Usually, these lead to fun B-movie plots that can carry a game or two. Sometimes the sequels just retread the same plot over and over (ie. the Soul Calibur games and King of Fighters), but Mortal Kombat has been able to hold its own for over 25 years due to embracing its own wacky mythology and finding ways to be fresh. Even when they’re literally redoing an earlier story! There’s a reason why the Mortal Kombat story has been told in different forms. There have been ten fighting games plus upgrades that are part of its canon and a few side games (Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Injustice: Gods Among Us, and the wonderful Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks are non-canon). As video games have advanced, so has the storytelling. It used to be that we’d just get some profile text, ending text, and a couple of neat images. Now we get full-on cinematic story modes. So here’s a look at the canon storyline of Mortal Kombat. Before I really get into it, let’s just talk about the makeup of this reality: Edenia is kind of a happy fairytale world made of magic and beauty. Outworld is a barbarian world where violence and monsters run rampant. Netherrealm is Hell itself. Seido is the realm of order, though to an extreme, fascist degree. On the other side of the coin is Chaosrealm, where anarchy is a way of life. Then you got a bunch of random worlds like the world of reptile people, the world of vampires, the world of bug people, and so on. These realms are looked over by gods for the most part. You have your regular gods, who tend to meddle in man’s affairs in a limited sense, and Elder Gods, who are higher on the power scale and ultimately don’t do much. They rarely ever interfere, even when they really should. Even higher on the scale in importance and power are Titans, who are hidden in the shadows. Realms are able to conquer and actually absorb each other, becoming kind of a jumbled landscape in the process. To keep things civil, the Elder Gods put together a rulebook. Conquering and merging can only be done by invoking Mortal Kombat. Every generation, there will be a fighting tournament held. Whoever wins loses the ability to age until the next one is held. If the invading realm can win ten tournaments in a row, they have the right to take over. Speaking of lack of aging, people in most of the other realms have incredibly long lifespans and live for thousands and thousands of years.
MANY, MANY, MANY YEARS AGO…
On Earthrealm, the Elder God Shinnok went mad with power. He opposed his brethren and decided that he wanted the inhabitants of Earthrealm to worship him and only him. Although lower on the godly totem pole, Raiden was able to defeat him and had him sealed away in the Netherrealm. Shinnok buddied up with the mysterious, wandering sorcerer Quan Chi and the two overthrew the damned realm and took over. Shinnok spent endless years biding his time so that he could return and get his revenge. In Edenia, the god and protector Argus got visions of a huge battle that would one day cause Armageddon throughout all of reality. He and his sorceress wife Delia came up with a cockamamie plan to put their sons Taven and Daegon in hibernation so that they could one day awaken, take part in a race to gather special weapons, kill a fire elemental named Blaze, and this would somehow magically nullify the abilities of all the warriors in said gigantic battle. The winning son would take Argus’ place as protector of Edenia. For quite a while, Outworld was ruled by a being known as Onaga the Dragon King. Not only was his power unmatched, but he commanded an unstoppable army of warriors. His trusted advisor Shao Kahn betrayed him via poisoning and took over. Onaga’s army had themselves mummified so that they could reunite with Onaga after his eventual resurrection. Shao Kahn went on a tear, conquering as many realms as he could (including Zaterra). Again and again, his champions won Mortal Kombat and countless realities were merged with his. This included Edenia. Many believed that Kahn murdered its ruler King Jerrod and took his queen and infant daughter as his own. The queen Sindel supposedly took her own life rather than be with Kahn. The truth was that Sindel fell in love with Kahn and killed Jerrod himself. Quan Chi, working for Kahn at the time, decided that Sindel was a distraction and had her killed, staging it as a suicide. Shao Kahn decided to raise Sindel’s daughter Kitana and trained her to be the ultimate assassin.
