Headscratchers / Mortal Kombat X

• Erron Black says, in an interaction with Leatherface, "Nice to meet a fellow Texan." That would indicate Erron is from Texas and moved to Outworld, despite that he explicitly says he's from Outworld and never mentions himself being from Earthrealm outside of the one line. Does that mean Earthrealm is the real Earth? And if that's the case, who or what would put Erron in a position to find work in Outworld?
  • Earthrealm is indeed the very same earth that we inhabit, and as for what would move Erron into moving into Outworld? Probably the same thing that would drive him to fight a god like Raiden.
  • In the story mode, Takeda is surprised that he can read Erron's thoughts, meaning he's not from Outworld. Erron confirms that he's originally from Earthrealm, but is of Outworld because his employer (Kotal Kahn) is of Outworld.
  • Erron's Arcade ending reveals that he was originally a bounty hunter/mercenary in the days of the Wild West who took jobs for Shang Tsung, and his skill led him to be rewarded with eternal youth so he could continue to work for his long-lived employers in Outworld.

• If the Netherrealm is accessible only to those whose heart and soul is tainted with evil (willingly or unwillingly), then how were Kenshi, Johnny Cage, Sonya, and the special forces able to access it in the first place without harm? How was Raiden pre-corruption able to access the Netherrealm various times without losing his powers? How did Raiden use his power to purify souls in the Netherrealm?
  • I can give Johnny a bit of a pass since his powers do allow him to shrug off attacks from Shinnok, which are undoubtedly of a corrupt nature. Best I can come up with for the others is that their purity allowed them to get by the Netherrealm pretty fine. Jax can possibly be justified as well since he was already corrupted once, so it's probably safe to assume that he can skip around the place, presumably because of being familiar with the corruption reeking all over.
  • Pretty much everyone possesses evil within them to some degree. The only ones who were sufficiently pure in canon to be expelled from the Nether realm are Nightwolf, who used a ritual to cleanse himself, and Ashrah, who used her magic sword. As Sareena herself shows, you don't need to actually be evil to exist within the Netherrealm. As for Raiden why wouldn't he be able to use his powers and purify souls?
    • Which also imposes a trivial question for Raiden. Mythologies state that Raiden would lose his powers in the Netherrealm, yet during the Special Ops mission, he was still able to use it in great measures, including combining his and Quan Chi's powers to revert revenants to their original form by accident. Did Raiden bluff the quote or did he figure out how to go to the Netherrealm unscathed? It will be less questionable on the Epilogue when Dark Raiden appeared in the Netherrealm showing Shinnok's severed head and have a much more darker and threatening power instead.

• Just a bit of pickiness and admitted overthinking— is there any possible, plausible explanation for how different Mortal Kombat Jason Voorhees is from Friday The 13th Jason Voorhees? In the game, obviously for balance issues (thus the overthinking), Jason runs, jumps, dashes, and utilizes moves like low sweeps and jabs, most of which he never does in any of the dozen Friday The 13th films. It also wouldn't make sense, in theory, for Jason to follow the rules of Mortal Kombat itself (i.e., two rounds in each fight, allowing the opponent to recover for the next round, etc). Is there anything that anyone can think of, even a wild mass guess, that would justify this?
  • The difference is in the victims of his wrath. Movie!Jason can take his time for all he cares, because his victims aren't fighters. Fighter!Jason on the other hand has to contend with badasses from different realms, so he has to put up a good fight. Although gameplay-wise, it's pretty easy to make him act as he does in the movies, patient, sinister and all.

• According to Shinnok's Ladder Mode ending, he plans to awaken the One Being by merging the Realms. What does he get out of doing that? What stops O.B. from devouring Shinnok? Even if he didn't (maybe out of gratitude for his awakening), what would Shinnok do now that reality has ended? Float forever?
  • Big Bads in this franchise have a history of doing stupid things. Remember what would have happened to Shao Khan had the original timeline stayed in place?
  • Lampshaded a long time ago in this ending.
  • It might be that he's simply more interested in wiping out the Elder Gods than anything else. As maniacs go, he comes off as pretty omnicidal.
  • Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum over an unknown offense, maybe?
  • It's possible that the Kamidogu would allow Shinnok to remake reality as he saw fit, with the possible blessing of The One Being if the gratitude suggestion panned out.
  • My reading of his ending is that Shinnok found a way to magically manipulate One Being into devouring the Elder Gods and otherwise serve his plans. He wouldn't be devoured since he was making O.B. not do that. It's also possible Shinnok being all fleshy and not ethereal like the other Elder Gods might play a part too.
  • It is possible that the O.B. was manipulating him. It is implied in other games that it has been manipulating Kahn and Onaga in their lust for conquest, so why not Shinnok too?
  • Whose to say that Shinnok planned to survive the O.B.? The narration of his ending implies that he sees the O.B., not the realms, as the true nature of existence. If he and the elder gods must die so that the O.B. can exist, then so be it.

• Ignoring the comic's timeline, Kotal Kahn's coup against Mileena occurred five years before the main events of the game. So why does he talk about "imminent war with the Netherrealm" when Shinnok had already been defeated at that point?
  • Maybe he had Quan Chi in mind?
  • Shinnok is far from the only threat in the Netherrealm. Aside from Quan Chi, Liu Kang and Kitana govern the damn place and the rest of the Revenants are also intent on freeing Shinnok from his amulet.

