Mortal Kombat

An Instagram artist reimagines Terry Crews as Jax and Chris Pratt as Johnny Cage.

So why did Shang Tsung use Tarkatan DNA to create Mileena if they wanted a perfect clone of Kitana?

Either he wanted a better killing machine or just was in a Mad Scientist mood and wanted to see what happened.

I'd assume its all Shang had to work with... granted if Shao wanted a more perfect daughter why he didn't just use HIS freaking dna spliced with the Kitana clone

I mean Shang can only work with what he has...

Yeah, I've always been under the assumption that Mileena was one part Kitana, one part Shao Kahn. Kahn has some pretty beastly features◊ under that helmet, after all. It's not a stretch to suggest that he's got some relation to Tarkatans.

But Mileena being "One part Kitana, one part Random Tarkatan DNA" is a weird choice. Raises more questions than it answers.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Mar 29th 2019 at 8:15:32 AM

Weeks ago, in the Mortal Kombat 11 thread, Targetmaster Joe posted this tweet. I voted for Mortal Kombat vs. Street Fighter and I explained how it ought to work here. Now, it led to a digressing discussion that ended with the idea that the crossover idea can't work without offending both Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter fans. Now, why did I restart this thread to bring that up?

Because here's what I believe should be done before we can get MK and SF to crossover. Have Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Netherrealm Studios contact a Japanese video game company who've handled fighting games to make a new continuity that will make Japanese players familiar with Mortal Kombat. However, the violence has to be toned down and better usage of Asian mythology for starters.

Another rule is that utilizing Shaolin Monks, 9, X, and 11, as well as the movies, are to be avoided. That means no Kung Lao disguising himself as a Masked Guard, no Kitana in the tournament just for her to fall in love with Liu Kang (yet), and no visions appearing in Raiden's mind. However, there will be references to those games and the movies. More on that later.

Now, after all that, plan out the name. Super Famicom / Super Nintendo Entertainment System ports of MK 1 and MK 2 were brought over to Japan as respectively, Shinken Kourin Densetsu (The Legendary Descent of the Divine Fist) and Kyukyoku Shinken (The Ultimate Divine Fist). This new continuity for Japanese players to be engrossed with Mortal Kombat will have to be referred to as the Densetsu Shinken (Divine Fist of Legend) series. More on this will be explained below.

Next, go for the very first game where the plot was Shang Tsung hosting the Mortal Kombat tournament and that the playable characters are Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, Kano, Sub-Zero, Scorpion, and Raiden. Most backstories work like these:

• Liu Kang still has a younger brother. Instead of "Chow Kang", he'll have to be called "Liu Ming" as an example of a more accurate full name while keeping it in two "hanzi".
• Johnny is mentioned to be a divorced dad per Tobias' prequel comic. No mention of him being a descendant of a warrior cult here.
• Sonya has a dead twin brother named Herman. Make a nod to Mortal Kombat: Special Forces by way of mentioning that Herman, who was also in Special Forces, was killed by Black Dragon thugs in the ambush at the beginning of the game Jax arrived too late to see. She and her two subordinates, who get captured as it was originally depicted as a contrast on how 9 changed them to Jax, followed the Nethership only to be captured and Sonya has to participate to save her men.
• Scorpion will have to have a new full name as "Hanzo Hasashi" isn't realistic. Independent actor again as a contrast to 9 having him be an underling of Quan Chi.
• Sub-Zero, for this hypothetical Japanese version of the first game, can be named Bi-Han as a small nod to 9. He's back to being Chinese-American where his father, a Chinese Lin Kuei agent, fell in love with an American woman and she bore him three children - two sons and a daughter. Said agent took his sons back to China with him for them to be Lin Kuei agents.
• Kano is back to being Japanese-American and being bald like Richard Divizio.
• Raiden has his "helpful deity" characterization from the sequels but participates.
• Goro is back to having his sense of honor that he had in the novelization of the film when he killed Art Lean that is canon per Kung Lao's ending in MK 4.
• While depicted in non-canon endings and depicted in Deadly Alliance, Shang Tsung is secretly planning to betray his real master, Shao Kahn, and that he intends to use his position as Mortal Kombat host for his plans.