MANY (BUT NOT AS MANY) YEARS AGO…
Shao Kahn’s reign of terror saw him conquer the warrior people known as the Osh-Tekk. Although their king Kotal K’etz surrendered to Shao Kahn, he secretly sent his young son to do a walkabout through Earthrealm. It was there that Kotal’s son stumbled upon the Mayan civilization and became a god to them. They worshipped him as “Buluc” the god of war and sacrifice. Eventually, his people died out and he returned to Outworld. Goro dominated the tournament for centuries. There was one warrior in the 1800s that Shang Tsung saw as a threat, so prior to the tournament, he hired Wild West gunslinger mercenary Erron Black to assassinate him. As payment, Black was given the secret to long life, making him virtually immortal. At some point over the years, Daegon awoke from his slumber prematurely. Between being in the wrong state of mind from the rude awakening as well as the trickery of Shinnok, Daegon attacked and killed his parents. He then started the criminal organization known as the Red Dragon. The Red Dragon later split into a rival offshoot called the Black Dragon.
SHUJINKO’S QUEST (Konquest from Mortal Kombat: Deception)
Shujinko was a young man who dreamed of protecting Earthrealm from the invaders. He was visited by a glowing ball of energy named Damashi, who put him on a quest in the name of the Elder Gods. He had to spend many decades of his life wandering from realm to realm, getting into adventures, learning more fighting abilities, and gathering the Kamidogu, a series of powerful artifacts. To aid him, Damashi gave Shujinko the power to absorb the abilities of other warriors and make them part of his repertoire. Shujinko never questioned his mission, which was foolish as “Damashi” was really just the spirit of Onaga, tricking Shujinko into causing his resurrection.
JAX VS. THE BLACK DRAGON (Mortal Kombat: Special Forces)
Black Dragon leader Kano freed his subordinates from prison and went off to steal an artifact called the Eye of Chitian. Special Forces soldier Jackson “Jax” Briggs went after them. Jax brought them all back to justice in an adventure that ended with him briefly stepping into Outworld. Raiden appeared to him and warned him what was going to happen. With Earthrealm’s fate in the balance, Sub-Zero entered the Netherrealm and fought through Shinnok’s forces. This included various monsters, a demonic reincarnation of Scorpion, Quan Chi’s trio of female assassins (one of which, Sareena, sided with Sub-Zero), and Quan Chi himself. Sub-Zero stole the amulet back from Shinnok and escaped back into Earthrealm before Shinnok could take his revenge. Sub-Zero came to realize that he was allowed to enter the Netherrealm because he was evil. Raiden told him that he could still change his ways and save his soul, but Sub-Zero chose loyalty above all else. In his very next mission, Sub-Zero was sent to go take part in Mortal Kombat…
SHANG TSUNG’S ISLAND TOURNAMENT (Mortal Kombat)
Earthrealm’s last chance was held on Shang Tsung’s mysterious island. Fighters came from all over. Liu Kang from the White Lotus Society. Johnny Cage, the actor who wanted to prove to the world that his skills were not just special effects and good editing. Sonya Blade, a Special Forces member searching for Kano. Sub-Zero, sent on a mission to assassinate Shang Tsung. Scorpion, back from the grave, under the guidance of Quan Chi, out to get revenge on Sub-Zero. The 2011 reboot retconned the events a bunch and added characters who weren’t in the game itself, like Nightwolf, Sektor, Cyrax, Baraka, and so on. Raiden was more of a guide to the Earthrealm defenders and was not allowed to compete. During the tournament, Scorpion got his revenge on Sub-Zero and killed him. Sub-Zero was reborn in the Netherrealm as a being much like Scorpion, only more sinister, named Noob Saibot. He became Quan Chi’s soldier without Scorpion knowing. Liu Kang was attacked by Kitana, but rather effortlessly fought her off. Taking a shine to her, he promised not to tell anyone about her failure. As far as he was concerned, she never tracked him down to begin with. Meanwhile, Kung Lao, the descendant of the former Mortal Kombat champion, tried to sneak into the tournament under the guise of a guard. He believed that he was the one meant to save the world. Regardless, Liu Kang rose through the ranks and defeated both Goro and Shang Tsung. Outworld’s forces were sent packing and the good guys won.