• Even if it isn't canon, why does Liu Kang appear to be older? As the champion of Mortal Kombat, he is The Ageless
  • I think they didn't want all the aged males to have beards.
  • Does it still apply though? With Shao Kahn gone the Mortal Kombat Tournament is no longer needed so Liu's extended life cause probably isn't necessary.. Let's not forget that he died as well.
  • As with Kung Lao, this was intentional. You can make up your own microcanon about Liu, or Lao, or whoever you want surviving MK9's events, supported by their aged appearances. There's a good read on this on the concept art in the Krypt.
  • I'd guess because of the Outworld tournament, the old rules were tossed out and new ones implemented.

• How can Shinnok be beaten by a girl from Earthrealm while he has his amulet, and the Jinsei? In the first timeline, Shinnok was using a fake amulet and Johnny Cage didn't actually beat Shinnok in battle. He just distracted him long enough for Sonya to survive and for Raiden to seal him in his amulet.
  • Isn't this like asking why people can still fight after they've gotten their skulls and spines broken in the X-Ray moves?
  • Judging by the cut scene after the Arcade fight, a majority of the Amulet's power goes to maintaining his form, as once it's torn out of him he dissolves. How exactly is The Jinsei empowering him? After all, he was mid-process when the fight occurred.
  • She is capable of channeling that green Shadow energy like her father which, if this one element of Johnny Cage's semi-canonical MK9 arcade ending is true (In which after training in Seido Johnny became one of the most powerful beings in existence), would logically let her have the ability to go toe to toe with an Elder god. Also, Shinnok only poisoned the Jinsei chamber and, as shown in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, Shinnok can transform into his Corrupted from (AKA "Demon" or "Beast" from) at will.
  • For the same reason Liu Kang could beat Shang Tsung and Shao Khan.
    • Shang Tsung seems to be your run of the mill immortal like Kitana. Aside from the abilities granted by binding his soul to Shao Khan, he can be killed, he just won't die. In any case, Liu beat them in "Mortal Kombat." From what I can tell, invoking MK levels the playing field for the kombatants. So, without MK, Liu wouldn't or, at least, shouldn't stand a chance against Shao Khan or anyone above him like Raiden and/or Shinnok. However, MK either empowers a normal or as normal as they can be character like Liu or depowers a godlike character like Shao Kahn. It also seems to make immortal characters physically killable. Shao Kahn, as he's not a "god," would just die while a god would just reform after a while like Raiden does.
    • Mortal Kombat doesn't level the playing field, and both MK3 and the final act of MK9 happen when there isn't a tournament happening, anyway. Liu Kang beats Shang Tsung and a soul-glutted Shao Kahn because he's just that good.
  • Especially since Johnny Cage has never been able to beat anyone above Baraka. People forget that Shinnok is actually more powerful than Shao Kahn despite how they portray him. In addition, none of this was "Mortal Kombat" so that means that Johnny and Cassie can straight up beat an Elder God without the modifies from invoking MK. They're, effectively, the most powerful characters in the game with the exception of The One Being.
    • Johnny and Sonya had to step up their game in the new timeline since the previous heavy hitters were killed off. Johnny's always had the potential to be a top tier fighter he just never had the motivation to put in the work until now.
  • In the comics, Havik mention that a mortal beating up Shinnok is impossible. Unless he possessed the power to kill a God. The green aura is more than a booster, as seen in Johnny Cage's MK9 ending, it is either something that tremendously augment his ability or the equivalent to Kryptonite against Gods. The reason he and Cassie can beat Shinnok even in his final form is because it's what their line was created for in the first place. Now, how could mortals harness such powers? That's the real unanswered question.
    • The comics give an insight of this. Basically, Johnny and Cassie descend from a lineage trained not only to serve gods, but to fight an Elder God in case he or she goes rogue. Maybe it was the Elder Gods themselves who thought of such a plan. It could be after Shinnok's defection, in order to not let an interrealm war happen again.

• Why is Takeda in his Ronin variant when his chapter starts? There's Shirai Ryu variant with him right?
  • Perhaps that's the fighting style Hanzo trained him in since Takeda wasn't officially Shirai Ryu yet.