Now, many would justify 9 including Kung Lao, Reptile, Baraka, Mileena, Jade, Kitana (a nod to the first film), Cyrax, Sektor, Nightwolf, Sheeva, Ermac, and Quan Chi as kombatants due to how a game with only seven characters is too short, even for replays. Rather than duplicate what 9 did, here's how this hypothetical roster will work:

• While we have the original seven playable characters from 1992, we get a playable Shang Tsung Reptile, and Goro can be selected in Story Mode as they will have their own stories. Reptile will have to be an exception as a 9 reference in the form of him being a kombatant to add more Outworld kombatants in the tournament.
• Canonize Art Lean and the Fighting Monk from the movie. In the case of the latter, make it clear that he's an Outworlder.
• Invent two characters that definitely have to appeal to Japanese players:
  • Shiho Chidori: a sixteen-year-old girl who practices Karate. While her class was in a school trip in Hong Kong, she saw Liu Kang, who she managed to remember as she saw him in Japan when she was younger, and followed him into the Nethership and managed to fend for herself, Shang Tsung allows her to participate in the Mortal Kombat tournament. She intends to stay and participate in order to test her skills.
  • Ryota Namikawa: a seventeen-year-old American national of Japanese descent who resides in Hawaii and practices Kendo. While he and his family are vacationing in Hong Kong, he sees Shiho Chidori, whom he met in his childhood before he and his family moved to Hawaii, he followed her by infiltrated the Nethership. He is caught the same time as Sonya Blade and her men and only spared by Shang Tsung in exchange for participation in the Mortal Kombat tournament. Ryota accepts as he can be able to see Shiho.

Gameplay: unlike how the standard Mortal Kombat game operates, the gameplay is similar to standard Japanese fighting games where special moves are executed like in Street Fighter. It has to be four attack buttons (Weak Punch, Weak Kick, Strong Punch, and Strong Kick). Doing a special move with both weak and strong attack buttons, depending on the move, will generate an "Enhanced Special Move". Some moves will have variants depending on the button pressed.

All characters have two throws. Each one is done by pressing either Strong Punch or Strong Kick. The direction at which the opponent will be thrown is determined by the directional button pressed before Strong Punch or Strong Kick.

Each character has three "Mortal Kombos", which are super moves. The third one has to be only usable if an opponent's health bar is 15% or less. It will be indicated with the health meter blinking "Finish Him" or "Finish Her" in green. This will be a "Fatality Kombo".

Here's Liu Kang's hypothetical movelist as an example:

• Down, Down Forward, Forward + Punch = Dragon Fire (Weak Punch button is his Low Dragon Fire variant, Strong Punch button is standard variant, and Enhanced variant has Liu Kang do standard Dragon Fire followed by Low Dragon Fire.)
• Forward, Down, Down Forward + Punch = Ascending Dragon Punch (uppercut from the Shaolin Soccer Fatality from Shaolin Monks. Enhanced variant has a rising column of fire engulf the opponent at the price of follow-ups.)
  • Any Punch button (after Ascending Dragon Punch) = Windmill Punches (from X)
  • Any Kick button (after Ascending Dragon Punch) = Dragon Wheel (backflip kick used at the end of the Shaolin Soccer Fatality from Shaolin Monks.)
• Forward, Down, Down Forward + Kick = Flying Kick (Weak Kick button hits the chest, Strong Kick button hits the Head and can intercept opponents in the air, and Enhanced variant is generated flames into the leg, increasing damage when the opponent is hit.)
• Down, Down Backward, Backward + Kick (repeat two more times) = Flying Bicycle Kick (Weak Kick button hits the chest, Strong Kick button hits the Head and can intercept opponents in the air, and Enhanced variant is generated flames into the leg, increasing damage when the opponent is hit.)
• Mortal Kombos
  • Fiery Spirits: Liu Kang throws Fireballs at the opponent that travel at multiple directions. This is a Mythology Gag to his Focused Fireball Fatality from MK Deception.
  • Shaolin Flips: His original Fatality but has an additional flip that hits the hip, ending with a high-rising kick in lieu of the traditional Mortal Kombat uppercut.
• Fatality Kombo (Shaolin Dragon): Liu Kang turns into a dragon, eats the opponent but spins around, removes the opponent while making him or her fly into the air and hits him or her with fire.

Violence: As I stated before, the violence has to be reduced. There will be no incredibly bruised up bodies. More explained later.

Overseas Versions: Now, depending on whether there's interest, here's how a potential overseas version would work for this hypothetical game. Call it "Mortal Fight" for overseas and as for violence, have bits of blood appear (think Street Fighter II and the original Guilty Gear) and for opponents on the receiving end of Fatality Kombos, corpses either disappear or go with discretion shots (with one exception). That will be how far the violence goes. The "Finish Him"/"Finish Her" will be made red instead of green.

And I apologize for this long post.

Anyone remember this? It was an MK short film by Kevin Tanchareon. It was made as a pitch to Warner Bros for his idea of a new MK film and the pitch eventually evolved into Mortal Kombat: Legacy. It's basically a more "realistic" MK universe.

I don't think Season 3 is gonna happen... left us on a damn cliff hanger

that and it also went with the Broken Liu Kang story arc

It'd would have been interesting to see how guys like Kung Lao and Johnny tried to take the hero mantle in this case.