THE OUTWORLD TOURNAMENT (Mortal Kombat II)
Shao Kahn was pretty pissed at Shang Tsung for failing him on such a monumental level, but Shang had an ace up his sleeve. He suggested that maybe they just invade Earthrealm, cause some devastation, and offer them a double-or-nothing deal. They’ll have a mulligan tournament in Outworld. If Outworld wins, it counts as the tenth win in a row. If Earthrealm wins, Outworld won’t do anymore tournaments against them. Pleased with this idea, Kahn made Shang more powerful and gifted him with a more youthful body. Baraka led his army into slaughtering much of the Shaolin to rile up Earthrealm’s defenders. The heroes accepted the challenge. Jax ran afoul of Ermac (a telekinetic warrior made out of thousands of souls) and got his arms blown off. They were later replaced with cybernetic attachments. Kitana discovered the truth about her identity and that her “sister” Mileena was some kind of grotesque hybrid clone created by Shang Tsung. She ended up siding with the heroes. Once again, Liu Kang won the tournament for Earthrealm by defeating Shang Tsung, Kintaro, and Shao Kahn. He ended it by punching a hole through Shao Kahn’s chest.
THE OUTWORLD INVASION (Mortal Kombat 3, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Mortal Kombat Trilogy)
Through some kind of magic loophole, Quan Chi was able to help Shao Kahn invade Earthrealm by resurrecting Queen Sindel on Earthrealm and brainwashing her for good measure. Kahn’s forces began rampaging through Earthrealm with Raiden finding a select collection of heroes to help him. This included police officer Kurtis Stryker and his partner Kabal. Kabal was a former Black Dragon member who went straight. During the chaos, Kintaro mutilated Kabal and he just barely survived, able to live on thanks to some respirators. Another victim of the invasion was Johnny Cage, murdered by the centaur Motaro. The unpredictable magic of the realms merging allowed Johnny to return to life, though only temporarily. Speaking of getting through to their friends, Kitana was able to bring Sindel back to her senses and onto her side (though, it was likely a long con by Sindel). Similarly, Kitana’s longtime friend and fellow assassin Jade was tasked with tracking down and killing Kitana alongside Reptile, but chose to defend her instead. Although Kung Lao was able to cut Baraka in half (Baraka survived by being stapled together somehow), he was seemingly killed by Shao Kahn. This gave Liu Kang the extra edge needed to defeat Kahn and send him back where he came from. Earthrealm was saved once again.
THE NETHERREALM INVASION (Mortal Kombat 4, Mortal Kombat Gold)
Thanks to the help of the Edenian traitor Tanya, Shinnok was able to finagle his way out of the Netherrealm. He attacked the Heavens and Earthrealm with Quan Chi, Tanya, Reiko, Reptile, Baraka, Noob Saibot, Mileena, and Scorpion in his thrall. Unbeknownst to him, Quan Chi secretly held onto the real version of Shinnok’s powerful amulet while Shinnok held a fake. Quan Chi was really the one in control. Ultimately, Shinnok’s plan involved the Jinsei, which is like Earthrealm’s life force. Shinnok wanted to poison it with his own evil magic, corrupting the entire planet and making it his domain. Or something. Raiden put together a group to stop him, which included his fellow god Fujin, Liu Kang, a resurrected Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, Jax, Kung Lao (who had faked his death for reasons), Kitana, and White Lotus member Kai. Because of Shinnok’s threat, even Cyrax, Goro, and Black Dragon member Jarek joined their cause out of necessity. Also, the adventure helped Cyrax get back in touch with his humanity. Jax and Sonya helped him break out of his programming and used some machinery to put his mind back to its original form. He was still a cyborg, but he had the mind of the man he used to be. Quan Chi convinced Scorpion that the younger Sub-Zero was bad news and was behind the death of his family. Scorpion beat down Sub-Zero. With everything wrapped up, Quan Chi appeared and admitted the truth. Now Sub-Zero was his for the killing and Scorpion was no longer of use. He began a spell to banish Scorpion to the Netherrealm, but at the last moment, Scorpion lunged over and grabbed Quan Chi. If he was going to Hell, Quan Chi was coming with him.
