YMMV / Mortal Kombat 1

A-L

• Abandon Shipping:
  • While the ship is still popular when discussing prior timelines, many Kuai Liang x Tomas Vrbada shippers abandoned the ship without hesitation, at least in regards to the New Era, when it was revealed that the two are now adoptive brothers.
  • Similarly, Kuai Liang x Hanzo Hasashi shippers were quick to abandon the New Era version of the ship after Smoke's arcade ending revealed that Hanzo had been aged down into a young boy, while Kuai Liang was revealed in his own arcade ending to now be Happily Married to his childhood friend, Harumi Shirai, who was Hanzo's deceased wife in the previous timelines.
• Accidental Aesop:
  • Don't be afraid to trust others with your secrets and let them into your life, even if it means you have to show vulnerability. A lot of the friction between Earthrealm and Outworld comes from Sindel and Liu Kang keeping secrets from each other. Many of the heroic characters either learn to be more accepting and trustful of each other, or are open about their unfortunate pasts from the start and so earn sympathy from others (and the player), while the villains are all secretly scheming behind the backs of others and are themselves betrayed by someone else's secret scheme. Throughout the story, it is shown that trust is a key ingredient of peace and cooperation, and keeping secrets and being afraid of looking weak in front of others only leads to misunderstandings. Trust, in fact, is how a war between Earthrealm and Outworld is averted.
  • The Needs of the Many outweigh the needs of the few. Liu Kang learning from Kronika's mistakes and his conscious decision to be more hands-off resulted in an overall better timeline, but individuals still suffering such as Baraka and Reptile think of him as inept and partially blame him for their troubles (even if they still manage to muster their own heroism to stay in the light). The biggest example is the handling of the Lin Kuei. Turning them into an Earthrealm defense force from the beginning works really well for the heroic Kuai Liang and Tomas, but not the ambitious Bi-Han left chafing under Liu Kang's command. Though this would turn the Lin Kuei against Earthrealm, it also results in the creation of the fully heroic Shirai Ryu to serve their former role.
  • Choose your destiny yourself. No matter how bad the decision is, everyone is free to pursue their chosen dreams and destiny that they decide themselves. Despite being judged harshly by their contemporaries for taking the path of evil, villains like Bi-Han, General Shao, Reiko, Nitara and Rain (and even Shang Tsung and Quan Chi) are merely pursuing what they personally believe to be right; Liu Kang gave them freedom to decide and do what is right in their opinion and they still have all the rights to exercise it rather than blindly following a rule set in stone. In a sense, even if Liu Kang may be disappointed with their turns to evil, it's still within the designs of his new world instead of repeating Kronika's mistake of having everyone follow her designs to the absolute way. Despite the aforementioned hiccups, the world turned out much better because everyone is still given a chance to choose their own destiny rather than being shackled with a set outcome.
• Adorkable: Smoke quickly picked up a reputation as the resident "good boy" of the roster, with his mix of reserved seriousness, unyielding politeness, and weirdly emotionally-open personality endearing himself to many. Other quirks like his genuine excitement towards the idea of working with Johnny Cage on a movie and his lame attempt to sound tough before Sindel by calling himself "the King of Smoke", further establishing how much of a likeably awkward dork he can be.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • At the start of the game, a battered and down-on-his-luck Shang Tsung is shown examining his reflection with a weary expression, as though he's regretting how his life has turned out. Was he just upset that his lies and quack cures had gotten him beaten up, or was he potentially on the verge of a Heel Realization? The presence of a heroic Shang Tsung during the Battle of Armageddon shows that it's not impossible for Shang Tsung to become a better person, and Liu Kang explicitly hoped that his old nemesis might reform in the New Era. Worth mentioning is that it's during this moment that Damashi presents herself to Shang Tsung, and that she quickly tempts him with power and prestige; was the timing a coincidence, or was Shang Tsung's Titan counterpart deliberately interfering to ensure that Shang Tsung ends up as the soul-stealing scoundrel of past timelines, either to secure a powerful servant or to further spite Liu Kang?
  • When Liu Kang gifts Raiden his amulet that gives him lightning abilities, he says its to help level the playing field when he faces Outworld's kombatants, as they have their own mystical abilities. While he's correct, none of the kombatants Raiden faces have magic on the level that the amulet gives him, or at least if they do they don't use it to fight as much. Liu Kang debriefs Raiden on his opponents he is expected to face, so he knows that the Outworlders Raiden is going to face are not particularly prominent magic-users. Was the amulet really to "level the playing field", or was Liu Kang knowingly giving Raiden an unfair advantage and told him a little white lie to ease his conscience? After all, Liu Kang says that Earthrealm's victories in the tournament are to quell the more militant factions of Outworld and prove their realm's strength to them, so he has a perfectly reasonable motivation to engage in a little match fixing for the sake of peace.
  • Despite being thoroughly unpleasant, a lot of Sub-Zero's actions are ripe with other alternate interpretations which can make him look a little more understandable and giving him a bit of nuance rather than a Jerkass played completely straight':
    • When Smoke mentions their father's teachings, Sub-Zero angrily puts him down and insults him for being adopted. Is this attitude typical for Bi-Han, or was he agitated by the mention of their recently deceased father? Given how said father died, if the latter is true, then is Bi-Han just upset at being reminded of the "old fool" he supplanted, instead of being shown the unflinching deference he thinks the Lin Kuei's Grandmaster deserves, or is his anger born out of repressed guilt?
    • During Sub-Zero's Face–Heel Turn, he explicitly mentions that his father's death was an accident (the nature of which is left vague) and that Bi-Han allowed him to die; is he telling the truth about simply seizing an opportunity, or is he lying and either faked the accident or even caused it? And if he is being honest, did the possibility of killing his father simply not occur to Bi-Han, or is direct patricide just a line even he wouldn't cross?
    • His betrayal itself. Is Bi-Han just deciding that Liu Kang can't offer more for his own lust and deciding to dump him, or is he merely practicing his own free will at deciding which one is good or bad for him? He does have his own visions of what constitutes as a better future, and the first thing he said in his Tower ending is "Freeing his clan from Liu Kang's slavery". Also helps his case that Liu Kang has some 'unforeseen consequences' in his new creations that even those who end up on his good graces in the end doubt some of his decision making. Of course, taking on both sides into accounts, it may also counts of Bi-Han displaying The Evils of Free Will.
  • Is General Shao's post-story contempt for Sub-Zero's treachery a clear-cut case of hypocrisy, or something more nuanced? Bi-Han betrayed his father and his realm, and Shao is shown to have both a high opinion of his own late father and a strong loyalty to Outworld, (if not to its sovereign rulers); it may be that Shao takes less issue with the fact that Sub-Zero betrayed someone, and more with the fact that he betrayed things that Shao himself would never betray. Alternatively, Shao had no problem with Bi-Han betraying his former allies since they’re his enemies. But he was more bothered that Bi-Han would betray his father since Shao still reveres his.