I don't think they'd have gone that route. It really felt like this was a story with no true protagonist.

So with the ending of MK 11, and a supposed new timeline, I've been thinking of what angles I could take for characters of old I'd like to see return.

Kai - I've been thinking of what could be done with Kai ever since MK 9 but have never been able to come up with an idea until now. Kai doesn't have a lot of fans but isn't exactly hated. He's a blank slate so that could work in his favor. His reasons for seeking enlightenment could be developed more (perhaps some terrible tragedy occurred in his past that he is trying to get away from). I've also been toying with the idea of him being Jin's boyfriend.

For voice acting and motion capture, I'd recommend T.J. Storm. Kai's fighting style would incorporate his speed and agility with his fire abilities basically making him the MK equivalent of a firebender.

Kobra - Yes, I know. No one likes Dimestore Ken Masters. But I think he could work with a bit more development. You have a Blood Knight who started out simply attacking crooks to sate his bloodlust but devolved into attacking anyone just for the thrill of it. That's a pretty good villain for a fighting game. I can see Kobra working as an Evil Counterpart to the Kombat Kids as he was supposed to be a next gen Black Dragon member. I could see him as either a rival to Kai (a man who fights for enlightenment vs one who fights for sadistic pleasure) or Kung Jin (Both were criminals but Jin was nowhere near as horrible as Kobra).

Kira - Her moveset would need some updates to make her less of a Kano/Sonya clone but I do think there is a place for Kira moving forward. She strikes me as a pragmatic villain and one focused on profit.

That's all I got for now. Anyone got any thoughts?

How about they stop cockteasing us with Fujin and Sareena and make them playable.

Also Dairou

I think that if we assume "Flesh Pits Mileena" is canon then we can assume that Shang Tsung was actually making a Shout-Out to Jurassic Park. Mileena is a clone of Kitana but he required to "fill in the gaps" with other kinds of DNA and chose Tarkatan to do it.

MK 11:

But there is the real possibility that Mileena and Kitana are Shao Kahn's legitimate demigod daughters with Evil All Along Sindel.

I will say I'm very weirded out by Sareena/Kabal in his MK 11 ending.

Re: Liu Kang

I'm curious how the future games will develop God Liu Kang and Raiden.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on May 1st 2019 at 1:40:43 AM

Anyone feel like Jax in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation was a Suspiciously Similar Substitute to Johnny?

• Like Johnny, Jax is the comic relief character who is frequently shown as being bewildered by all the weird supernatural stuff happening around them.

• Both Jax and Johnny have insecurities that they mask with a facade of bravado and humor. Johnny's tendency to rush into fights without thinking was attributed to his fears that deep down he was a fake as his critics accused him of and Jax's reliance on his cybernetic enhancers is attributed to a lack of confidence in his own skills. Sonya's dialogue even implies this is not the first time Jax has dabbled with body augmentation.

• Both Jax and Johnny try to reach out to Sonya who is standoffish and refusing to rely on others for help due to the death of someone close to her.^note The first movie seemed to imply that Sonya was the way she was because of Kano killing her partner and Sonya's jerkass behavior towards Jax in this film is clearly attributed to her grief over Johnny's death.

• Jax seems to have some attraction to Sonya making a joke about her looking good in mud and his "Who the hell is Johnny?" line could be interpreted as jealousy.

• Like Johnny, Jax takes on and defeats a character who was a sub boss in the games as the climax of his arc. For good measure, Jax even delivers a Groin Attack to Motaro just as Johnny did to Goro.

• Jax even makes a comment referencing being picked on in high school just as Johnny did in the previous movie.

They killed Johnny off so yes, he defaulted to the comic relief character.

So I was wondering if we got another live action MK adaptation (movies, t.v. show, web series) who would you guys cast. Also who would do producing, directing etc.

For me, I only know who I would cast.

Doesn't Megalyn play Jacqui in 11?

Yes.

‘Mortal Kombat’ Movie to Start Filming in Australia Later This Year

I wonder how different it will be. Or if Wan will try to downplay the first film being Enter the Dragon.

What do you mean by this?

The 1995 film is essentially a supernatural remake of Enter the Dragon.

I know that but how would Wan "downplay thr first film being Enter thr Dragon"?

I meant in comparison to that 1995 film, I could see his take leaning a lot more into the Outworld war of the later games and downplaying the tournament aspect to avoid those Enter The Dragon comparisons. Sorry if I was unclear.

Edited by Beatman1 on May 15th 2019 at 12:27:12 PM

Mortal kombat is pretty much enter the dragon plus big trouble in little china at first, it have kinda evolve into is own thing.