Mythology Gag / Mortal Kombat 11

In regards to the original timeline, spinoffs and other cameo appearances:

Pre-match intros and non-finisher poses

• A pre-fight interaction has Raiden surprised that Sub-Zero knows of what he's talking about.
  Raiden: I dreamt of a strange and unjust world.
  Sub-Zero: With a Dark Knight and a Caped Wonder.
  Raiden: How could you know my dream?
  • An intro between Sub-Zero and Cetrion confirms That Was Not a Dream.
    Cetrion: I have seen the world beyond the realms.
    Sub-Zero: Then Raiden and I did go there?
    Cetrion: It was no dream, Sub-Zero.
  • Scorpion has been there too, and speaks with a fellow dimensional traveler:
    Spawn: You have been to other dimensions.
    Scorpion: Each with its own Injustices!
    Spawn: Maybe that's why my Soul still burns.
• An intro animation for Cassie has her drinking from a "Mokap Mokha" cup, referencing the character introduced in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance.
• An intro dialogue between Johnny Cage and Skarlet (about eating him and spitting his bones) references Mileena's "Man Eater" fatality from 2.
  Johnny Cage: So I'm guessing you wanna chew me up.
  Skarlet: And spit out your bones, Cage.
  Johnny Cage: Watch out, she's a maneater.
• One of Kung Lao and Raiden's pre-fight intros has Kung Lao say he's on a quest given to him by Damashi, only for Raiden to immediately warn him that Damashi is really Onaga.
  • And of course this Mythology gag-laden intro with Liu and Raiden with all the subtlety of Shao Kahn's warhammer:
  Liu Kang: Are we the Deadly Alliance?
  Raiden: That is Kronika's deception.
  Liu Kang: Or a recipe for Armageddon.
• Cassie mockingly calls Frost "Elsa" during one of their pre-fight intros, which is both a Frozen (2013) joke and a Call-Back to their underground cage match in the Mortal Kombat X comic book from DC.
  Cassie: Hey there Elsa, what's up?
  Frost: Ugh! Why does everyone call me that?
  Cassie: Oh honey, let me help you.
  • This is further referenced in another of their intros:
  Cassie: Didn't we have this fight?
  Frost: It'll end differently, you spoiled princess.
  Cassie: Yeah, I'll knock you out cold faster.
• One of Johnny and Liu's intros (where Johnny talks about how he admires Sonya's "strategic mind," Liu points that "its not her mind [he's] admiring" and Johnny sheepishly admits so) is lifted straight from the 1995 film:
  Johnny Cage: I admire Sonya's strategic mind.
  Liu Kang: It's not her mind you're admiring.
  Johnny Cage: It's true.
• Sub-Zero has intros with Kitana and Liu Kang that reference his battle with the latter in the 1995 film:
  Kitana: I am prepared, Sub-Zero.
  Sub-Zero: How do you plan to defeat me?
  Kitana: With the element that brings life.