• Why is Quan Chi is so loyal to Shinnok? He even sacrifices himself to free Shinnok.
  • Why would he NOT be loyal to him?
  • Dialogue during Jax's chapter implies that much of his power is derived from Shinnok (technically being an Elder God and whatnot) and that he can't access that power while Shinnok is trapped in the amulet. As for the "sacrifices himself" bit... seems more like "I'm screwed in this situation anyways, might as well say the incantation to free Shinnok as a Thanatos Gambit" than a legit sacrifice on his part.
  • Why NOT sacrifice for him? As long as you stay on his good side you have someone with the power of an Elder God on your side. Shinnok can resurrect Quan Chi at his whim, in Armageddon Shinnok resurrected ALL the dead villains to take part in the final battle so the forces of Light wouldn't win, so resurrecting his loyal and most powerful servant would be nothing to him.
    • But that's the thing, he didn't revive Quan Chi. Shinnok left Quan Chi dead and continued with his plans. Ultimately, Quan Chi's loyalty didn't save him. Then again, Shinnok likely knows how his relationship with Quan Chi ended in the original timeline.
    • Shinnok was also kind of busy at the moment. Had be been resealed in the Nether Realm he likely would have resurrected Quan Chi to get things going again. Their's is a relationship of convenience, not affection, and Quan Chi is his strongest and smartest minion.
    • After being unsealed, Shinnok's powers were still likely too weak to resurrect and the timing window was very short. Had Shinnok revived a dead Quan Chi or have his minions carry him (and Johnny Cage at the same time) for later resurrection, the other warriors that came back from Outworld (healthy) would have reached him and reseal him again; the people Shinnok took with just a blast of the Amulet were already exhausted in the previous battle.
  • One important note about all of the above: Quan Chi was able to backstab Shinnok in the original timeline because he stole Shinnok's amulet and replaced it with a duplicate, granting him enough power to strike out on his own (as Shinnok remains in the Netherrealm following Mortal Kombat 4, Quan Chi retains full access to his powers granted by the amulet). In the alternate timeline, this never happens, as whatever message Shinnok conveyed to his past self must have mentioned keeping a tight grip on his amulet. As Quan Chi never manages to steal the amulet, he has little choice but to stay loyal to Shinnok and work on freeing him from the amulet, otherwise he will slowly lose all his powers.
    • Important note about this one above; Quan Chi, in the "original timeline" revealed his treachery to Shinnok in a non-canon ending to the game. We know it was non-canon because it ended up with Shinnok dead assuming all of Earth Realm's warriors lost. That never happened, thus the reveal that Quan Chi did that didn't happen, so that knowledge wouldn't be with Shinnok at all to send that message back. That said, the treachery and swap of the amulets was committed back when he first recovered Shinnok's amulet, during Sub-Zero's Elemental Temple raid, which happened just two years prior to the 10th Mortal Kombat tournament. So, those events actually still happened, and a further bit of evidence is that in MK9, Quan Chi did have a hold of Shinnok's amulet, despite it having been stolen back by Sub-Zero during their encounter before the tournament.

• Why don't Cassie and Jacqui seem to recognize Erron Black, considering that they met him in the comics? Shouldn't Cassie be like "Hey, I know you. You're the asshole who helped Kano kidnap me and Jacqui."? Did they just want to avoid confusing people who hadn't read the comics?
  • Probably, since more people would likely play the game than read the comic. A possible in-universe explanation is that they didn't want to provoke him by bringing up old rivalries when they just came to talk.
  • There's a number of holes between the game and the comic. For example, name changes for Scorpion's wife and son, differences in how long the Outworld civil war has been going on, and several other things. Best to take the comic as only semi-canonical whenever information clashes.
  • It was also years ago, it's possible they simply forgot about him.

• So, how did Rain and Kano steal Shinnok's Amulet? Did I miss the explanation? I presume it has something to do with Rain being a half-god.
  • And while we're at it, who or what caused Raiden's message (via a medallion) to Sonya Blade informing her about the above mentioned spoiler protected detail to be cut off?
    • Possibly Kano's trap that Raiden later mentions in his chapter.
    • In Tremor's Ending it's said that Kano sent Tremor to the Dream Realm to get a Psych Bomb to steal the Amulet with. That may have been Kano's "snare". This suggests that the plan was heavily planned and impeccably carried out. It still feels like a very quick Hand Wave because they had to speed towards the ending and didn't want too much exposition, but at least we've learnt something.

• I know it's not canon but why are the revenant's normal skins what they were when they're alive? (Aside from Jax, Sub-Zero, and Scorpion)
  • Dude. You just answered yourself. It's not canon.

• Kenshi can leave a comment on Cassie's "Selfie-tality". But ain't he kinda... blind? Unless Sento or Takeda help him with computers or mobile phones and such? That just leaves a funny image in my head really.
  • Blind people can use computers, even if there isn't some more immediately cyberpunk solution in the MK universe.
  • A blind man using the computer makes no sense, but it makes perfect sense for Cassie to have the villains in the game as social network friends, the Outworld natives to have internet access, and the victim of her Fatality to comment on the selfie (which happens from time to time)? It's a gag move, and you shouldn't take it seriously.

• Why is Sub-Zero suddenly incapable of defeating Scorpion when he not only handily kicked his ass in the last game, but also defeated Goro and Kintaro at the same time? Hell, he seems to have the Dragon Medallion too so shouldn't he be even stronger than before now? In the original continuity it buffed him up to godlike levels.
  • He was probably going "easy" on Scorpion, in hopes of gaining his trust.
  • We also can't take one character overcoming another in a previous fight, as definitive statement on how future fights will go. Performance and fighting ability can vary a great deal, especially over the course of a couple decades. Outside of broad strokes, it's very difficult to figure out how characters measure up against one another. Raiden, as an actual god walking the Earth, sits at the high-end of the scale along with folks like Shinnok and Kotal Kahn. Cassie, Jacqui, Takeda, and Kung Jin are capable but comparatively mundane and inexperienced and can be said to sit at the lower end of the scale. But one can always have an "off day" or a bad match-up, and upset even these patterns.
  • Considering Cassie has a power that allows her to take on Shinnok, i would not call her abilities mundane.
  • I seriously doubt Sub-Zero's fighting skills have suffered in the intervening decades — he was still capable of killing Sektor, he easily defeated Cassie and Company in rapid succession (and they were said to be the best the Special Forces had to offer), and even in the comic where he lost to Scorpion, the latter admitted that he only won because Kuai was weakened. He even had the upper hand for the battle until he lowered his defenses to try and reason with Scorpion. Once again, assuming he has the Dragon Medallion now, his power should be exponentially increased.