  • While the previous Grandmaster has been touted as a virtuous man who followed the good tenets of Lin Kuei that would be succeeded by Kuai Liang, it's left ambiguous and up to the player's interpretation on just how virtuous he is and whether Bi-Han's issues against him and his betrayal is legitimately justified or just him being ambitiously petty. As a reminder, fellow good leader like Sindel has made a claim that a benevolent ruler must also act sharp and ruthless when the time calls (if only for the sake of realism). With that being said, there is a possibility that aside of following Liu Kang's instructions, the previous Grandmaster also has a hidden shrewd and ruthless side which while used for a good purpose (like maintaining order), it makes him look a little hypocritical in his role. And rubs Bi-Han in the wrongest way possible that he hates his dad and eventually betrays him.
• Angst? What Angst?: Syzoth seems to get over the death of his family fairly quickly, despite the fact that Shang Tsung holding them hostage was the only reason he served the sorcerer. Intro dialogues even state he has now developed an interest in Ashrah.
• Anti-Climax Boss: Blood Moon Nitara is actually rather easy all things considered, since she doesn't have a gimmick as annoying as the previous Invasion boss and she can easily be defeated by characters who have the elemental advantage over her such as Raiden or even Rain. Then again, with her coming right after the absurdly difficult Spectre Scorpion, pretty much anyone would consider her easy.
• Ass Pull: Late into the game, General Shao attacks Liu Kang and his allies with the Amulet of Shinnok. He uses it to trap four of them within it, then after he's defeated in the following match, Liu Kang frees them and it vanishes from the story without further mention. It's not known where Shao even got it, because both Geras and Liu Kang claim it shouldn't exist in this timeline and give a quick Hand Wave "its creator is powerless". Despite Shinnok's amulet being a relic of great importance in both the original timeline and the rebooted trilogy, and its existence in this timeline being a huge question mark with massive implications for the cosmology of the new era, it is used simply as a convenient way to incapacitate a few members of the cast for a single, brief cutscene, with no explanation of where it came from or what happened to it afterward.
• Awesome Ego: Johnny Cage and Kung Lao are just as egotistical as they are in the previous timeline, but with more humble traits so they come off less like Manchildren this time around.
• Base-Breaking Character: Sub-Zero. While many fans were looking forward to Bi-Han once again donning he mantle of Sub-Zero, there are those who are upset with the Adaptational Villainy and Jerkassery he received in the game that basically turns him into Sektor, with some even accusing Netherrealm of making Sub-Zero look bad in order to prop up Scorpion. ^note It doesn't help that Kuai Liang, who has long been known as the "good" Sub-Zero, now holds the mantle of "Scorpion," who is Ed Boon's favorite character. Others have no problem with this as they believe that he's always been evil and even if he wasn't, they justify this characterization as, this being a new era, not all characters will remain the same as their previous versions. And then there are those who, while not liking the characterization, believe that Bi-Han will have a Redemption Quest in a future game.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
  • Several Kameo Fighters in Story Mode fights can be seen as this, as they're never really acknowledged within the scene itself even if they're other distinct characters in the story.
    • The Elemental Spirits that serve as Kameo Fighters in Raiden, Sub-Zero, and Scorpion's chapters are solely an excuse to give said fighters their respective Kameo counterparts in contexts where they otherwise would be fighting alone. While Raiden's at least could be justified as a power granted by the amulet given to him by Liu Kang for the tournament (which is corroborated by having three of them appear during his Fatal Blow), none of them are ever explicitly acknowledged within the story, especially in the case of the latter two characters.
    • Ermac randomly has Sareena as a Kameo in all their fights. While she is present in the scene of his initial creation, she also randomly shows up for his battles against Sub-Zero and Mileena with no acknowledgement of her being present in either scene.
    • Dark Sindel has Dark Nitara as a Kameo for her fight with Mileena, who not only wasn't present in the scene prior, but also turns up later with the rest of Titan Shang Tsung's fighters when they assault the Hourglass two chapters later. Considering Mileena apparently killed the former in their fight, its strange that Nitara goes unmentioned in the subsequent cutscenes.
• Broken Base:
  • The entire final act of the game has had some divided opinions. On one hand all the Call-Back and Mythology Gags to the past games, especially the PS2 era games and the endings where nearly everyone in the New Era gets a happy ending have made the story really pay off for some. While others feel it makes the stakes too high and too over the top, detracting from the relatively smaller scale the story was taking beforehand.
  • On a lesser note, the title. Some people appreciate it for being different and selling the Continuity Reboot aspect of the game, others dislike it for making the original game harder to talk about and preferring to call this Mortal Kombat 12 instead.
• Catharsis Factor:
  • Homelander from The Boys (2019) being a Guest Fighter in a Mortal Kombat game means, much like the Joker in Mortal Kombat 11, players can relish in inflicting all manner of horrible Fatalities on him.
  • Though you may feel tempted to feel a little sorry for him, it's cathartic to see Shang Tsung (now reduced to a con-man selling snake-oil medicine) get his ass beat and unable to defend himself after he's exposed as a fraud by a man he sold a fake potion to, who lost his money and his daughter to sickness thanks to Shang's trickery.
  • Sindel getting her own chapter where she gets to beat up Shao was met with catharsis by fans too. Many also enjoyed seeing her use a fatality on Shao in her debut trailer as a Take That! towards Evil Sindel and her relationship with Shao in the previous game.
  • Mileena's own chapter, she defeats and kills an evil version of Sindel, who is Mileena's biological mother in this timeline. This is cathartic on two levels: firstly, Mileena fans are glad she gets to do something in story mode other than being defeated or killed. Secondly, Mileena killing the most despised version of Sindel brought great joy to fans.
  • In arcade mode, if the player picks Scorpion or Sareena as their Kameo, then it's very satisfying to see them beat the ever loving hell out of Quan Chi in the final battle. In addition, this also applies with Shang Tsung and any of the main roster cast that he screwed over- Kenshi, Syzoth/Reptile, or Kung Lao.
  • The ending of Invasion mode Season 1: after the villainous Scorpion is subdued, Liu Kang tracks down an alternate version of Harumi who, like Hanzo, lost her love to Quan Chi and became Scorpion. Seeing Hanzo finally reunite with his beloved wife and take revenge on Quan Chi (this time without causing more problems than he fixes) is a great relief to fans who had seen Hanzo suffer seemingly endlessly in past titles.
• Character Rerailment: After MK11 retconning Sindel into an Evil All Along Trophy Wife for Shao Kahn was met with immense backlash and caused that game's depiction of her to become one of the most hated characters in the franchise, Sindel's reversion back to her original heroic characterization in this game as a flawed, but ultimately well-meaning Empress of Outworld and mother to her children was very positively received by fans.
