionic arms.
• Taking You with Me: Sektor tries this on Jax via his self-destruct sequence, but fails.
• Tempting Fate: At the start of the series, when Liu Kang confides to Kung Lao that he still feels uneasy about their last encounter with Shao Kahn, Kung Lao assures him that they can live their lives in peace now since Kahn was blown to bits following their battle. Cut to Kahn himself holding a conference with Shang Tsung for their plans to conquer Earthrealm.
• That Poor Cat: Anytime someone's thrown off-screen during a battle, this is the end result.
• This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: Scorpion, while chasing the fleeing Sub-Zero in Episode 2. "Get over here, bitch!" And it won't be the last time he does it.
• Wall Run: Reptile vertically runs up a tree while fighting Liu Kang in the Living Forest; it's justified with his reptilian nature. In a later fight, Kabal uses his Super-Speed to run up a support beam while fighting Rain in the Belltower.
• Wham Shot:
  • Episode 18, during the Mêlée à Trois over the emerald. Scorpion manages to get hold of the emerald's power and proceeds to kick the crap out of Ermac...then Ermac reveals he's got his own emerald and absorbs its power. Cue beatdown-reversal.
  • Episode 20 gives us one during the fight with Outword's forces at the Belltower. Motaro shows up and, within minutes, decapitates Johnny Cage and rips off Stryker's leg.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Raiden gets one from Kung Lao in Episode 20 due to his hands-off method of helping the heroes up to that point since it's resulted in the city being destroyed and themselves being beaten by Shao Kahn's forces plus Johnny Cage's death, Stryker's mutilation and potential death, and Liu Kang and Jade being captured by Motaro. The calling-out starts with Kung Lao kicking Raiden in the face, hard enough to send him flying.
  Kung Lao: So what path of horrors will you send us down this time?

---