• Was there ever an explanation for how Goro got a new set of arms after Kotal Kahn tore off his previous four in the comic book series?
  • No explanation is needed. See, being a DLC character, Goro plays no part in the Story Mode of the game (as opposed to the comic), and is only in the Arcade Ladder Mode, assuming you download him. And what happens in Arcade Ladder Mode is non-canon.

• Something has been bothering me for some time - why the hell won't anyone cut Raiden some slack? He made a mistake interpreting a message and didn't get the desired result, but he did obtain a result about a thousand times better than the alternative, one that likely saved the lives of billions. I'm starting to wonder if the characters who keep reminding him of his mistake are just using him as a scapegoat at this point. (I'd like to see any of them do a better job preventing the apocalypse with such scant information.)
  • Keep in mind that it's mostly the Revenants who blame him. Jax (after being freed) actually defends Raiden's actions.
  • It also bears mentioning that it's a better scenario for Earthrealm. It's implied that Kitana has gotten visions of the original timeline, where Edenia and she personally came out a lot better at the expense of Earthrealm. From her point of view, which is also likely worsened by her status as a revenant, Raiden's actions have cost her nearly everything for a realm that isn't even hers. It could also be said that, while Raiden's actions has saved many lives in Earthrealm, the consequences of his actions have caused unparalleled amounts of destruction in Outworld. His manipulation of time has lead to a vastly larger realm falling into a near constant state of civil war and unrest, which is having effects that are spilling over into the other realms. Mileena personally blames him for killing Shao Kahn, her father, which he did do, which is why she refused to ally with Earthrealm the first time Shinnok broke out. All that being said...yeah, he is kind of a scapegoat. He was working off of very limited information, in the hopes of preventing what would have been total Armageddon, and unfortunately everyone just sort of has to take his word that things have improved. Which they're not likely to do for the reasons mentioned above.
  • The problem is, they do have every rights to not trust and eventually blame Raiden. Limited information, yes, but aside of the players sitting in front of the TV, who in that world knows that if Raiden did not interfere, Armageddon would come? Even Raiden himself doesn't know, since all he got was "He must win." It kind of make sense that everyone thinks he's gone really delusional and quite self-entitled to demand the heroes to know that Raiden was 'trying to prevent Armageddon' and be all happy with him. The characters are not expected to share the knowledge of us audience.
  • It's heavily implied that the revenants have all been brainwashed into their darker personalities. Their current behavior is greatly out of character for what has been established, and Sareena and Kitana's encounter implies it's an effect of Quan Chi's magic and can be broken through embracing positive emotions. They all seem to be locked into a state of rage, hostility and resentment. The three revenants that broke free all act differently and greatly regret their previous behavior, the remaining revenants would likely have a similar Heel Realisation if they were restored as well.

• Just to clarify, when they say Kenshi's Eurasian, do they mean to say he has one European parent and one Asian parent, or that he's descended from Eurasian nomads? His old bio said he was descended from a line of "Eurasian warrior kings", but to my knowledge, the only people who could qualify as "Eurasian warrior-kings" would be Cumans, Kypchaks, Huns, Pechenegs or other Turks, as well as Sarmatians like the Alans or Ugric speaking peoples... I personally guess the former, seeing as how there's really nothing about Kenshi that strikes me as "Turkic", least of all his choice of weapon and clothing.
  • I was thinking the former. It could just be me, but I can't help but think he looks a bit like the half-Asian (all right, half-Pacific Islander) Keanu Reeves. It isn't impossible that he's half Japanese (given his name) and half-European/white, but has some distant ancestors in the Caucasus (after all, Johnny's ancestors are apparently Mediterranean but it probably wouldn't occur to you just to look at him).

• Why does Cassie have her father's surname? The Mortal Kombat wiki says that Sonya and Johnny were married, but obviously Sonya kept her own last name. Wouldn't that make the daughter either Cassie Blade or Cassie Blade-Cage?
  • Obviously not, especially since it seems Cassie stayed with Johnny after the divorce. Plus Sonya probably was Sonya Cage while they were together and went back to using Blade after the divorce. Also remember that Cassie has a closer relationship with Johnny. It makes perfect sense she'd prefer to go by Cage rather than Blade.
  • Even if Sonya kept her maiden name after marrying Johnny Cage (or if they'd hypothetically never gotten married at all), it wouldn't have mattered. He'd be listed on Cassie's birth certificate as her father, and Cage was the surname she was given.
  • The simplest answer is because she wanted the surname Cage, she's legally an adult and capable of changing it to whatever she wishes. And considering everyone seems to insult her dad at every opportunity she may feel he needed the recognition more than her mother did.
  • Cage is just Johnny's stage name, his actual last name is Carlton. Cassie's last name would actually be more like Carlton-Blade or Blade-Carlton. So she probably uses the name Cage to emulate her father.
    • Cage is his legal name, he had it changed ages ago, hence why nobody ever calls him that, not even Raiden whose on a full name basis with everyone.