• Complacent Gaming Syndrome:
  • Kameo Sareena is an extremely popular choice in online play as her double knives gives combo damage when confirmed into, a move which slots well with pretty much every character in the cast. The knives also give free pressure against opponents who don't know the proper counter-play to it. While there are definitely ways to punish reckless usage of her knives and better players will also incorporate her meter drain and reversal flip kick moves, the ease of use for her knives still makes her very common among beginners.
  • Second to Sareena in terms of overused online Kameos is Frost, whose low-hitting freeze can cheese opponents who aren't specifically looking out for it from across the screen, leading to piss-easy kombo setups for basically the entire roster.
  • In the early days of high level play, however, the most used Kameo in the entire game was by far Cyrax, as he had several traits that made him a borderline Game-Breaker. Like in previous games, his Net projectile is effectively a free combo on hit. His Kopter Chopper, which can be used both horizontally and vertically, greatly extends most kombos and adds an extra hit of damage with very little room for error, including dealing a ton of pressure and chip damage even when the opponent is blocking successfully. Finally, Cyrax has the unique property to burn two meter in order to cause his throw to launch the opponent. Considering the aforementioned Kopter Chopper can be used on certain characters to launch after their throw to start an air kombo, this makes Cyrax a literal kombo machine. Netherrealm eventually had to take the nerf bat to Cyrax and the characters that abused him the most (bar Johnny Cage), opening the door for the next public enemy number one...
  • Kameo!Kung Lao: in the same patch that effectively killed Cyrax, Lao was left with only a slight nerf to Buzzsaw's recharge time and his Spin no longer launching when used as a reversal. Nothing else about Buzzsaw was actually touched, namely that it's a low projectile that's plus on block even without charge and becomes a powerful setplay tool when held in place. There is basically no character in the game that can't find some use for this Kameo; those who are nominally balanced around the lack of a projectile in their base kit can get access to what is considered the best projectile in the game to aid their approach, while zoners find their projectile game open up significantly with the added threat of a low Buzzsaw.
• Complete Monster:
  • Shang Tsung reincarnates into the New Era as a corrupt Snake Oil Salesman before his powers are restored and he squanders any chance of redemption to subjugate the realms. Colluding with Quan Chi, Shang Tsung infiltrates Outworld's court and manipulates the warmongering General Shao to spark war against Earthrealm. The conflict would kill millions and give Quan Chi the souls necessary to revive the Dragon Army, leaving both realms easy pickings for conquest. In his spare time, Shang Tsung's main hobby is performing fatal experiments on live victims who end up in his Flesh Pits, mutilating and twisting their bodies to build new creations. The Flesh Pits are guarded by Syzoth—aka Reptile—whose family is held hostage by Shang Tsung to coerce his service. When Syzoth fails him, Shang Tsung callously reveals that he killed them long ago anyway, remarking that he hates "loose ends".
  • Quan Chi, once an Edenian slave working in the Outworld mines, realized his potential as a truly vile Evil Sorcerer thanks to Damashi's interference. Using his new powers of necromancy to assist Shang Tsung in kickstarting a massive war between Outworld and Earthrealm, Quan Chi plants Soul Stealers across the lands, killing millions of people and using their souls to empower Shang Tsung’s Dragon Army.
  • Titan Shang Tsung from Aftermath returns. See this page for details.
• Contested Sequel: Mortal Kombat 1 is perhaps the most polarizing game in the series, to date. In one camp, the game features the tried-and-true gameplay used since MK9, a lively and diverse roster including several characters that haven't been playable since Armageddon, and an engaging base story mode that acts as as a compelling Soft Reboot of the franchise, seen by most as definitely a step up from the intensely polarizing storyline of 11. In the other camp, the game suffers from its lack of post-campaign single-player content, poor online (keep in mind that the game requires online connection even for the single-player modes), overpriced microtransactions, and the highly controversial Invasion mode that either rectifies or exacerbates the concerns of grinding from the previous game. The Kameo Fighter system that defines this title's gameplay is also greatly divisive, either seen as a breath of fresh air that opens up the floodgates for more player expression and creativity regarding their play styles, or seen as too limited when compared to the likes of Variations or customizable move sets, while also introducing a steep skill floor.
• Creepy Awesome: Quan Chi, as ever, is a creepy Evil Sorcerer with a hellishly deep voice and dark powers. This version proves even more creepy than usual (despite not being a Netherrealm demon in the New Era) due to his wide-eyed, unblinking stare and the tentacled monsters he summons in kombat.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Madam Bo, the elderly owner of a restaurant Kung Lao and Raiden often have dinner at, has already earned a lot of fans because of her kind-yet-stern grandmotherly personality and the way she basically treats Raiden and Kung Lao as her honorary grandsons. Then the Lin Kuei attack her restaurant and try to intimidate her, which prompts her to deck Smoke square in the face, after which she manages to trade blows with him for a short while before the younger Ninja overpowers her. Many fans are already hoping she will eventually become a DLC fighter, or at least a Kameo.
  • The New Era version of Khameleon already got a lot of fans ever since her brief "reveal" in the Umgadi trailer, with many pleased to see such an obscure character finally make an appearance outside of Nintendo ports of previous games. Her Mysterious Past and later addition as a tricky Kameo Fighter did much to help her earn popularity among fans. Plenty are hoping she becomes a proper playable character at some point either as DLC or a future game.
  • Harumi Shirai, the New Era's version of Hanzo Hasashi's wife, only appears in a few stills of Scorpion and Smoke's arcade endings, but her Adaptational Badass qualities and the implication of a storied past make her far more interesting to fans than her previous depiction. Her Alternate Self who became Scorpion in Hanzo's place has also received plenty of positive attention for her cool design, intriguing past, and her role in providing the long-suffering Hanzo a genuine happy ending. Many fans want either version of Harumi in the roster, either in a future game or as a DLC character.
• Epileptic Trees:
  • Ever since Kuai Liang was confirmed to become Scorpion, there have been numerous theories about what role Hanzo Hasashi could now play in the new timeline, with one of the most popular being that he'll take the role of Noob Saibot, a role normally occupied by Bi-Han who is now back to life. In the final game, Smoke’s tower ending shows him encountering a young Hanzo and recruiting him for the new Shirai Ryu.
  • The same 17-minute video has some people assuming that the Outworlder confronting Shang Tsung over his lies is a pre-Tarkat Baraka. Considering their similar appearances it might be true. In the final game, Baraka has no pre-existing enmity for Shang Tsung, and he only says that his family died of Tarkat, with no mention of a daughter dying because of Shang Tsung's fake medicine like the Outworlder in the opening scene. However Baraka does mention that Tarkat eventually turns its victims into mindless beasts, so memory loss could be one of its effects.
  • Multiple intro interactions reveal the now mortal Raiden has a sister, leading many to theorize that she's a Gender Swapped version of Fujin. This is helped by Fujin's arcade mode ending in the last game where he discovered multiple alternate versions of himself, one of which was a woman. Cetrion is a less commonly speculated candidate for Raiden's sister.