  Liu Kang: Taking you down will be easy.
  Sub-Zero: What did Kitana tell you?
  Liu Kang: All I need is a pail of water.
• There's also an intro with Liu Kang and Raiden where the former asks the latter if he knew "this would happen." Raiden replies that he "didn't have a clue." This was the same dialogue the two shared at the end of the first film.
  Liu Kang: I guess you knew it would end this way.
  Raiden: I did not have a clue.
  Liu Kang: Never change, Lord Raiden.
• One of Shang Tsung's intro dialogues with Kano references the dinner table scene where Shang Tsung notes that despite Kano "having no dignity or manners," he's still able to amass great wealth.
  Shang Tsung: You have no dignity or manners, Kano.
  Kano: I'm the richest damn yobbo in Earthrealm.
  Shang Tsung: Disrespectful cretin.
• One of Shang Tsung's intro lines with Johnny Cage mentions that he killed Master Boyd, Johnny's mentor. This is a nod to the scene in the film where Shang Tsung posed as Boyd to get Johnny to enter the tournament, with the implication that he'd killed the real Boyd and assumed his identity.
  Shang Tsung: Master Boyd send his regards.
  Johnny Cage: You killed him, didn't you?
  Shang Tsung: Your "sensei" was helpless against me.
• Another reference to the film is shown in this intro between Shang Tsung and Sonya. This is a nod to a scene in the film where Sonya has to wear a dress while in captivity.
  Shang Tsung: I have a dress your size. You should wear it.
  Sonya: Are you out of your damn mind?
  Shang Tsung: It was sewn by the finest designers in Outworld.
• A lot of the custom non-Fatality winposes for the returning characters are their winposes from the classic games:
  • Johnny Cage smugly folding his arms.
  • Jax flexing his metal arms.
  • Baraka crossing his bladed arms at his chest.
  • Sub-Zero raising a fist in victory.
  • Scorpion posing his hands on his hips much like his MK2 winpose.
  • Johnny Cage signing an autographed photo and tossing it at his opponent, in reference to his "Friendship" finisher from MKII.
• One of Shang Tsung's victory poses has him recreate the opening scene from the 1995 movie, where he points at the camera and proclaims "Your Soul Is Mine!"
• Joker, quite understandably, has a few:
  • He mistakes Nightwolf for Manitou Raven and alludes to Apache Chief, who Raven himself was a reimagining of.
  Joker: Manitou Raven, is that you?
  Nightwolf: The name is Nightwolf.
  Joker: Are you some kind of Apache chief?
  • He also considers D'Vorah Outworld's version of the Insect Queen.
  Joker: So you're this universe Insect Queen?
  D'Vorah: This One has no desire to rule.
  Joker: Where's your ambition, dearie?
  • He wonders if Kotal Kahn can talk to birds based on his headdress — after all, he knows a king who can talk to fish. This also doubles as an Actor Allusion since Kotal is voiced by the same voice actor as Aquaman in the Injustice games.
  Joker: Love the feathers, do you talk to birds?
  Kotal Kahn: A ludicrous suggestion, jester.
  Joker: Really? I know a king who talks to fish.
  • He also states to Frost that she would probably enjoy meeting with Killer Frost.
  Joker: There's a gal I know you would love.
  Frost: Is she a great cryomancer?
  Joker: She's killer, Frost.
  • In one of his intros with Cassie, he mentions it's not his first time here, and that previously he was "all the RAGE".
  Joker: We didn't meet the last time I was here.
  Cassie: This isn't your first visit?
  Joker: Nobody told you? I was all the Rage.
• One of Spawn's openers with Raiden makes reference to a common link.
  Raiden: You remind me of another dark knight.
  Spawn: The billion dollar crusader? He's a friend.
  Raiden: It would seem we are both well-travelled.
• RoboCop seems to remember meeting the Terminator.
  RoboCop: Haven't we done this before?
  Terminator: I have no record of a previous encounter.^note Which would be true, as this is a DIFFERENT T-800 than the one RoboCop encountered.
  RoboCop: We have met. I am sure of it.

Moves and Finishers

• Sub-Zero's "Dancing on the Ceiling" Brutality recreates the Stage Fatality for Mortal Kombat II's Kombat Tomb stage, complete with secret Down + Front Kick command to make the victim fall off the spikes.
• Both Scorpion and Raiden have brutalities similar to their Mortal Kombat (1992) fatalities: "Crispy" and "Zap Zap".
• Sub-Zero's Spine Rip appears if you finish your opponent with the "The Klassic" and certain other bludgeoning-decapitation Brutalities.
• Johnny Cage's "Who Hired This Guy?" fatality alludes to the old Ascended Glitch that allowed for multiple decapitating uppercuts as well as his introductory fight scene from the movie ending in the reveal that it was an In-Universe movie shoot. He also puts back one of his lines in a similar situation from the movie: "Who hired this guy!?" / "Where do you get these guys?!"
  • His other Fatality, "Mr. Cage's Neighborhood" has him ripping his opponent's torso, which is the basis for many of his Fatalities in previous games. It also references the Produce Pelting from his ending in Mortal Kombat 4.
• Cassie's "I <3 You" Fatality starts with a big Shadow Kick to her opponent's sternum, enough to drive her foot all the way out their back and take their heart with it, a nod to Johnny's heavily censored Fatality from the SNES release of the original game (instead of a decapitating uppercut, he just shoved his foot through their chest and they fall over).
• Liu Kang:
  • His Fatal Blow involves him summoning a dragon to chomp down on his opponent, referencing his previous Fatality from 2 and 9 and Animality from 3 wher ehe actually transformed into a dragon.
  • One of his Fatalities, "Burn Out" is a more devastating recreation of his original Fatality, a pair of cartwheel kicks and an uppercut, with some added flourish from his nunchaku. The same fatality is also recreated with a Brutality that ends in a decapitation as "Get Chucked".
  • One of his Brualities, "Insert Koin", has him drop a arcade machine onto his opponent in reference to one of his fatalities in 3, with said machine playing Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, while another one, "Toasty", has him perform his "Inner Fire" Fatality from 3.
• One of Kabal's brutalities, "Screamer", has him perform his "Freaky Face" Fatality from 3.
• One of Jax's brutalities, "Slow Clap", has him perform his "Head Clap" Fatality from 2.