• Why doesn't Sub-Zero have his beard in his masked primary costume? For that matter, neither does Scorpion.
  • They had a shave, I'd guess. Beards and facemasks don't work well together.
  • Says who? Anyway, Scorpion keeps both his beard and facemask at the same time in the comic. Sub-Zero also wears a mask over his beard in the Unbreakable variation if he's in his alt.
    • Maybe Sub-Zero just doesn't like having a beard and facemask at the same time. Hanzo would feel a stronger attachment to his appearance after his identity issues with Scorpion.

• Why does Sub-Zero "co-sign" Scorpion's mission to kill Quan Chi? He knows that some of earth's heroes (including Smoke, his friend) are Quan's revenants and Quan Chi's death could keep them trapped that way. Yet he doesn't do ANYTHING with that information.
  • This is discussed on the YMMV page with the speculation that Sub-Zero simply decided that there was little hope of the other revenants being restored. In Smoke's case, he may just be resigned to his friend being gone and permanently being replaced by the Enenra he was possessed by.
    • But why? I might agree if not for the fact not only is he talking to someone who had the process reversed but he himself is an ex-revenant. The idea Quan Chi must be alive in order to revive the revenants seems sketchy (since when they were revived it seemed like it was Raiden doing more of the work) but in the very least the idea the revenants can't be saved is surely something both of them would agree is not impossible. Plus they both agree that being a revenant sucks (since it has them doing things they hate themselves for but are powerless to stop), surely that must also hold for those still trapped like Smoke or Nightwolf.
    • It bares remembering, that they were only freed from their status as revenants through a very unusual set of circumstances. Each of the revenants that were freed and Quan-Chi were in the proximity of the ritual, as Johnny Cage sat between life-and-death, with Raiden actively using his own brand of magic to reverse the spell as it was happening to Johnny. There's a good chance that even Raiden didn't expect what he was doing to end up reversing the process for Jax, Sub-Zero, and Scorpion. Even if Quan Chi cooperated, which is itself unlikely, they would have needed to subdue the remaining revenants, bring them to Quan Chi's ritual chamber in the Nether Realm, then undergo a dangerous application of magic. It's not impossible, true, but it's still unlikely to happen without a hitch. Between the unlikelihood of pulling that off, that Sub-Zero would recognize Quan Chi as a dangerous threat that should be ended, and the fact that he wouldn't have likely been able to change Scorpion's mind, it may have simply been sheer pragmatism. There's also the angle that, Sub-Zero may have recognized Scorpion's right to seek his vengeance on Quan Chi, for the death of his family. Given that Quan Chi also ended up screwing over the Lin Kuei and orchestrated events that lead to Sub-Zero's brother becoming a monster, he may have been quite sympathetic to Scorpion's decision.
    • Quan Chi is also far too dangerous to be allowed to live. He constantly evades death and then reappears to make everything ten times worse than before. This is a villain who you HAVE to kill when you have the chance, because unless you take the greatest of precaution, he's guaranteed to slip through your fingers. Raiden was optimistic of the heroes' chances of bringing back the revenants, but Sub-Zero acknowledges that the likelihood of Quan Chi escaping and wreaking even more havoc is simply too great. And with Shinnok's Amulet unaccounted for, that is just a risk you can't take.
  • None of the former revenants seem to hold much hope of the others being freed and share the desire to kill Quan Chi. Jax is the most optimistic but even he doesn't seem to really think it'll happen, Sub-Zero is more of a realist, he'll morn the loss of Smoke and the others but prioritize the death of Quan Chi, therefore removing one of Earthrealm's biggest threats, granting the revenants a degree of freedom and avenging his brother.
  • Sub-Zero was aware that the amulet was (or would be) stolen. Quan Chi alive still poses a threat to both the new Lin Kuei and the new Shirai Ryu due to repeating the manipulation past; imagine if Quan Chi manipulated Frost. With Quan Chi being the only person to restore Shinnok, his return pose a much bigger threat than the revenants, especially after seeing Shinnok's non-canon ending of summoning the One Being has he succeeded.

• Why does the victim explode in Kung Jin's "Pinned Down" fatality? He impales them on his bow, and they just blow up for no reason. Sure, he can shoot fireballs from the tip of his staff in his Bojutsu variation, but that doesn't explain how it works in his other variations, not to mention there is no visible fire/explosion.
  • Presumably he just twists the staff in the enemy's insides with such force as to rip them apart. Also Rule of Cool.
  • The dragon head on his arrow is not just for decoration. It spews out fireballs, so presumably that's what he uses to blow the body up for that Fatality.

