Mortal Kombat

IMO, the 1st movie aged pretty well things especially since it's a video game movie. Still has its problems. For example, having 2 of the most popular characters being glorified thugs.

Man that was weird.

It was.

but yeah, the first movie feels a bit cheesier now, but as video game movies go, it's actually still one of the best.

Hell, even to this day, it's had a strong influence on MK canon (introducing the mentor angle for Raiden, as well as the 10 straight MK victories rule).

That came from the movie? Huh. I'd never realized.

The movie also gave us Kano's being Austrailian.

Edited by sgamer82 on Apr 18th 2021 at 8:09:57 AM

I'd say the way they were utilized was appropriate for the story of the first game given they weren't quite major figures by that point.

Don't forget the Johnny/Sonya ship.

Yeah, I think at that point Scorpion and Sub-Zero were more mascot than icon.

I hadn't realized that the "10 consecutive wins are needed to invade another realm" rule was from the movie. I looked it up, and the MK wiki lists a bunch of stuff introduced in the movie that was then put into the games.

And even then its kinda unclear. Shao Kahn is just able to kick down the doors and invade earth by resurrecting Sindel in MK 3 and 9, and in the latter the Elders step in only after he's started merging.

MK 9 makes it clear that the Elder Gods are apparently fine with one realm invading another. They only care if you try to merge two realms without their approval. I don't know if that contradicts the Elder Gods' stance from earlier games, but given how the Elder Gods are notorious for just sitting on their butts and never doing anything, it seems to fit their MO.

That still jarring to see them being regulated to thugs.

My girlfriend was telling me about Sub-Zero killing Scorpion's family in what she knew of the new movie.

I then nerded out on her about how WRONG this is. But then I remembered...oh yeah, everything was retconned. Because you see, as clearly established in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero for the Playstation 1 and Nintendo 64, Sub-Zero killed Scorpion but it was Quan Chi who killed Scorpion's family.

But there's been like ten billion far more successful games in the last ten years since the reboot. So...did he kill Scorp's family in this continuity and that's what the movie is using?

Edited by Nikkolas on Apr 21st 2021 at 10:46:13 AM

What is your point exactly with the “10 billion better games” bit?

Like so? The reboot brought MK back to the mainstream and each game since then has been consistently successful and well-received. We prolly wouldn’t even be having a new movie in the first place if it wasn’t for the reboot.

The movie has been already released globally so if you really want to know you can just wiki it. Also, if you don't like NRS era MK that's fine, but I hope you also realize that MK has never been more well-received in the entire franchise. Arguably more so than 2D era.

When they did retcon that? In MK X they clearly establish that Quan Chi is responsible for the extermination of the Shirai Ryu. On top of that MK 9 establishes that Sub-Zero Mythology did happen in the NRS era after the Original Sub-Zero's death. Also, the battle between Hanzo & Bi-Han still happen since Bi-Han was familiar with Nether-Realm

I was asking if it was retconned. I don't know, hence the question.

If it's still the same, great. I was just curious if I was wrong to give my GF a course on deep MK lore that was now incorrect. I realized after talking with her that I'm a decade out of date on what might have changed.

Edited by Nikkolas on Apr 21st 2021 at 11:45:05 AM

It can't be retconned if it's set in a different continuity. And I can tell you right now the only real difference I've seen in the new movie from the 7 min preview is that Shirai Ryu's extermination now transpires in the early 17th century Japan & both Scorpion & Sub-Zero are from that era as well.

In the old lore Quan Chi killed Scorpion's family and framed Sub-Zero for it. In the reboot continuity Sub-Zero 1 killed Scorpion, Sektor killed Scorpion's family on clan under Quan Chi's orders, who then lied and told Scorpion that was Sub-Zero too. In the Legacy canon Quan Chi killed them all while disguised as Sub-Zero.

"In the Legacy Legends canon Quan Chi killed them all while disguised as Sub-Zero."

I was referring to the Mortal Kombat: Legacy web series, I had forgotten that Scorpion had an animated movie out.

In the reboot continuity it was still Quan Chi who exterminated the Shirai Ryu and Scorpions family. Which he then blamed on Bi-Han.

From 5:40 onwards.

Quan Chi: Payment is due. I exterminated the Shirai-Ryu as promised.

Huh, I must have misremembered that scene since Sub-Zero was talking about how the Lin Kuei did bare some responsibility for what happened.

Is Liu Kang still in the film?

I just realized he's been seemingly Ret-Gone'd from the game timeline since he's God of Time.

"I was referring to the Mortal Kombat: Legacy web series."

My bad. Thing is, that one sentence applies to the animated movie as well, hence the confusion.

I think my ideal scenario wold be, Sub-Zero leads an assault on the Shirai Ryu and wipes them out. The Lin Kuei have wanted them dead for centuries, so it makes perfect sense that they would send an extermination squad to wipe out the Shirai Ryu. But then it is revealed later that Quan Chi was the one who told the Lin Kuei the location of the secret Shirai Ryu village. This way both he and Sub-Zero are responsible. Like, in recent years there has been an effort to say Bi Han never killed Scorpion or his family, but he still went to Netherrealm wen he died, so he must have done something bad. Also, this way you can reveal Quan Chi's deception at any point.

Edited by WillKeaton on Apr 25th 2021 at 7:14:29 AM

To be fair, MK 9 onwards seems to have done away with the only Bad People go to the Netherrealm given how Liu Kang, Kung Lao and all Earthrealms heroes ended up as revenants.

As I understand it in the MK 9-11 continuity, Bi Han was still the one who killed Scorpion but it was Quan Chi who killed Scorpion's family and exterminated the Shirai Ryu.

Bi Han was an assassin so there are plenty of reasons for him to go to the Netherealm even if he was innocent of the Shirai Ryu slaughter. Also, I don't think there is an effort to make him innocent of killing Scorpion. Aside from Scorpion's Revenge and Legacy, he still remains Hanzo's killer and the new movie makes him the murderer of the Shirai Ryu on top of that.

Edited by windleopard on Apr 25th 2021 at 7:04:30 AM

That's exactly my point. Bi Han was a murderer, so it seems a bit odd that Scorpion's Revenge and Legacy specifically, both made him innocent of killing Scorpion and his family. He's allowed to kill other people offscreen, but not those specific people.