THE DEADLY ALLIANCE (Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition)
Quan Chi finally escaped his endless beatings via the help of two oni creatures named Moloch and Drahmin. During his escape, he found out about Onaga’s unbeatable, mummified army and hatched a plan. He went off to Outworld and sought out fellow sorcerer Shang Tsung. Together, they could find worthy warriors, steal their souls, shove the souls into the mummified army, and then conquer all of reality. But first, they would need to take out the two biggest threats. First, they visited Shao Kahn and went after him as one. The numbers game was too much and Kahn was killed. Afterwards, they went to Earthrealm to team up on Liu Kang. Shang Tsung snapped his neck and killed him on the spot. Elsewhere, in a war between Edenian and Outworld forces, Goro was slain in battle. Secretly, he was stolen away and revived by Shao Kahn. It turns out that the guy Shang and Quan took out was a double. Kahn and Goro decided to sit on the sidelines and see how it played out. Scorpion went after Quan Chi on his own. He broke into his stronghold, only to be attacked by Moloch and Drahmin. They overwhelmed him and threw his body into Shang Tsung’s Soulnado (a tornado of souls that reaches into the Heavens). Scorpion’s body was torn apart and he vanished, presumably destroyed for good. Cyrax was sent on a mission to Outworld, but was stranded. Nitara, a vampire, was able to trick both Cyrax and Reptile into helping her liberate her realm from being merged with Outworld. In the end, this subplot caused Reptile to find his way into an incubation chamber where a cult worshipped a big dragon egg. It hatched and a beam of energy blasted out of it and into Reptile, mutating him and making him a host to the reborn Onaga. Kenshi, a telekinetic, blind swordsman with a serious hate-on for Shang Tsung, was sent by the Special Forces to rescue Cyrax. During his excavation, he came across Ermac and was able to break him away from Shao Kahn’s control, turning them into psychic buddies. Instead of finding Cyrax, Kenshi was ambushed by Mavado, a high-ranking member of the Red Dragon. Coincidentally, Mavado was sporting a couple hook swords that he got from Kabal after tracking him down and beating him within an inch of his life. But back to the main plot… Raiden put together a team to fight the sorcerers, save the world, and get revenge for Liu Kang’s death: Kung Lao, Johnny Cage, Sonya, Jax, Kitana, Sub-Zero, and Frost. Sub-Zero and Frost got separated from all of this. Frost stole Sub-Zero’s medallion for herself, couldn’t control it, and became frozen in a block of ice. Whoops. On his own, Sub-Zero ended up stumbling upon a half-dead Kenshi and aided him.
THE RISE OF THE DRAGON KING (Mortal Kombat: Deception, Mortal Kombat: Unchained)
Even though it was six-on-two, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi wiped the floor with the heroes and killed all five mortals, leaving only Raiden. They kicked his ass and once he was down for the count, they turned on each other. Quan Chi won the battle of the sorcerers, only for Onaga to show up to reclaim his kingdom. Raiden, Shang, and Quan put their differences aside and triple-teamed Onaga to little-to-no effect. Raiden went desperate and blew himself up. It took out all three of them and the mummified army, but Onaga still stood tall. Onaga had the Kamidogu relics and he resurrected the slain heroes to be his brainwashed goons. He intended to merge everything together and bring order like nobody had ever seen before. Raiden respawned elsewhere, but something went wrong and he came back red-eyed and vicious. He still wanted to protect Earthrealm, but now at any cost, no matter how merciless. He started by resurrecting Liu Kang’s soulless corpse into a shambling zombie. Meanwhile, Liu Kang’s actual soul got in contact with Ermac and convinced him to help save his mind-controlled buddies. Speaking of resurrection, the Elder Gods saved Scorpion from the Soulnado and gave him a new mission: save reality from Onaga as the Champion of the Elder Gods and in return they would resurrect his clan. Seido and Chaosrealm also got involved in the plot. Most importantly, Hotaru of Seido joined forces with Onaga due to Onaga’s vision of bringing a dark sense of order to all the realms. Hotaru was sent to eliminate Sub-Zero and Kenshi, which he failed to do. From Chaosrealm, the Cleric of Chaos Havik found a near-dead Kabal and nursed him back to health. He convinced Kabal to go back to his evil ways and rebuild the Black Dragon. Kabal did so, finding new members in Kobra and Kira. Ermac and the ghost of Liu Kang were able to bring the brainwashed heroes back to their senses. As for Onaga, his downfall didn’t come from the hands of Scorpion, but a guilt-ridden Shujinko. The gullible warrior used his power to absorb fighting abilities and summoned the skills of all the fighters involved in the story. He shattered every Kamidogu piece and then killed the hell out of Onaga.
THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON (Mortal Kombat: Armageddon)
One way or another, every hero and villain of the series had returned. The villains, from Onaga to Shao Kahn to the Deadly Alliance, agreed on a temporary team-up to wipe out the do-gooders of the realms. Scorpion rejoined their ranks after the Elder Gods paid him back by resurrecting the Shirai Ryu as mindless ghouls. Man, the Elder Gods are dicks. Taven finally awoke from his slumber, only to discover that his intended contest against Daegon had gone completely wrong and that Daegon was a megalomaniac mass-murderer. He traveled around to various locations, getting into fights with various characters until getting a front row seat in the Battle of Armageddon. As the forces of good and evil fought it out in a desert wasteland, a massive pyramid appeared before them with Blaze standing on top. Everyone was entranced with his energies and then started fighting each other as they raced to the top. It was a massive battle royal between every existing Mortal Kombat character and it was Taven’s to win. After all, he was the hero of the story. But Taven failed. Instead, the last man standing was Shao Kahn. After the smoke cleared, bodies littered the scene and Kahn stood over Blaze’s slain body, more powerful than ever. Before him was Raiden, defeated and moments from death. As Kahn laughed about how worthless and cowardly the Elder Gods were, Raiden reached for a special amulet he always carried with him. It was shattered into pieces, but he held it together in his hands, spoke an enchantment, and yelled out, “HE MUST WIN!” Kitana then became the Queen of Edenia and brought everlasting peace, just like Blaze told her. But this outcome was undone by Raiden’s meddling with the timestream…
SHANG TSUNG’S ISLAND TOURNAMENT REDUX (Mortal Kombat 9)
Back to the events of Mortal Kombat 1, the younger Raiden suddenly became overwhelmed with random visions of the future and the directions that, “HE MUST WIN!” He saw various events, such as his acts as a corrupted god, Sub-Zero being reborn as Noob Saibot, Motaro killing Johnny Cage, Smoke being turned into a cyborg, etc. He figured that, “HE MUST WIN!” meant Liu Kang beating Shang Tsung. Therefore, the events mostly transpired exactly as before. Raiden did try to convince Scorpion not to kill Sub-Zero, as that would bring forth an even greater evil. If Scorpion showed mercy, Raiden suggested that he could maybe convince the Elder Gods to bring back to the Shirai Ryu (um…baaaad idea, Raiden), and Scorpion agreed to his terms. Yet in the end, Quan Chi egged him on too much and Scorpion murdered Sub-Zero regardless. Scorpion lost his only hope of reconnecting with his past. Liu Kang defeated Shang Tsung, but Raiden was disturbed to see that his own amulet was beginning to crack on its own. It seems that he didn’t prevent the terrible future after all. Raiden figured that perhaps, “HE MUST WIN!” meant Kung Lao, who was just as skilled as Liu Kang. The suggestion rubbed Liu the wrong way, but he didn’t question it. Kung Lao took down Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, and Kintaro, but then Shao Kahn cheaply attacked him from behind and snapped his neck. Furious over his friend’s death, Liu Kang fought Kahn and, as it was before, took him down with a fist impaling his chest. Even then, Raiden’s amulet continued to crack. This wasn’t the right way either.