• So was D'Vorah ever interested in Kotal Kahn's regime at all? She seems very committed to working with Kotal during the coup but come the time of the game's story she's firmly a Netherrealm sympathizer, as if she had been in Quan Chi and Shinnok's servitude all along. If that's the case then why even bother to depose Mileena? And it's not because of the amulet because that only becomes a factor after Mileena is unseated and it was at Rain's suggestion she take it. Removing Mileena and instating Kotal as the emperor is a lateral move at best for her purposes and required a lot of work just to get nowhere.
  • Very committed? "This One understands your logic but doesn't reach the same conclusion", remember? I assume she just realized that her influence on Mileena (who seemed to trust nobody except Baraka and possibly Tanya) was rather limited and there was no chance that Kahnum would let her lay hands on the amulet once it was found. On the contrary, Kotal Kahn put a great faith in D'Vorah, making her his First Minister - precisely due to her decision to support him in the coup. Or, even simpler, she just calculated that Mileena's rule wouldn't last much longer and decided to be on the winning side.
  • It seems like D'vorah has no loyalties towards anyone but herself and her swarm. Presumably she was sticking around with Kotal because he was offering her a high-ranked position, treated her better than most others, and was the greatest power around. As soon as Kotal stopped being the "winning side", D'vorah dropped him like he was hot. Would she do the same to Shinnok if she had a chance? Non-canonical as it may be, her Tower ending says "oh yes, she would".
  • It's stated outright in the game D'Vorah was under orders to stay close to Outworld's throne until she could get her hands on Shinnok's amulet. She was "loyal" to Mileena right up to the moment it became clear Mileena was doomed then she became "loyal' to Kotal. Had Rain's plan bore fruit she likely would have become "Loyal" to him as well, until she found a way to steal the amulet. It's similar to Tanya's 'I fight for the winning side' mentality but with a long term plan.
  • The comic covers this. Upon witnessing the power of Shinnok's amulet, she switched her allegiance to Shinnok and Quan Chi.

• Okay, so back in MK9, after the invasion of Tarkatans after Shang Tsung's proposal of a new tournament was turned down, Raiden tells Johnny and Jax that Liu Kang and Kung Lao went to free their Shaolin masters. However, in Raiden's chapter in MKX, Raiden goes with them. Did I miss something?
  • You didn't miss anything. Raiden went to Outworld first with Liu Kang and Kung Lao, then returned to Johnny and Jax to take them to the Outworld tournament. It's mentioned in the MKX scene there are two ships with the Shaolin masters on. One has already set sail, the other is at the docks. Raiden, Liu Kang and Kung Lao take over the docked ship, then Raiden says he has to return to the tournament. That's when he goes back to Johnny and Jax and takes them to Outworld.

• In the comic, it is stated that Reiko had reduced the Osh-Tekk race to just Kotal Kahn. However, there are numerous skull-masked troops seen throughout the story mode; while they aren't identified in the main game, the MKX mobile game identifies as "Osh-Tekk". Was Reiko mistaken? Is the name simply adopted by those serving Kotal's regime? Is this a Series Continuity Error? An error on the mobile game's part?
  • Probably just what Kotal decided to name his forces out of tribute to his people.

• Why would anybody listen to Raiden after he went dark? Something is clearly wrong with him, what with the Evil Costume Switch, Femme Fatalons, and Glowing Eyes of Doom, just like the revenants. The only difference is the lack of glowing veins. And he's wearing Shinnok's amulet.
  • He wasn't necessarily evil, just a bit more unhinged with his methods. He's still Earthrealm's designated protector, so people will still listen to him.
  • The other thing to consider is we have no indication of when Raiden's transformation took place as he appeared normal the last time we saw him before the ending, so it could have happened afterwards and the Netherrealm might just so happen to be the first to see him like that.
    • My theory is that He appears normal to the good guys, but look like Dark Raiden to the bad guys. This could be a Reason Bo' Rai' Cho' defends Outworld in his Arcade ending. He sees through Raiden's Disguise and decides to do something about it.
  • Looking at the Mortal Kombat 11 prologue trailer, it is presumed that the timeframe from the prologue to the Mortal Kombat X epilogue was very short. Shinnok was chained. Everyone else (Special Ops and a captured D'Vorah) left. Raiden stayed in the Jinsei there to recover and absorb the remaining corrupted essence out of it. Once Raiden reawakened with his new darker power, he does his torture and head slice to Shinnok. He disappears for a short time without seeing Kronika. He then returns back to the Jinsei. He goes to the Netherrealm and sends the decapitated head of Shinnok to Liu Kang and Kitana. In other words, outside of the few who seen dark Raiden, no one else knows yet.

• How old exactly are the kids? In Takeda's chapter we see a flashback to five years before the story begins and he's implied to be 18, making him 23 in the main story mode. The beginning flashback takes place 20 years before the main story, and Sonya and Johnny still don't exactly get along. So Cassie would be around 20, right? And 20 years ago is also when Jax and some others were revived, so would Jacqui also be 20? Kung Jin is the only one to not be given any details to determine how old he is. So would Takeda be 23, Jacqui and Cassie 20, and Kung Jin unknown?
  • It seems Cassie should be older than that, given that she already has an extensive career in military special forces (not that other characters don't have implausible skills and achievements under their belts, of course... like the screen actor who's on par with Spec Op agents and Shaolin Monks). Is it possible, despite the clues, that Johnny and Sonya have already begun their relationship and had a baby at the time of the Netherrealm War?

