History WesternAnimation / MortalKombatDefendersOfTheRealm

* GoshDarnItToHeck: It's pretty obvious what the "Realm of No Return" is [[{{Hell}} supposed to be]], which adds levels of FridgeHorror whenever somebody gets banished there by Rayden.

* TheObiWan: Rayden.

--> ''"Much has changed since [[Film/MortalKombat the last]] MortalKombat tournament. Dark forces of Outworld have begun [[AlienInvasion invading the Earthrealm]]. These attacks are seriously weakening Earth's dimensional fabric, enabling not only outworlders to enter the Earthrealm, but warriors from other domains as well. [[TheChosenMany Only the most extraordinary warriors can possibly meet this challenge]]: [[TheHero Liu Kang]], [[BadassPrincess Princess]] [[TheChick Kitana]], [[SixthRanger Sub-Zero]], [[TheBigGuy Jax]], [[ActionGirl Sonya]] [[TheBigGuy Blade]], [[TheSmartGuy Nightwolf]], [[TeamPet Kiva]], [[TheLancer Kurtis Stryker]]. Driven by purpose and bound by honor, these are the [[TitleDrop Defenders of the Realm]]."''

'''Mortal Kombat: Defenders Of The Realm''' (also known as ''Mortal Kombat: The Animated Series'') is an AnimatedAdaptation of the ''MortalKombat'' games. It aired on the USANetwork's USA Cartoon Express animation block from September to December of 1996.

** Why they didn't just use "Netherrealm", though, we may never know...

* HeyItsThatVoice: All over the place. Raiden is [[Film/{{Highlander}} The Kurgan]], Kitana is [[InspectorGadget a certain crime-solving niece]], Jax is [[FullMetalJacket a CrazyAwesome Marine]], Stryker is [[{{Film/Hellboy}} a demon superhero from Hell]] and Sonya is [[LawAndOrderCriminalIntent a sexy but DepravedBisexual serial killer.]] This also extends to the guest stars. Smoke is [[ColdCase Det. Vera]] and Kabal is voiced by freakin' KevinMichaelRichardson. Then there is the matter of [[WhatTheHellCastingAgency poor Sub-Zero...]]

* {{Jerkass}}: Raiden.

* HeyItsThatVoice: All over the place. Raiden is [[{{Highlander}} The Kurgan]], Kitana is [[InspectorGadget a certain crime-solving niece]], Jax is [[FullMetalJacket a CrazyAwesome Marine]], Stryker is [[{{Film/Hellboy}} a demon superhero from Hell]] and Sonya is [[LawAndOrderCriminalIntent a sexy but DepravedBisexual serial killer.]] This also extends to the guest stars. Smoke is [[ColdCase Det. Vera]] and Kabal is voiced by freakin' KevinMichaelRichardson. Then there is the matter of [[WhatTheHellCastingAgency poor Sub-Zero...]]

* BigNo: Poor, poor [[spoiler:Smoke...]]

* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: Sub-Zero's fight with Smoke. [[spoiler:It does not work, but he agrees not to kill him, nonetheless.]]

* HeyItsThatVoice: All over the place. Raiden is [[{{Highlander}} The Kurgan]], Kitana is [[InspectorGadget a certain crime-solving niece]], Jax is [[FullMetalJacket a CrazyAwesome Marine]], Stryker is [[{{Film/Hellboy}} a demon superhero from Hell]] and Sonya is [[LawAndOrderCriminalIntent a sexy but DepravedBisexual serial killer.]] This also extends to the guest stars. Smoke is [[ColdCase Det. Vera]] and Kabal is voiced by freakin' KevinMichaelRichardson. Then there is the matter of[[WhatTheHellCastingAgency poor Sub-Zero...]]

* HeyItsThatVoice: All over the place. Raiden is [[{{Highlander}} The Kurgan]], Kitana is [[InspectorGadget a certain crime-solving niece]], Jax is [[FullMetalJacket a CrazyAwesome Marine]], Stryker is [[{{Film/Hellboy}} a demon superhero from Hell]] and Sonya is [[LawAndOrderCriminalIntent a sexy but DepravedBisexual serial killer.]] Not to mention Kabal is voiced by freakin' KevinMichaelRichardson. Then there is [[WhatTheHellCastingAgency poor Sub-Zero...]]

* {{Jerkass}}: Raiden.

** TheAnimatedSeries

** In the Liu Kang vs. Sub-Zero scene of [=DotR=], Kitana sported her outfit from the series, and Sub-Zero (the elder) was finished by Liu Kang throwing a water bucket to him, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard freezing him]]. In the first movie, Kitana wore a different outfit, and Liu Kang finished Sub-Zero by throwing said water bucket to him, but [[spoiler:the water became a big spearhead, and nailed Sub-Zero to the wall]].