  • Given her role as the one that trained Kung Lao and Raiden (who, in this timeline, has the life Liu Kang used to have), having "Bo" in her name, being strongly associated with a type of beverage, and some intro interactions mentioning she seemed to have been in Outworld before, it's often speculated that Madam Bo is either a Gender Swapped version of Bo'Rai Cho or at least be related to him in some way (by blood or by marriage).
• Estrogen Brigade: While it's not surprising being a Mortal Kombat game, the redesign of the characters have been very well received by fans. It's as if Liu Kang said 'Screw it, in my timeline, I'm making everyone beautiful' with the Fire God new design himself have been greatly appreciated. However, the biggest contenders in the game would be Syzoth aka Reptile with his very handsome human form and being one of the main focus characters of the game instead of being a regular mook, Johnny Cage being well... Johnny Cage. Then there's Bi-Han, who despite still being a huge Jerkass and eventually pulling a Face–Heel Turn, has a villanous charisma coupled with being a hunk just screams Tall, Dark, and Handsome.
• Evil Is Cool:
  • While his Adaptational Villainy hasn't gone over well with everyone, combat-wise, Bi-Han still retains what it means to hold the mantle of Sub-Zero: Kool, awesome and in the same time also brutal and actually enhances his new villainous aura. In addition of his best look to date, these are what holds the fandom of Bi-Han together in spite of his controversial personality change. Additionally, Bi-Han also shows a good amount of Villainous Valor and avoiding other villain pitfalls like being a coward or wishy-washy; he knows he'll be called the villain for his actions, but he will definitely stick to his path no matter what.
  • Shang Tsung's hollow charms, vicious fighting style, and cutting sense of humor have, as usual, earned him a lot of love from fans. His Titan self, the game's Big Bad, carries over the manipulative charm and monumental ego he demonstrated back in Aftermath, quickly made his usual impression despite being the most evil character in the story.
  • General Shao is a hulking, brutal General Ripper whose impressive design and nobler characterization have won him plenty of fans.
  • Havik is an absolutely deranged Bomb Throwing Anarchist, but his ridiculously gory and brutal fighting style (even by Mortal Kombat standards) quickly got a lot of positive attention. His Titan counterpart in The Stinger quickly made a positive impression on fans as well.
  • The version of Scorpion/Hanzo Hasashi who serves as the villain for Season 1 of Invasion mode is a petty, yet tragic figure whose cool and intimidating design, along with his genuinely happy ending made a good impression on fans.
  • Omni-Man carries over his intimidating presence from his comic and animated selves, helped by J. K. Simmons reprising the role from the latter.
  • Quan Chi's unnerving, Mola Ram-inspired appearance quickly made a Creepy Awesome impression on players, as did his distinctive and disturbing gameplay style, which involves portals to both attack his opponent and summon tentacled horrors to fight for him.
• Fan Nickname:
  • Mortal Kombat 12, since the previous game was Mortal Kombat 11, and to avoid confusion because the original unnumbered game was nicknamed Mortal Kombat 1 ever since the second game (using II instead of 2) came out. Funnily enough, a bug in Sindel's chapter actually confirms this to be the game's Internal Project Name; a line of the subtitles instead shows its ID tag, which is "MK12_148_154,11".
  • Some fans also call it "Mortal 1 Kombat" for distinction as well since it's how the title is literally arranged on the box.
  • Bi-Juan for Bi-Han's Día de Muertos skin (in some pieces of fanart, the artist even lets him speak Spanish).
  • Kitanya and Bi-Quan, respectively, for the Kitana/Tanya and Sub-Zero/Quan Chi fusions from The Stinger.
  • Peacemaker is very frequently just called "John Cena" due to a combination of I Am Not Leonard Nimoy and Cena already being a Fountain of Memes even without the Peacemaker connection.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • Any and all of the massive Alliance of Alternates that both Liu Kang and Titan Shang Tsung recruit for the Battle of Armageddon. The diversity, distinctiveness, and downright wackiness of these briefly seen, but memorable kombatants is enough to make any fanfic writer salivate.
  • The ending of Invasion mode introduces a version of Harumi Hasashi, Hanzo's wife, who became Scorpion after Quan Chi killed her husband; her story and its potential similarities to and differences from Hanzo's are rife with potential.
• Goddamn Bats: Appropriately, most of the fights against Nitara in Invasions tend to be a massive pain. Not only does she tend to have massive amounts of HP and damage resistance, but she also has a particularly annoying interaction with how Invasions gives NPC fighters super armor.^Explanation Normally, they'll get super armor during their combo strings and specials, with a small slowed interval where it's ineffective so the player can punish them if they're fast enough. However, the super armor will also usually last for the entirety of self buffing moves or stance changes with no vulnerability period, such as with Shao's buff or Johnny Cage's taunts.Nitara's gameplay heavily revolves around her entering a unique hovering stance for her combos, and for whatever reason Invasions applies the aforementioned super armor the entire time she's in that stance, making fights with her take much longer than they should because of how often she uses it and how long the stance lasts.
• Good Bad Bugs:
  • One bug can cause a severed limb to occasionally reappear on the victim's body after a Brutality. Some players, who encountered that bug after doing a Brutality on Havik, initially believed this to be a case of Developer's Foresight due to the character having a Healing Factor.
  • One of Cyrax's Kameo Attacks is to self destruct, inflicting damage on either player if they're standing next to him when he goes boom. Now what happens if you finish the final boss of an arcade tower with it?
• Harsher in Hindsight: Ashrah tells Johnny Cage that Hollywood is filled with evil with him agreeing with her. The plot in Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match would reveal that a large amount of people in Hollywood (Be it demons or just worshipers) are a part of a secret cult that worships Shinnok.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Shares a page with the rest of the franchise.
• Ho Yay:
  • From story mode to pre-fight intros, the relationship between Johnny and Kenshi starts off from hostile to eventually them having a very close bond, which some players have noticed several moments during their arc together that can be considered to have romantic undertones to them.
    • Johnny screams out Kenshi's name in horror as he witnessed him getting his eyes gouged out by Mileena. Then when the heroes are thrown into the prison in Shang Tsung's lab, the first thing Johnny does after waking up is worryingly checking up on Kenshi, in which later Johnny rips a strip of cloth applied with salve to put around where Kenshi's eyes once were.
    • Johnny calling Kenshi his "best friend" in his announcer intros isn't suspect on its own...except he also calls Tanya (Mileena's love interest) "Mileena's bestie" and Sareena (Sub-Zero's love interest in MKM:SZ) "Bi-han's future bestie". It doesn't help that one of his other nicknames for Kenshi is "Sexy Face 2".