• The issue of Kung Jin's homosexuality makes no sense. Why would Kung Lao and Liu Kang reject him when Raiden accepts him and outright states that The White Lotus does too? This is the same as Jesus saying, in The Bible, "Being Gay is A-Okay and the priests, ministers, reverends, etc. still speak out against it.
  • Raiden does not fill the same role as Jesus in terms of moral compass. He is more a commander in chief than a role model, so his opinion may not matter to those who have seen he is far from perfect in his actions and opinions. In addition to that, Kung Lao is family, which makes it all the more personal, and Liu Kang may simply not agree with that rule and feels free to speak out against it.
  • Has it ever been said outright that Lao and Liu reject him for that reason? He doesn't have any interactions with Kung Lao that indicate a real problem, simply that he's inexperienced and in over his head, and kind of a dick really. You could make an argument for some of Liu Kang's comments but even those could easily refer to him being a thief or his immaturity. He's certainly faced discrimination but it's not stated from whom exactly. Hell, based on the timeline Kung Lao and Liu Kang would have been dead before he would have even realized he was let alone have a chance to comment on it.
  • Where exactly does Jesus say that in the Bible?

• Why does Cassie and her team suck so badly? They go to Outworld for what is implied to be their first interrealm mission and Kung Jin immediately risks war with Outworld over a thief just because he used to be one. He has no idea what that guy stole, yet decides that it's more important than maintaining the truce. Facing Sub-Zero alone proved how incompetent they were, who in their right mind would pick them for such an important job?
  • The team is like the dream team of the new fighters for Earthrealm. Individually they have excellent records, but they are new as a team. Kung Jin is a jerk and Cassie lacks the authority to hold him on a leash, leading to most of the problems they encounters. Why would they send them rather than a more experienced team? The Lin Kuei are allies but don't mingle unless it's really important, and nothing at that time seemed to be dire. The Shirai Ryu doesn't care at all, Takeda being here because he's been freed from his duty to the clan. And the major players of SF are busy hunting Quan Chi and his revenants, a much more major threat to Earthrealm than a check up on an ally. It's the kind of mission you'd send an inexperienced team on, because unless someone messes things up immensely Kung JIIIIIIIIN there is little actual danger.
  • The simple fact is that they were best available for the job. Everyone better than them is either busy with more pressing matters or dead. They've got the skill but lack the maturity and experience to be effective. The only way to overcome that is to keep them working together until they start to learn. Also, Jin is not emotionally stable, he's dealing with massive inferiority and self loathing and he covers that by being rude and lashing out.

• How can Triborg have Cyber Smoke as one of his forms? Cyber Smoke never existed thanks to Raiden's time travel bit. He's still Enenra, right? Is Triborg just impervious to canon because he's not a story mode character?
  • Triborg's bio states that all of the Lin Kuei had their information recorded onto a server where they served as a backup to the living members should they not be cyberized. The Triborg character came about because the information on Sektor, Cyrax, Smoke and Sub-Zero were uploaded into a test body built by Special Forces after Sektor's death. Unfortunately for them, it just so happened a malicious AI resided on the the server.

• If all the characters have unique dialogue between them...how will Jason work, since he doesn't talk? Or the Predator, for that matter.
  • The more talkative and snarky characters are going to have a field day riffing on the lack of responses, while the more quiet and serious guys could do good enough with a general reaction to Jason and the Predator.
  • In its own franchise, the Predator had the ability to copy phrases as a means of luring prey. It also had the ability to make more noises than the iconic clicking noise.
  • Jason's trailer does confirm that Jason will be The Voiceless (although the other characters fire off one liners to him first).

• In Erron Black's X-ray move, he has a bullet marked with the name of every possible playable character, some of which include his allies. While it could be him just being Crazy-Prepared, it gets a little strange when he performs an X-ray move on himself, and the bullet is labeled "Me". Was fighting against a doppelganger of himself something he was also prepared for, or was that bullet in case he'd ever have to take his own life?
  • Given what has been known to happen to some characters in this franchise, that may not be a bad idea.
  • Fridge Brilliance ensues when taking into account his ending, where it's revealed that he's Older Than He Looks thanks to interactions with Shang Tsung. If he interacted with Shang Tsung regularly enough, he might know enough about the Flesh Pits to realize that he might have to clash with a potential doppelganger in the future.

• With regards to Scorpion's ending, where the Shirai Ryu are infused with a portion of the Jinsei, having extended life to serve as Earthrealm's protectors... does that include Takeda? Wouldn't he also be affected by this?
  • Scorpion tells him in Story mode that his path doesn't lie with the Shirai Ryu, so probably not.
  • Or... he may have been the first. Issue #13 of the MKX comics show how the Jinsei chamber managed to revive him out of the discharge Raiden gave to him when the latter was possessed by the Kamidogu. He also felt empowered.

• Also Smoke appears in one of the Lin Kuei Faction Kills titled "Smokes Revenge" despite still being a revenant due to Quan Chi being killed by Scorpion.
  • The majority of non-story mode matches are not canon, as evidenced by the possibility of Takeda stabbing Kenshi with his own rib cage.