THE OUTWORLD INVASION REDUX (Mortal Kombat 9)
As Kahn’s forces invaded Earthrealm, Raiden intervened before Johnny Cage could die and killed Motaro. Kabal fought Cyber Sub-Zero and defeated him. The Earthrealm heroes removed Sub-Zero’s programming, bringing back his free will. He was haunted by all the innocent lives he took and agreed to their plan to act as a spy against Kahn. Quan Chi opened up a Soulnado in a city cemetery to enhance Shao Kahn’s power. Cyber Sub-Zero fought his brother Noob Saibot while Nightwolf defeated Quan Chi. Noob’s body was thrown into the Soulnado, destroying Noob and causing the Soulnado to dissipate. Raiden was pleased, but upon seeing that his amulet was still cracking, he second-guessed what the next action should be. Liu Kang continued to lose his patience. He and Liu Kang went off to talk to the Elder Gods, who didn’t do jack shit other than say that technically, Kahn hadn’t done anything wrong…yet. While that was going on, the Earthrealm warriors fought off the Lin Kuei. That was easy enough, but prior to the attack, Kahn decided to kill Shang Tsung and use his energies to enhance Sindel. Singlehandedly, this stronger version of Sindel killed Jade, Stryker, Sub-Zero, Kabal, Jax, Smoke, and Kitana. Nightwolf sacrificed himself to finally stop her. Raiden and Liu returned to find Kitana dying. Liu had finally had enough of Raiden’s dumbass decisions and called him out on it. Desperate, Raiden went to the Netherrealm to suggest a deal with Quan Chi. Quan Chi had no need as he already had a deal going with Shao Kahn: in exchange for his services, he got to keep the souls of the warriors who fell during the war between Earthrealm and Outworld. He then had the undead versions of everyone from Sindel to Kung Lao attack Raiden. Raiden left empty-handed, but Quan Chi did make sure to give him some inspiration to figure out how to stop Kahn. “HE MUST WIN!” meant Shao Kahn. If Liu Kang fought him, Kahn would be warded off, but he’d survive to fight another day and eventually kill them all. If Kahn simply merged the realms like the egomaniac he was, the Elder Gods would finally have reason to act on it. Liu thought the plan was nonsense and went after Kahn anyway. Raiden got in Liu’s way and accidentally killed him. Begging for forgiveness, Raiden was horrified when Liu cursed his name before dying from the wounds. Kahn merged the realms and became stronger. The Elder Gods powered up Raiden and helped him defeat Kahn. They then tore his soul to pieces. Shao Kahn was dead. Finally. In response, Raiden’s amulet fixed itself. It came at a terrible cost. Of the good guys, only Raiden, Johnny, and Sonya survived. As they left, Quan Chi appeared to admire Kahn’s destroyed helmet. Everything was going according to plan. Shinnok would escape the Netherrealm soon and there would be barely anyone to oppose them this time.
THE NETHERREALM INVASION REDUX (Mortal Kombat X)
The odds were worse than the original timeline’s war against Shinnok. Not only were the good guys reduced to just Raiden, Fujin, Johnny, Sonya, and Kenshi, but the bad guys had a bunch of resurrected and corrupted heroes on their side. Despite all that, Johnny Cage still defeated Shinnok. It turned out that Johnny was part of a special bloodline of forgotten warriors bred by the gods to be awesome fighters. When Sonya was in peril, Johnny’s genetic powers kicked in and he was able to overpower Shinnok and imprison him into his own magical amulet. Quan Chi mortally wounded Johnny and tried to recreate him as one of his revenant soldiers. Raiden used his own magic to combat it and not only did it save Johnny’s life, but it returned all the other revenant warriors in the room to regular human form. This included Jax, Scorpion, and Sub-Zero (Kuai Lang, as a human being). Raiden finally had a way of saving his fallen friends from damnation. Unfortunately, Quan Chi escaped, so nuts to that. After the war, Johnny and Sonya got married and had a daughter. The union was short-lived and they got divorced, mainly due to Sonya’s Special Forces duties. Jax was too haunted by his memories as a demon soldier and settled down with a civilian. They also had a daughter. Sub-Zero killed Sektor and rebuilt the Lin Kuei from the ground up. Scorpion didn’t know what to do with himself, but Kenshi reached out to him and helped him reconnect with his humanity. A man once again, Scorpion decided to rebuild the Shirai Ryu, recruiting those who also lost loved ones. Raiden hid Shinnok’s amulet away from reality by use of the Kamidogu pieces, now in the form of daggers. He gave them to different people to protect against evil. Elsewhere, with Shao Kahn gone, his daughter-of-sorts Mileena took the throne in Outworld. Kotal (Buluc), who had worked as Shao Kahn’s underling over the years, convinced others to follow him and forced Mileena into hiding during a sudden uprising. Baraka was one of the victims of this little episode, killed by D’Vorah, a creepy bug lady. Now named Kotal Kahn, the new emperor’s inner circle included D’Vorah, the mercenary Erron Black, Ermac, Reptile, and the bloodthirsty savage duo of Ferra and Torr.