• I Knew It!:
  • Upon Scorpion and Sub-Zero being revealed to be brothers in this game, many believed that Kuai Liang, the 2nd Sub-Zero, has taken up the mantle of the former. During an interview with IGN, Dominic Cianciolo, while discussing Smoke, would confirm that the Scorpion in this game is indeed Kuai Liang.
  • With Liu Kang becoming the new Keeper of Time, many predicted that if Geras were ever to return, it would be as Liu Kang's ally instead of his enemy. Come the release of the 'Keepers of Time' trailer, which revealed that Geras would be returning as part of the game's base roster, this was confirmed to be the case.
  • Sub Zero aka Bi-Han receiving Adaptational Villainy and undergoing a Face–Heel Turn was a twist pretty much everyone saw coming given the character's hostile interactions with heroic characters such as Liu Kang and Kitana in his pre-fight intros included in the game's Stress Test and Beta Test.
  • Kronika actually being the Shang Tsung from the bad ending of Aftermath in disguise also was predicted. Especially with the reveal of Invasion Mode all but confirming that there are multiple timelines.
• Improved Second Attempt: Geras was among the better-received newcomers in Mortal Kombat 11, but he was still frequently seen as severely underutilized, with a bog-standard brawler/grappler gameplay style that didn't take advantage of his time and sand powers, and his characterization not being much more than "a jobber who's loyal to Kronika". His appearance here, meanwhile, has been widely considered an improvement as NRS put more effort in capitalizing on Geras' theme, with his much more advanced kit earning praise for its creativity and Difficult, but Awesome potential, and plot-wise — while he's still not a major player (and he isn't even fought in the story mode) — Geras still earned more fans as a noble and loyal Number Two to Liu Kang in fostering the New Era.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: If Bi-Han had just betrayed the heroes and called it a day to cement himself as a villain, most likely people wouldn't have too many problems with his Adaptational Villainy (something that also happens to both Havik/Dairou and Nitara). However, before his betrayal and when he was on the heroes' side, he's already acting as a complete Jerkass, committing many unpleasant (and sometimes relatable) actions such as his diss towards the obviously good Tomas. All of those makes him look more unfavorable compared to other villains like General Shao, Reiko, Nitara, Havik and even Shang Tsung himself.
• Les Yay: Besides her relationship with Mileena, Tanya drops some...interesting hints to Scorpion about how she knows about his bride, Harumi.
  Scorpion: You still haven't told me how you know Harumi.
  Tanya: Only she can tell you.
• Like You Would Really Do It: Hands up if you believed - even for a second - that the canon ending for MK11's Aftermath expansion really killed Shang Tsung off for good. As it turns out, technically it simultaneously did and didn't.
• Love to Hate: Shang Tsung is a Card-Carrying Villain who is Hated by All, but he seems to revel living a life of treachery and manipulation. Shang also maintains his false charm and quick wit, whilst also being slightly more vulnerable than last time, as he doesn't always have a quip or lie prepared for everything and can sometimes be self-pitying.

M-Z

• Memetic Loser:
  • Reiko's got this reputation before the game even released. The fact he's one of the only characters in the game to only be shown off in the launch trailer was bad enough, but the fact his Early Bird Cameos prior in both a Comic Con clip and in the background of Raiden's section of the "Rulers of Outworld" trailer are him either right before or right after losing a fight made it worse. In the story proper, he loses his every fight, though he doesn’t lose as much as General Shao^note if you don’t count Kameo losses or Tanya^note if you do count Kameo losses. His Dark universe counterpart fairs even worse, showing up purely as a Kameo for Dark Shao and getting randomly stabbed to death by Shang Tsung more or less for kicks instead of having his soul taken like Dark Shao.
  • This also extends to Nitara, who exists as a Jobber to show up, spout some wooden dialogue, get beaten up and then fleeing. She may get it worse than Reiko in this regard as Reiko at least has some relevance to the story by being General Shao's second-in-command. Nitara just sort of goes along with the others for the sake of her people, which never gets focus.
  • Reptile has become this game's designated "Fatality dummy" for showcases on YouTube. His green blood makes him the only kombatant in the game as of release that doesn't trigger the site's automated censors (which risks videos getting demonetized), so you get to watch the poor guy get brutalized again and again. The only saving grace is his popularity due to his Adaptational Attractiveness and Adaptational Heroism, causing fans to jokingly take pity on Reptile taking the brunt of each brutal finisher, unlike to the previous Fatality Dummy in the series, D'Vorah, who everyone outright cheered for her suffering.
  • Shao also gets this, albeit as a lesser example than the others above, mostly by virtue of his lessened power compared to the last timeline. In particular, it's common to mock him for going from a Hero Killer Big Bad to being beaten by former Jobber Reptile during the latter's chapter. The fact that, as mentioned above, he has the most story mode losses if one disregards Kameos doesn't help
• Memetic Molester: Geras has become one, thanks to his infamous “BBC Combo” attack, which involves freezing the opponent in a compromising position before performing a string of attacks that bear a strong resemblance to a Pelvic Thrust, making it look like Geras is having sex with the opponent.
• Memetic Mutation: Shares a page with the rest of the franchise.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Rain's flooding of the Seido capital serves as this both for him and Havik. The former is horrified at what he had done and becomes determined to atone for his crime- only to be rebuffed and considered irredeemable by most characters. As for the latter, Havik gleefully celebrates the destruction and, as a result, is dismissed as nothing but a power-hungry madman by several opponents, with General Shao being the only one to compliment him for and approve of the act.
  • Bi-Han being an ambitious jerk since the beginning is something that the heroes can still tolerate, which even includes his Adoption Diss on Tomas. It's only after he decides to initiate a power grab for his own ambition offered by Shang Tsung by betraying the Earthrealm and revealing to his family that he let his father die to become the Grandmaster that practically everyone amongst the Earthrealm defenders is at best 'severely disappointed' (Liu Kang and Ashrah) or 'seriously wants his head' at worst (Kuai Liang and Mileena), while even other villains look at him with disgust for his betrayal of both sides. It's the turning point for Bi-Han where it becomes clear that his Adaptational Villainy is for real, and it's also something Bi-Han is aware of and gladly accepted: He knows that everyone will treat him as a vile traitor, but he shows no regrets or doubts in his new role and path he walks on.
• Narm:
  • Here and there, as to be expected with how cheesy the franchise can get. One example is after Titan Shang Tsung has taken over the Dragon Army of the New Era and Sindel just got Killed Off for Real, everyone opts to make their dramatic escape— in a single silly conga line, jogging after one another in between the Dragon Army statues on their way out.
  • In chapter 14, Titan Shang Tsung attempts to shatter Liu Kang's hourglass and destroy the heroes timeline, by... standing around and shooting beams at it. How does Liu Kang and his allies respond? By getting into long drawn out fights with Shang Tsung's minions and shooting "healing beams" at the hourglass, instead of just decking Shang Tsung. Shang Tsung eventually gets tired of shooting his beams and just leaves with his minions like a Saturday morning cartoon villain. People have derisively called the entire chapter a wizard-off or wizard-battle just for how goofy the entire sequence ends up being.
