For most people, Mortal Kombat is nothing more than a decapitation simulator ... which is a shame, because over the last few games, NetherRealm studios has woven a surprisingly intricate tale.
Back in the day, fighting games barely even had stories, and yet, with the 2011 Mortal Kombat, NetherRealm turned what could have been the weakest part of the game into one of the best. It wasn't just a bunch of people decapitating each other anymore (though there was plenty of that), it was a story of two different dimensions fighting it out for the fate of the universe.
Granted, without playing the games, the Mortal Kombat storyline can come off as a bit cluttered. It's almost to be expected after 20-plus years' worth of history ... and even with the 2011 version resetting much of the story, the Mortal Kombat lore can be a bit confusing. So, in honor of the latest game's imminent release, here's everything you need to know about the story of Mortal Kombat:
The Characters
There are plenty of iconic characters in Mortal Kombat, but most of the game's history has been determined by a few key players. Simply put, Mortal Kombat is a war between worlds, and these are the generals:
Shao Kahn
First Appeared in: Mortal Kombat
The big baddie of the Mortal Kombat universe, Shao Kahn, looks to invade Earthrealm and turn its citizens into slaves ... and, if you were hoping the hammer is for decoration — it isn't.
Raiden
First Appeared in: Mortal Kombat
While he's prone to mucking things up, Raiden is the closest thing Earthrealm has to a leader. Shao Kahn may have a hammer, but Raiden has the power lightning — and the Elder Gods — on his side.
The Elder Gods
First Appeared in: Mortal Kombat 4
As the supreme deities of the Mortal Kombat universe, the Elder Gods are omnipotent and massively powerful ... though they tend to sit around and wait for everything to go wrong before actually helping.
Quan Chi
First Appeared in: Mortal Kombat 4
If Shao Kahn is the muscle, then Quan Chi is the brains: a sorcerer of the NetherRealm, Quan Chi is known for his love of green skulls and tendency to bring dead characters back to life.
Lui Kang
First Appeared in: Mortal Kombat
He's the champion of Earthrealm, and is its greatest fighter. Lui Kang isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, as he tends to run head-first into most fights, but he's still the closest thing humanity has to a hero.
The Places
Earthrealm
This is what humanity calls home. It may have a different name, but Earthrealm is basically an alternate version of our Earth.
Outworld
Outworld is Shao Kahn's home and one of the many worlds that came into being following an ancient cosmic event. It's a war-torn wasteland, populated mostly by Shao Kahn's legions of slaves.
NetherRealm
It's basically hell; the NetherRealm is where tortured souls and fallen warriors go live out the rest of their existence. It's full of fire, lava and demons — in fact, it even had its own version of Lucifer long before the events of the series.
The Story Thus Far
As it stands, the Mortal Kombat story has as been split into two timelines: the Original timeline, which featured all of the games through Armageddon; and the Alternative timeline, which began in the 2011 Mortal Kombat. It's this Alternative timeline that carries over to Mortal Kombat X, and it's the one we'll be focusing on.
At the end of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Shao Kahn has won, and Raiden is powerless to stop Armageddon from consuming all of reality. In his last moments, Raiden sends a message back through time, warning his younger self of the world's impending destruction. The message consists of only three words: "He must win."
From there, Raiden does his best to change the world so that Armageddon cannot come to pass. Unfortunately, most of his attempts fail: the original Sub-Zero dies and is resurrected as Noob Saibot, Kung Lao is murdered by Shao Kahn and most of the other combatants are killed by a super-powered Sindel (the wife of Shao Kahn).
The Elder Gods refuse to help Raiden and the surviving fighters combat Shao Kahn's invasion — as such, Raiden turns to Quan Chi for help. The sorcerer predictably turns on Raiden, who manages to escape from the NetherRealm back to Earthrealm by the skin of his teeth.
As Shao Kahn's invasion expands, Raiden realizes the true meaning of his future self's message: "He must win" doesn't refer to Liu Kang, but Shao Kahn himself. If the two realms are merged into one, the Elder Gods will finally interfere and destroy Shao Kahn. Liu Kang tries to prevent the worlds from merging, and is mortally wounded in the subsequent fight against Raiden.
Shao Kahn then begins to merge the realms together and battles it out with Raiden. At first, it appears that Shao Kahn will emerge victorious and the Elder Gods have abandoned Raiden — however, at the last second, the Elder Gods appear to restore Raiden's strength. The Thunder God defeats Shao Kahn, who is then obliterated by the Elder Gods. The merging of the worlds is halted and reality continues on — albeit at the cost of many, many lives.
From there, the story continues in the Mortal Kombat X comic. In the years following the game's conclusion, the realms engaged in a bloody, brutal conflict: the NetherRealm War. While the full events of the conflict have yet to be detailed, it is known that Sub-Zero was resurrected back into a human body and Scorpion revived his once-dead clan.
Years later, the war is being waged on two fronts: Earthrealm and Outworld. In Outworld, a power struggle has led to the downfall of Shao Kahn's empire and Outworld as a whole: when the devious Mileena took over after the emperor's death, she plunged the realm into chaos. Now, Kotal Kahn and his followers seek to bring the realm back from the brink of destruction — though political back-stabbings and inter-realm conflict seek to spark a war between Earthrealm and the Outworld.
In Earthrealm, the former Elder God Shinnok seeks to escape his prison within Raiden's amulet. The Kamidogu, daggers of power that act as keys to Shinnok's prison, have been corrupted by the blood magic of Havik — a sorcerer who intends to release the once-great Elder God. The daggers, under the influence of Havik, take the lives of many warriors, including Scorpion's revived Shirai Ryu and the resurrected Sub-Zero.
Essentially, it seems as if Havik is behind everything: the cleric seeks to start a war between Earthrealm and Outworld, as well as release Shinnok from his prison. As it stands, things look bleak, and it doesn't look like things will get better anytime soon.
To be honest, there are a few holes in the story: neither the game nor the comic describe the NetherRealm War in any detail, and there are a few characters that have come back to life with no explanation given. There are still a few issues left in the Mortal Kombat X comic series, so expect the bridge to be finished over the next few months.
As for the game itself ... well, the only way to find out what happens is to pick up Mortal Kombat X when it launches on April 14.
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