• When it's shown during fatalities, Robocop's heart is based on the design for an artificial heart showcased in a commercial from his film.

Stages

• When the Tournament Stage Fatality is performed, the broken Deadly Alliance cabinet screen will read "2 Kredits To Kontinue." 2 credits was the industry default for arcade machines, Mortal Kombat included.
• The Retrocade level is one big throwback to old school MK history:
  • When selected with Johnny Cage as the announcer, one of his soundbytes is "OLD SCHOOL KOMBAAAAAAAAAT!" said in exactly the same way as the iconic "MORTAL KOMBAAAAAAT!" scream.
  • The TV screens in the back display arenas from the first three games, and change either periodically or when fighters bounce off of the projectors. They are the Courtyard, Throne Room, Portal, Pit II, Living Forest, Kahn's Arena, Subway and Temple.
  • The stage's music tracks are also taken from the older games. For the first round, it uses the Courtyard theme from MK1. The second round uses the Living Forest theme from MK2 and subsequent rounds use the Subway theme from MK3. This also extends to the "Finish Him!" flourishes too.
    • Similarly, if the stage background is the Courtyard, normally Shang Tsung will be in his seat using his MK1 sprite. If Shang Tsung is one of the player characters, however, Shao Kahn will be in the overhead seat instead, referencing the Trilogy version of the stage.
  • An exact recreation of an advertisement standee for Mortal Kombat: Deception can be seen to the far right of the stage, ESRB rating and "Now Online!" sticker and all.
  • While the arcade machines in the back are generally Midway titles added for flavour, two of them serve their own gags in regards to the MK series:
    • The Joust cabinets reference Shang Tsung's Friendship in MK3, where he turned into the player sprite from the game.
    • The presence of cabinets for obscure Midway Arena Shooter The Grid are a nod to how Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Noob Saibot were hidden characters in that game.

Gear

• One of Johnny Cage's customization items is called "$500 Sunglasses," a nod to Johnny's famous "Those were $500 dollar sunglasses, asshole!" quote from the movie.
• Joker's design takes much inspiration from his incarnation from The Dark Knight, with the inside of his purple Badass Longcoat being a shade of orange, black eyeshadow and a green vest.

Story mode (includes Aftermath)

• Chapter 4 of the game's Story Mode is called "Fire & Ice," which was the name of the cancelled MK Spin-Off action game that would've starred Sub-Zero and Scorpion.
• Liu Kang intervening to save Scorpion from Raiden plays out very similar to the events of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. It would be a call-back in the main series were MK Vs DC not a non-canon entry.
• The scene that happens shortly after Scorpion gets saved has Raiden realizing that he and Liu Kang are doomed to fight in all of Kronika's timelines. This revelation is framed as a Flashback starting from the ending of Mortal Kombat 9 and becomes something of a Clip Show where Raiden and Liu Kang end up going through the same exact fight sequence, with the only difference being costume and background changes representing every game where both characters were part of the roster. One of these fights is taken from Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.
• Kronika turns the Trope Namer on its head when she declares "Shang Tsung's souls will be mine."

Other/Unsorted

• The official launch trailer includes a remixed version of the Mortal Kombat theme from the 1995 live action film.
• Achievements:
  • "Get over here!": spear 50 corpses in the Krypt.
  • "Cyber Initiative": perform two different Fatalities with Frost.
• One variation of the iconic "Finish him!" quote is said in almost the exact same tone as Shao Kahn did in Mortal Kombat II and Mortal Kombat 3.
• One of the Tower challenges is themed after the process you go through to unlock the fight with Reptile in the original Mortal Kombat, with each rung named for one of the hints he randomly gave at the start of a match. When you fight him, he's represented as a green Scorpion, assisted by a grey Sub-Zero representing fellow boss ninja, Smoke.
• Shang Tsung's voice and likeness are provided by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, who played the character in the 1995 film and the second season of the Legacy web series.
• The Krypt includes a recreation of the dining hall from the 1995 film. Kano and Goro's skeletons are also there in reference to their "underworld boss" dialogue exchange. Kano's skeleton also seems to be clutching a chicken leg like the one he ate in the film.
  • One item that can be found in the Krypt is a seemingly random bucket of water, referred to as the "Element That Brings Life." This is a callback to the bucket of water Liu Kang used to defeat Sub-Zero in the film, as well as the cryptic clue Kitana gave him about water being key to winning the fight.
  • A statue of Reptile's true form from the film can also be found in the Krypt. Interacting with it will trigger a cameo from Reptile himself.
• The final line of Shang Tsung's ending is "Have a nice day," referencing his ending in II and Raiden's in the original, both of which end in Earthrealm's destruction.

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