  • When the multiversal Battle of Armageddon begins, Shang Tsung's army of Titans descend down the Pyramid of Argus to clash with Liu Kang's Titans. However, the epicness is deflated when you see everyone bunched together and awkwardly run up or down the stairs as if they're too afraid of tripping and falling.
  • One of Reptile's Fatality death screams sounds almost comical, as if he's caught in a Slapstick Banana Peel fall. It's also oddly reminiscent of the LEGO Star Wars Rebel scream.
  • Bi-Han's voice arguably sounds like he's trying too hard to sound cool, but this can also be interpreted as Narm Charm. Then there's Megan Fox's Nitara who doesn't sound like she's trying at all.
• Narm Charm: Natch, given the franchise, but the concept of the fourth act of the story goes even further by escalating the conflict to a multiversal war level between the New Era and Titan Shang Tsung's Dark timeline, which escalates even further when they start bringing an Alliance of Alternates which look like fan fusions. Even though it is ridiculous, the whole fourth act comes across as something hard not to smile at, and in fact brought in a renewed desire to see the return of the Kreate-a-Fighter mode from Armageddon.
• Nausea Fuel: Shares a page with the rest of the franchise.
• Obvious Judas: Bi-Han generally acting unpleasant and aggressive when he was serving Liu Kang is a complete giveaway that he's going to be evil this time around, something that fans saw coming right when there were only the trailers.
• Older Than They Think:
  • Depicting Tarkatans as victims of a mutagenic disease is actually taken from Deception, where it was spelled out that Tarkata (as they were called in that game) are mutant hybrids of demon and mortals. It was the 2011 game and its sequels that established them as an actual race of beings.
  • This isn't the first game where Tanya is seen without her Prophet Eyes; she didn't have such in her very first appearance in MK4.
  • Reptile has always been portrayed as being a reptilian creature who can assume a human form, but his human face was always behind a mask. It wasn't until this game that we finally see what Human Reptile looks like.
  • Mortal Kombat (2021) had beaten this game to the idea of Bi-Han being a full on villain rather than an anti-hero.
  • While he's new to the role of Raiden in the main series of games, Travis Willingham isn't new overall to the role as Raiden's Thunder God incarnation, as he'd already been The Other Darrin to Richard Epcar in the mobile game Mortal Kombat Onslaught.
• One-Scene Wonder: The Big Badass Battle Sequence between Liu Kang and Shang Tsung's respective Alliances of Alternates is packed full of bizarre alternate characters, ranging from Evil Counterparts to Distaff Counterparts to characters that are amalgamations of other characters — all of which get at most a single scene or a short brawl with the player before being unceremoniously disposed of. Some standouts include "Sento Storm" (Kenshi and Rain), "Klockodile" (Geras and Reptile), Ninja Mime, "John Kahner" (Johnny Cage and Shao Kahn), "Scorp Lao" and "Stung Lao" (Kung Lao and Scorpion), Shock Priestess (Raiden and Tanya), some good counterparts of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, the dark versions of the Kombat Kids who Titan Kitana unceremoniously kills, and an unnamed merger of Goro and Shao Kahn quadruple-wielding warhammers.
• Padding: The first half of Johnny Cage's chapter has him on the set of a movie that's an Indiana Jones knock-off, where Johnny fights some demons and an undead king before the shoot wraps up. The film isn't even an Excuse Plot, its given the same treatment as an actual story sequence, in that several minutes of cutscenes sandwich the fights and treat the film as though it were real right up until they stop shooting. Nothing about the film Cage is shooting has any relevance to the actual plot, which only progresses when he goes home, making the film merely an excuse to increase the length of his chapter.
• Porting Disaster: The Nintendo Switch port looks absolutely atrocious, with graphics comparable to the PlayStation Vita port of 9. The Switch port has constant frame stutters and ugly textures, and characters utterly fail to make any facial expressions beyond Dull Surprise. The game also has load times of up to 40 seconds in a 1v1 match. The fact that the Switch port was greenlit while PS4 and Xbox One sticklers were left in the dust has left many players baffled.
• Questionable Casting: Megan Fox as Nitara. Not unlike when Ronda Rousey was cast as Sonya Blade in Mortal Kombat 11, fans have mostly seen her as a famous actor WB can boast about being on the project over someone who actually fits the character. Fox's acting as Nitara is rather wooden and stiff, which stands out poorly in a game where everyone else is a Large Ham with extra seasoning. It's so awkward in fact, some people are even saying she is worse than Rousey was as Sonya, due to the fact that Fox is a professional actress who has starred in major movies, making her performance far less excusable than Rousey's. Cristina Valenzuela, an experienced voice actress, performs Nitara's battle grunts and death screams, and many thought the developers should have had her voice the character altogether rather than relying on Stunt Casting with Fox. In fact, many people have even stated they believe AI-generated voicebanks using Fox's voice give a better performance than she does!
• Salvaged Gameplay Mechanic: Fatal Blows were a hotly contentious mechanic introduced in Mortal Kombat 11, but have been generally seen as improved here due to the inclusion of a dramatic close-up animation right as the player activates it. This is a meaningful mechanical change as by far the biggest complaint of Fatal Blows in the previous game is that they were too fast for what was supposed to be a high-risk, high-reward Comeback Mechanic, making it too easy for players to cheese into fights while being near-impossible to react against defensively. By giving the opponent a big cinematic heads-up, there's an easier chance for them to properly defend themselves (also helped by the game restoring a traditional Combo Breaker after 11 briefly replaced it with the less-intuitive Breakaway), while encouraging aggressors to properly tie the Fatal Blow in with a combo, overall making it far less cheap and more like a deserved second wind.
• Scrappy Mechanic:
  • In 9 through 11 as long as you knew the input of a character's second fatality it would permanently unlock in their move list even if you didn't discover it in game. That isn't the case here. Due to the character mastery system a character's second fatality won't unlock in a character's move list until that character reaches level 14, even if you perform it before that. It's a bit worse with the guest characters, as they have to reach level 19 to get theirs.
  • Though on its own the Dragon Shrine isn't a bad idea, it's how it's executed that's gotten criticism. Unlike similar unlock systems in other games (such as Fortune Telling in Street Fighter V) you're locked to only spending a set amount of koins for only one reward, which keeps players from increasing their chances of getting more desired rewards like skins and gear. Not only that, but each time you use it you're forced to see the same unskippable animation of the dragon slowly melting down the koins to see what you got. Oh, and there's also a limit to the number of items you can unlock season by season, meaning you can't even use it to unlock skins and gear already in the game after a while.