THE REIKO ACCORDS (Mortal Kombat X comic series)
Kenshi was undercover as a member of the Red Dragon, but his cover was blown. The Red Dragon knew more about him than he did, including how he had an illegitimate son with an old flame named Suchin. Kenshi was too late to save Suchin, but was able to protect their son, Takeda. Kenshi handed Takeda to Scorpion to protect and raise while Kenshi went off to destroy the Red Dragon himself. Havik orchestrated a plot that cursed the Kamidogu daggers and possessed certain warriors. Using Reiko and others as pawns, Havik worked to summon Shinnok’s amulet and use it for himself as a way to spread chaos through the realms. His machinations caused the deaths of Mavado, Kintaro, Reiko, Goro’s father, Kotal Kahn’s father, and the entire Shirai Ryu (barring Scorpion and Takeda). While Havik’s threat was great enough that even Kotal Kahn and Mileena decided to work together against him, he was done in by Takeda and Scorpion. Scorpion decapitated Havik, teleported into the Netherrealm with the still-alive head, and handed it over to Moloch and Drahmin for the sake of torture. After the adventure, Kotal Kahn and Sonya agreed on a pact known as the Reiko Accords that made them uneasy allies.
THE NEW GENERATION (Mortal Kombat X)
20 years had passed since the Netherrealm War. During that time, Sub-Zero made amends with Scorpion and proved to him that their entire rivalry was based on the manipulations of Quan Chi. To atone, Scorpion dedicated himself to making Quan Chi suffer. Johnny Cage organized a task force of youngsters to train so that they could take over for the old guard. This included Takeda; Johnny and Sonya’s daughter, Cassie Cage; Jax’s daughter, Jacqui Brigg; and Kung Lao’s cousin, Kung Jin. Meanwhile, Kano got his hands on Shinnok’s amulet and sold it to Mileena to help her regain her spot as empress of Outworld. Cassie’s team went to Outworld to get aid from Kotal Kahn. Kotal got the wrong idea and tried to have them killed, but cooler heads prevailed and the two parties worked together to apprehend Mileena. D’Vorah executed her. Afterward, Kotal Kahn refused to return Shinnok’s amulet as Raiden had failed to keep it safe twice over. Little did Kotal realize that D’Vorah had been working for Quan Chi and Shinnok all along and this was part of her plan. Thanks to Jax coming back from retirement, the Special Forces were able to apprehend Quan Chi. Scorpion then appeared and forced everyone to watch him beat and torture the sorcerer, not caring about the fate of others. D’Vorah showed up and handed Quan Chi the amulet. His final words were a spell that would resurrect Shinnok…just before Scorpion chopped Quan Chi’s head off. Not only was Shinnok back, but the fallen heroes could never be turned human again. Only then did Scorpion realize his folly. Shinnok took over the Jinsei Chamber and poisoned the energies with his evil, all while torturing Johnny Cage. Cassie’s crew, alongside the Lin Kuei, fought through Kotal Kahn’s forces and Shinnok’s revenant warriors. Jacqui even avenged her father by defeating Ermac. Cassie faced Shinnok’s true form. Seeing her father in peril caused her powers to kick in and she was able to win just like Johnny did 20 years earlier. To purify the Jinsei, Raiden had himself placed within its energies. Shinnok was defeated, the world was saved, and Johnny and Sonya reconnected. But it wasn’t all a happy ending. Raiden’s sacrifice caused him to become corrupted and he started wielding Shinnok’s amulet as a weapon. He became like his darker self from the original timeline, ready to wipe out anything he considered a possible threat to Earthrealm. To show he meant business, he traveled to the Netherrealm and warned the new rulers – the revenant versions of Liu Kang and Kitana – by throwing the living and suffering head of Shinnok at their feet. He also tried to start a war with Outworld, but Kotal Kahn held him off by invoking Mortal Kombat. Thanks to the help of Bo’ Rai Cho, Earthrealm was defeated and Outworld was deemed safe from Raiden’s wrath. Still, Raiden was able to trick Cassie Cage into killing Shujinko, thereby preventing the resurrection of Onaga in this timeline.