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: '''Lieutenant''' Sonya Blade and '''Princess''' Kitana. Ironically, during their inevitable GirlsNightOutEpisode, it's Sonya who asks Kitana if she ever misses being a woman, what with all the fighting.

--> ''"Much has changed since [[Film/MortalKombat the last]] MortalKombat tournament. Dark forces of Outworld have begun [[AlienInvasion invading the Earthrealm]]. These attacks are seriously weakening Earth's dimensional fabric, enabling not only outworlders to enter the Earthrealm, but warriors from other domains as well. [[TheChosenMany Only the most extraordinary warriors can possibly meet this challenge]]: [[TheHero Liu Kang]], [[BadassPrincess Princess]] [[TheChick Kitana]], [[SixthRanger Sub-Zero]], [[TheBigGuy Jax]], [[ActionGirl Sonya]] [[TheChick Blade]], [[TheSmartGuy Nightwolf]], [[TeamPet Kiva]], [[TheLancer Kurtis Stryker]]. Driven by purpose and bound by honor, these are the [[TitleDrop Defenders of the Realm]]."''

** {{Mentors}}: Raiden

* AdaptationNameChange: Reptile is re-named Komodai in the series.

* CanonForeigner: Asgaarth (a bird-man from Edenia), Oniro (Grand master of the Lin Kuei), Ruby (red female ninja and possible {{Expy}} of Jade), and Sarah (Kitana's mortal enemy).

* DisneyVillainDeath: Scorpion gets frozen by Sub-Zero, then thrown into some kind of pitch-black abyss inside a temple by Rayden.

* FusionDance: The few times Nightwolf entered kombat himself, he would magically merge with his pet wolf and open a can of whoop-ass on the enemies. This happened exactly twice in the whole series. Why the others kept him in front of a computer screen all the time is unknown.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: It's based on one of the earliest, most brutally gory games of its time and still managed to be made into a cartoon targeted towards kids. Although compared to its video game counterpart, it's pretty tame.

[=DotR=] makes continuity problematic, since ''MortalKombatAnnihilation'' starts immediately in the same place. However, the cartoon is held in higher regard than ''Annihilation'', so it generally takes precedence.

** TheBigGuy: Jax

** TheChick: Kitana and Sonya

* FusionDance: The few times Nightwolf entered kombat himself, he would magically merge with his pet wolf and open a can of whoop-ass on the enemies. This happened exactly twice in the whole series. Why the others kept him in front of a computer screen all the time is unknown, when he was much more powerful.

* AmbiguouslyGay: [[ScaryBlackMan Jax]] of all people. [[HoYay Calls Raiden]] ''[[HoYay girlfriend]]'' on at least one occasion, his first response to defending Sub-Zero is [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial "Hey I don't want to]] ''[[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial marry]]'' [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial the guy!"]], and [[BerserkButton flips his lid]] when you call him [[BabyGotBack "blubber butt"]].

** TheMentor: Raiden

* ConspicuousCG: The series ''breathes'' this trope.

* CrossThrough: ''Resurrection'' is the third part of a four-part storyline aired on November 16, 1996 about a "Warrior King" chasing down a powerful MacGuffin through four (otherwise unrelated) USA Network Saturday morning cartoons. Two notes regarding this: unlike the other three parts, the [=DotR=] episode features ''only'' the Mac Guffin, with the Warrior King himself only appearing as an unexplained-with-just-the-context-of-[=DotR=]-alone shadow for all of five seconds; and ''[[WesternAnimation/StreetFighter the american Street Fighter cartoon]]'' was one of the other four cartoons in the storyline, making this the closest the two DuelingGames have ever come to interacting.

* JerkAss: Raiden.

--> '''Sonya''': ''What's that sleaze doing here?''
--> '''Jax''': ''Seems like he's putting a ''chill'' on the invasion.''

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: Bet you would never think they could make a Saturday morning cartoon out of an ultraviolent video game series, huh.

* BackportedDevelopment: When Liu Kang has a flashback about his victory over Shang Tsung, Tsung has the beard and facepaint he uses on this series (from ''MortalKombat3''), even though he didn't have them in the live-action movie, which the flashback represents.
** Both played straight and averted with Kano. When he's shown in a flashback of Sonya's partner's death, he wears his series/[[MortalKombat3 MK3]] outfit, yet in a flashback to their fight in the movie, both Sonya and Kano have their movie looks.