  • Unlike the previous game, there's no previews for gear or skins you haven't unlocked yet. Not only does this mean its difficult to locate where desired cosmetics can actually be acquired without a guide, but it also means it's hard to tell which cosmetics are even obtainable in-game in the first place. Something made especially painful by the showcase of the various Alternate Universe skins in the final chapters of the Story Mode, several of which don't seem to actually be available in-game on launch.
  • Like Frost in the previous game, Havik can be purchased. But like Frost, Havik can be unlocked by simply completing the main story. And like with Frost, players consider it a scam. This is also the general feeling towards Shang Tsung, who's fully playable in story mode with a dedicated chapter and has to be purchased via a preorder or the in game store and can't be simply unlocked.
    • Returning to Havik, there's the possibility that there might be an error into unlocking him, as the player might not receive the rewards from the story mode unless connected to the already faulty servers and can't claim them later at all. Should that happen, purchasing Havik might be the only way to play as him so it comes off as even more unfair to those unlucky players. Luckily, this error has been fixed but it's unfair nonethless.
• Ship-to-Ship Combat: A very vocal minority of fans who ship Mileena with Kenshi (Kenleena) do not get along with people who ship her with Tanya (Taleena). The former states that despite Mileena being the one responsible for Kenshi's blindness this time around, the former had no control over her actions during that time, and the two have forgiven and gained respect for each other after the story mode. Meanwhile, the latter will cite the sexual and romantic tension the two have had over the course of the series, stating that is far more believable for Mileena to be with a woman she has clearly been in love with for two games straight instead of the man she blinded. Expect the former to accuse the latter's ship of being bland and only letting it slide for the Les Yay, while the latter will accuse the former of being homophobic and going against the first and only explicitly confirmed LGBT relationship in the franchise.
• Spoiled by the Format: While the game's Story mode treats the existence of The Multiverse as a shocking third act twist, anyone who played (or even paid attention to the marketing surrounding) the new Invasion mode would likely view it as a Captain Obvious Reveal at best, given that the latter's entire premise revolves around defending Earthrealm from attacks by alternate timelines.
• Squick:
  • Kitana's "Kiss Me" Fatality has her give her opponents a (obscured) kiss on the lips. The animation remains the same even if she's performing the Fatality on Sindel, Mileena, Havik, or Baraka.
  • The Thanksgiving fatality. After having their jaw torn open by a table slam, your character proceeds to smash various food items into your opponent's throat (including an entire holiday bird). Once on the floor upon the turkey slam, your character then proceeds to jump on their engorged stomach, with the resulting Vomit Indiscretion Shot being severe enough to blast their brain and eyes out of their skull.
• Take That, Scrappy!:
  • The depiction of Sindel from Mortal Kombat 11 is one of the most hated characters in the entire series for retconning the character to have been Evil All Along. In this game, a version of that evil Sindel is battled, and then swiftly killed by Mileena while being yelled at for being nothing like the mother that she loved. Additionally, several pre-fight intros take the chance to acknowledge that this was not a well-received thing.
    Mileena: I can't imagine my mother ever having been evil.
    Geras: It was not a look she wore well.

    Sindel: My past iteration sounds like a screeching harpy.
    Liu Kang: Many are thankful for the changes I made.

    Kenshi: I'm told your evil twin was something else.
    Sindel: Urgh. The thought of her repulses me.
  • In an easy to miss example, at one point in the story when Johnny, Lao, Kenshi and Baraka infiltrate Shang Tsung's laboratory, Shang Tsung talks about one of the Tarkat-curing serum's ingredients being "crushed Kytinn larvae". Additionally, in certain pre-fight intros, the Kytinn race is mentioned to have been majorly crushed by General Shao. Given the absence of D'Vorah in the roster, it's hard not to feel some catharsis for it in both instances.
  • The story also makes a point to emphasize that Kronika is Deader than Dead, with her appearance in the new timeline simply being a disguise for Titan Shang Tsung, which will certainly be good news to anyone who found the former to be a poorly written villain.
• That One Level: Survival levels in Invasions are effectively either this or a Breather Level with more or less no in-between. For the easy ones, you can get hit by every single projectile and survive with no issue. But for the hard ones, it can be an absolute nightmare that requires borderline frame perfect jumps and movement options as getting hit by a single projectile can a massive chunk of your health, and you'll usually get hit by at least two or three at once. And God help you with the more unique patterns that can actually inflict knockback on hit, as you have no invincibility frames and can easily get trapped in a Cycle of Hurting that takes almost your entire health bar on the spot. That's not even getting into bosses that have Survival segments in-between phases, which can decimate your health before forcing you to fight the now even further empowered boss with no heal in-between...
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
  • While fans approve that the pre-fight intros are much quicker and snappier than in X and 11, what hasn't made fans happy is them being relegated to only being before Versus mode matches. Meaning you won't see them in any other gameplay mode. That is until the Quan Chi update, which adds pre-fight intro dialogue to other modes outside of Versus.
  • Sub-Zero's Adaptational Villainy has upset many fans of the character, who believe Bi-Han has gotten the short end of the stick in terms of characterization compared to the more anti-heroic character he was in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero.
  • For some, the decision to treat Scorpion and Sub-Zero as merely a mantle that can be passed down to anyone is a controversial change. If one already associates Scorpion with Hanzo Hasashi, then they are out of luck, because Scorpion is now Kuai Liang and thus no longer have the 'angry, vengeful revenant from hell with skull head' aura that Hanzo had, as well as how he's a straight up hero from the start (rather than being an Anti-Hero who had to develop to a proper hero, like his role in the first reboot timeline). Giving him a skin that implies that it's Hanzo still has him use Kuai Liang's voice set rather than new voicelines by Hanzo's old VAs so skin is out of question too. And tying with the above, if one already associates Sub-Zero with the heroic, virtuous Kuai Liang, then they are out of luck as well, because they have to contend with an even eviler Bi-Han holding the mantle, so they now have to associate the mantle of Sub-Zero with an evil villain. It becomes a question on which one does the player like more: The mantle, or the person behind the mantle, and not a lot like that kind of change.
  • MK 11 had two options for getting alternative costumes, you can either buy a pack outright as DLC or buy some through the Premium Store. MK 1 only allows you to get certain costumes in the store (such as the DA versions of Sub-Zero and Scorpion) with no plans for DLC packs seemingly made for the future. And if you miss a desired costume, you have to wait for the rotation to bring it back, however long that is. Needless to say, a lot of fans aren't happy with this, convinced that the publisher forced this change for greedy purposes.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Several arcade endings of 11 mentioned that Kronika was just one of several Titans, beings even stronger and older than the Elder Gods. This game doesn't explore that in any way, and the only Titans to appear are just uplifted variants of the known roster.
• Unexpected Character:
  • To the surprise of many, quite a lot of the 3D-era kombatants have made a return either as a part of the main roster or as Kameos, many of them having not been available since Armageddon.