• Scorpion's first Fatality seems to leave his opponent alive, if temporarily: to wit, he slices off his opponent's face, and with it, a good part of the front half of their head. Even though he sliced off the frontmost parts of his victim's brain, their tongue and larynx can still be seen twitching in agony. If anything, it will be blood loss that kills the victim in the end, and not the slicing-off-part-of-your-brain part. To quote Five Nights at Freddy's: "It's amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe, you know?"
  • This is ignoring the fact that said fatality starts with Scorpion burning a hole through the opponent's torso with their heart basically dangling on a thread, so cutting through the person's brain and head is certainly going to kill them just from sheer trauma & blood loss at that point as they fall over on the ground.

• In Kotal Kahn's tower ending, Outworld is forced to defend itself from Earthrealm in the Mortal Kombat tournament. Erron Black is shown to be among the defenders of Outworld, ready to fight in the tournament. However, it was stated several times that Bo' Rai Cho could not fight on Earthrealm's behalf in the Mortal Kombat tournament because he was not born in Earthrealm; if he fought in the tournament, he would be representing Outworld. So technically, Erron Black can't represent Outworld because he was born in Earthrealm.
  • Black's ending reveals he was an assassin for Shang Tsung, eliminating potential Earthrealm warriors from the Tournament. Not only that, but MK9 had Sektor, Cyrax and Bi Han fight for Shang Tsung despite being Earthrealmers. It could be a loophole or a simple retcon that lets them compete.
    • Shang Tsung was bound to Shao Khan using sorcery. It's possible that Shang Tsung set Erron to no longer register as an Earthrealmer. And depending on when Erron first reached Outworld, Kotal also could have used his power to make Erron count as an Outworlder.
  • It only matters what Realm you belong to if you win the tournament. That's why Bo' Rai Cho can't compete, he's badass enough to beat everyone which would just serve Shao Kahn. The Lin Kuei warriors were never going to win the tournament in 9, they were hired by Shang Stung to eliminate the other Earthrealm warriors, a clever way to cheat without breaking the rules by assaulting them himself. If they'd eliminated all of them he would have simply told them to forfeit or had Gorro kill them and steal their souls. Same goes for Erron, he can fight for whatever side he wants, his birth Realm only matters if he wins.

• Johnny Cage is stated to be the descendant of Mediterranean warriors who fought for the Elder Gods... but doesn't his last name, Carlton, basically imply Anglo-Saxon descent?
  • Just because they were once there hundreds of years ago doesn't mean they didn't travel and spread out since then.

• Why would Shinnok of all people be aware of the guest fighters? Does he have some sort of interest in Earthrealm movies?
  • Shinnok probably has a degree of omniscience as a result of his (fallen) Elder God status. Shinnok implies such when the revenant alert him to Jax's team being in the Netherrealm, Shinnok stating that he already knows; as he had recently been freed from the Amulet, which had been in Outworld for an extended time and not in the Netherrealm, that's the only way he could have known.
  • Shinnok is an Elder God, though fallen from grace, he knows every Realm and every species. Jason and Leatherface are from Earthrealm, the Alien's bio states they tried to invade Outworld in the past and Predator seems to be from an unspecified Realm.
    • They're treated as real in the Mortal Kombat universe even if (probably) not canon. Then again, Mortal Kombat 8 was the DC Universe invading and that's apparently canon.

• What exactly happened in the old timeline after Shao Kahn won? The merger of the realms is supposed to set off the release of the One Being and, by all accounts, that happened because Raiden sending a message back to the events of Mortal Kombat 1 forked the timeline (hence why Kronika is irritated in 11 and why uncorrupted versions of Kung Lao and Liu Kang are getting involved, since they were plucked from a timeline where they weren't already dead). So does that mean the One Being also exists within the constraints of time and that Shao Kahn probably did release it in the original timeline while the new one didn't suffer such a fate since Armageddon didn't occur? Or did the changed events also negate the realm merger from the original timeline as well and releasing the One Being in one timeline would eradicate all forms of time period?
  • It was wiped out by Raiden's actions, completely gone. However Kitana's arcade ending in X suggests if not for Raiden, Earthrealm would have been wrecked, but Kitana would have united the other realms and destroyed Shao, ushering in an era of peace.
    • Except Kitana was dead already in that timeline, as was almost everyone else. Kitana is being clearly manipulated into thinking things could have been better, not that they actually would have been.
  • Mortal Kombat 11 stated that by altering time itself, the other timeline gets erased. So, what happened to the original Shao Kahn is wiped out due to Raiden altering the timeline to kill off Shao Kahn in the 2011/X timeline.

• Why is Revenant Sub-Zero fully human in this game, when the previous game's story mode showed Cyber Sub-Zero among Quan Chi's newly acquired revenants?
  • The comic shows Quan-Chi, who has a distaste for cybernetic technology, regenerate his physical body with magic during their time in the Netherrealm.

• Even when Kuai Liang reveals to Scorpion that Quan Chi was the true murderer of the Shirai Ryu, shouldn't Scorpion still be pissed at Bi-Han for being the one who initially killed him, which led to Scorpion's first bout as a Revenant under Quan Chi? (Assuming the events of Mythologies happen the same way in the rebooted timeline, that is).
  • Depends. While likely not pleased at being killed we don't know the circumstances of the battle. Plus there's a different level of anger between something done to you and something done to your loved ones.