KRONIKA’S REVENGE (Mortal Kombat 11)
The Titan Kronika was the mother of Shinnok and Cetrion, the Goddess of Virtue. Kronika controlled the sands of time and wished for reality to favor both her children, meaning endless conflict between good and evil through the ages. But Shinnok’s beheading had upset the balance in favor of good. While Kronika could manipulate lives of humans, her powers didn’t work on gods. She had, in fact, been trying to perfect reality by creating timeline after timeline, only for Raiden to screw everything up for her no matter how hard she tried. In many of these timelines, she manipulated Liu Kang into fighting Raiden, as the two of them together were a potential threat to her. Meanwhile, Raiden led the Special Forces into a mission in the Netherrealm to cripple Liu Kang and Kitana’s forces and destroy their castle base. While successful, it came at the cost of Sonya’s life. Kronika appeared in the Netherrealm shortly after to rewind the castle back to normal and recruit the revenant versions of Liu Kang and Kitana. Her plan was to create a new timeline where Raiden didn’t exist. She just needed certain items to help amp up her abilities to make it possible. To help with her plan, Kronika created a massive time rift and various heroes and villains from the era of Mortal Kombat II came into the present. While many were able to interact with their counterparts, gods exist under different rules and the sinister, modern version of Raiden vanished completely. His younger self was horrified to discover what kind of monster he would become while most of the others were confronted by the tragedies they were destined to endure. The visiting good guys included Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Kitana, Sonya, Jax, Johnny Cage, and Jade. Obviously, the recent death of modern Sonya made things awkward. That and the two Johnny Cages coexisting. Kronika mainly recruited warriors by promising them a rewarding life in the new timeline, even if her plan was for constant war. In the present, she had her unkillable servant Geras, Cetrion, D’Vorah, Kano, Frost, and Jax (choosing to help due to his guilt-induced PTSD). From the past, she brought in Shao Kahn, Skarlet, Noob Saibot, Kano, Erron Black, Kabal, Scorpion, Sektor, and Cyrax. Frost, feeling that the Lin Kuei had lost their way and Raiden never gave her the respect she deserved, restarted the Cyber Initiative and had herself turned into a cyborg. Many Lin Kuei warriors were kidnapped and transformed into cannon fodder for Kronika. Turned out that Kotal Kahn and Jade were lovers before all this and this time rift was a welcome reunion. The rift also brought back Baraka and his Tarkatan race, who Kotal had previously wiped out completely. Attempting genocide on them once again, Kotal was stopped by Jade and the two ended up being captured by Shao Kahn. Needing soldiers to face Kronika’s armies, Kitana rallied Baraka and Sheeva to join her side, as Shao Kahn would only make them slaves. Shao Kahn crippled Kotal Kahn in battle, but the execution was interrupted by Kitana’s uprising. Kitana sliced Shao Kahn’s throat, wounding him horribly, albeit not mortally. Kotal stepped down as ruler of Outworld and gave the spot to “Kitana Kahn.” Speaking of dead characters, Sektor self-destructed, taking the Special Forces base out with him. Sonya ended up killing the younger version of Kano, which in turn killed the modern Kano. The modern Scorpion died from a poison attack from D’Vorah. The incident inspired his younger, demonic self to switch sides and join the heroes. Cetrion killed all of the other Elder Gods, choosing familial loyalty over morality. Out of desperation, Raiden wielded Shinnok’s amulet and it made him turn more violent and hateful. But then a fight with Liu Kang sparked Raiden’s memories of their multiple battles in previous timelines. Raiden realized that he and Liu Kang working together was the key to victory. Kronika mocked the thunder god and stole Liu Kang away. Raiden led a siege on Kronika’s keep in the Netherrealm. Kronika’s demons and cyborgs were met by Shaolin monks, Special Forces soldiers, Outworld warriors, and so on. The unkillable Geras was taken out by being wrapped in an anchor and dropped into an endless ocean of blood. Modern Jax realized he was on the wrong side and joined the heroes. Revenant Liu Kang absorbed the soul and power of the younger Liu Kang, only to still lose to Raiden. Raiden grabbed Liu Kang and figured out a solution: he basically fused his soul to Liu Kang’s. Liu became a god of fire and lightning, not only giving him the power to lead the charge but also making him immune to Kronika’s manipulations. Kronika rewound the siege, so while Liu Kang was unaffected, his allies were gone. The two battled it out as Kronika brought them back to the dawn of time. Liu Kang won the battle, burned Kronika into glass, and then shattered her. Raiden left Liu Kang’s body, choosing to live as a mortal. Still a god, Liu Kang would be the new keeper of time and would sculpt a new timeline. Mortal Raiden agreed to use the rest of his natural life to help mentor the new god.