    • Li Mei is a character from the 3D era many didn't expect to see back, given that her last appearance was a small cameo in MKX's story.
    • Even fewer people expected Darrius and later Mavado to be included as a Kameo Fighters, especially since they weren't especially popular characters, with the former being completely absent from the second timeline and the latter only existing briefly in the Mortal Kombat X comic before getting killed off. Mavado's presence turned heads as he was widely considered a Replacement Scrappy for taking Kabal's trademark hook swords, and yet despite Kabal's absence from the playable roster this time, they're nowhere to be found for Mavado's Kameo appearance.
    • Havik, Reiko, Ashrah and Nitara are all among the playable roster characters. Nitara especially bears mentioning as she was revealed to be played by none other than Megan Fox. Ashrah in particular literally vanished after Armageddon, with only minor, and easily missable, mentions in 11, so even fewer expected her to return.
    • Sareena's appearance as a Kameo Fighter caught some people by surprise, especially since her demon form factors into her moveset.
  • The Kombat Pack trailer shows not just Quan Chi, Ermac and Takeda returning, but for the Guest Fighters, we're getting Omni-Man, Peacemaker and Homelander, all in one pack.
  • Even more people who watched the Umgadi trailer were taken aback by a surprise kameo appearance from Khameleon, who not only hadn't been seen in the series since Armageddon, but it's the first time she appears outside of a Nintendo console (she was exclusive to the Nintendo 64's version of Trilogy, and to the Nintendo Wiii's version of Armageddon). While her outfit was only shown in yellow, those who analyzed said footage noticed her attire was one-to-one with her Armageddon design. Topping this off, she would later make an appearance as a DLC Kameo character.
  • Not a lot of people were expecting Geras to return considering how he was portrayed as a near-mindless minion of Kronika in 11. Here, he has not only taken Kronika's place as the Guardian of the Hourglass but has also become good friends with Liu Kang.
  • The Rulers of Outworld trailer also revealed that Motaro and Shujinko will appear as Kameo Fighters. Motaro is especially a surprise given that he now has four legs again for the first time since Armageddon.
  • Havik returns as a playable character, whilst having a relatively minor role in the story. Intro dialogues reveal that this Havik is not the same one from previous timelines, it is in fact Dairou who has taken up the mantle. This makes sense given the stories of both Dairou and the original Havik aligned together as enemies of Seido, the realm of order, with Dairou's story starting the same way it did in past timelines before gaining traits that made him more like the original Havik.
  • The story mode reveals that Rain is in fact not Rain's given name, but doesn't reveal said given name. Intro dialogues reveal his true name is Zeffeero, a name previously used for a minor character in Mortal Kombat Deception's Konquest mode. Unlike this timeline's version of Havik, who is actually Dairou, Rain's new character uses nothing from the original Zeffeero beyond the name.
  • Despite having seemingly been Killed Off for Real in the last game, Kronika, much like Shang Tsung, appears Back from the Dead in the beginning of story mode to guide Shang towards the path of becoming a villain. Except it’s not really her; it's actually a guise used by Shang Tsung from 11, in a dramatic aversion of No Canon for the Wicked.
  • In the story too, no one expected Jerrod to effectively come Back from the Dead by seizing control of Ermac's body and thus actually have a speaking role for the first time in the franchise. Additionally, Ermac being a DLC fighter will make Jerrod technically playable for the first time ever.
  • People might have expected the usual characters to be playable in the story mode, with relatively little changes, so a lot of people were surprised when Ashrah, Reptile, Li Mei, Mileena and Baraka got their own chapter in the story.
  • While Peacemaker is based off his DCEU counterpart, one of his fatalities features the Butterflies from his series infesting the opponent. This is noteworthy as they are an original creation of the show and seemed unlikely to make an appearance of any sort. His ending also depicts Eclipso banishing him to the Mortal Kombat universe, Eclipso being a character that has made very sporadic appearances outside of the comics.
• Unintentional Uncanny Valley: Ermac has gotten this impression by some, specifically when Jerrod takes over, whose face has a lot more natural softer features which contrasts pretty large with Ermac's undead mummified design.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: While the return of her portrayal as a heroic character was infinitely better received than how she was portrayed in the previous game, Sindel has some moments in the story and in-game dialogue that unintentionally sours her heroic portrayal. Her treatment of Mileena comes across as excessively stern and more than a bit unpleasant, especially since she blames her daughter for contracting Tarkat (despite the disease being something completely out of her control) and she has Kitana take Mileena's place in the tournament purely out of speculation that symptoms of her disease manifested at the banquet she hosted. This is in spite of how every case of Mileena transforming has been due to in-the-moment aggression or stress, not to mention how she remained in human form while fighting Ermac despite being thrown around several times, making it look like Sindel can't trust her 10,000 year old daughter to fight without succumbing to heat in the moment. Secondly, while it's true that Liu Kang technically broke his word by sending his champions into Outworld unannounced, Sindel immediately sides with General Shao and Shang Tsung's version of events despite knowing Liu Kang far longer and understanding his desire for peace. Thirdly, while it's perfectly understandable that she would blame Li Mei for Jerrod's death due to her leading the Umgadi at the time, Sindel continually making it clear to Li Mei that she has never forgiven her comes off as annoying and petty.
• The Woobie: Shares a page with the rest of the franchise.
• WTH, Costuming Department?:
  • Upon the release of the trailer for the Kombat Pack, everyone was quick to notice and criticize Ermac's redesign with the lack of mask and bandages that he's typically known for, furthering the "mummified" design type for Ermac that's base breaking at best. The complaints were evident enough that once Ermac was properly introduced as a playable character, he was given a new face-covering mask, keeping him in line with the other "ninjas" of the game.
  • Tanya's redesign has also received a fair share of criticism, mostly for her hair and harsh facial features, though that was due to a ill-timed snapshot of the character being angry and yelling.
  • Li Mei has also received some criticism for having almost identical clothing and hairstyle to Mileena, making them somewhat difficult to tell apart. Some also criticize her for having a rather bland, generic design, resembling more a background NPC rather than a playable character in the main roster. This has been negated a bit with her getting an alt costume based on her Deception design which has been more warmly received.
  • Reptile's natural Zaterran form was met with slight criticism due to its bulky proportions, with some comparing it to the Lizard from The Amazing Spider-Man.
  • Sub-Zero has a Day Of The Dead costume that has fans confused why it's not a skin for Kung Lao due to the sombrero he's wearing.
  • Scorpion's Deadly Alliance skin goes with the decision to use his alt from that game that gives him a burning skull head instead of his usual ninja mask which has been seen as baffling by plenty of players. It's also been criticized for not allowing for mask customization due to said head change.
  • The color schemes for the characters costumes from Invasion Season 4 was criticized for not having the same colors as Mileena's clothes. Not helping that it has speculated (with some evidence to support this) that the skins themselves were originally planned for an Invasion season featuring Havik.

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