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Among them are Earth's humans and cyborgs, good and evil deities, and denizens of Outworld and other realms. |
Starting with Mortal Kombat vs |
DC Universe, which featured several DC Universe heroes and villains, all subsequent games have included guest characters such as Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, Kratos from the God of War franchise (exclusively for PlayStation 3), Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th franchise, the Xenomorph... |
DC Universe, Peacemaker (more specifically: the character from the DC Extended Universe and DC Universe), both from DC Comics, and Ghostface from the Scream franchise.[citation needed] |
Mortal Kombat started development in 1991 with four people: Ed Boon (programming), John Tobias (art and story), John Vogel (graphics), and Dan Forden (sound design).[22][23] According to Mortal Kombat actors Richard Divizio and Daniel Pesina, the first game began as a ninja-themed project by John Tobias (a young new em... |
It was the success of Capcom's Street Fighter II: The World Warrior that convinced Midway Games to let the team produce their own arcade fighting game, the genre chosen by Tobias for his game as to let him use as large digitized sprites as possible,[29] but there was not much influence by Street Fighter II on the proje... |
According to Tobias, who cited 1984's Karate Champ as an inspiration,[30] they intentionally worked on making a game different from Capcom's title in every way.[29] Besides the digitized characters that differentiated it from its contemporaries' hand-drawn ones, one stark difference was in the very high amount of blood... |
Capcom's senior director of communications later compared Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat by asking if the interviewer preferred the "precision and depth" of Street Fighter or the "gore and comedy" of Mortal Kombat and also stated that the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat rivalry was considered similar to the Coke and... |
Mortal Kombat didn't rely on just good looks and gore for its success |
Although the intense gore was a great way to attract attention, Mortal Kombat offered another side – an often-overlooked side – that kept people coming back for more: its storyline, including the uniquely different kind of gameplay as far as the fighting system within itself.[32] |
John Tobias said that his inspirations for the game's story and characters came from Chinese mythology and some of the stories and rumored events about the Shaolin monks.[25] Regarding the film Big Trouble in Little China, Tobias wrote that although the film "kind of Americanized my obsession for supernatural kung fu f... |
We had to get them from bootleggers in Chicago's Chinatown."[34] In 1995, he said about their general process of designing characters for the series: "First we figure out the type, like she or he and will she/he be big or small |
Then we'll get the theme of the characters, like ninja or robot |
Then we'll design the costume, and while doing that we create the storyline and how s/he fits into the universe |
Then we'll find an actor that kinda resembles our character."[35] Tobias' writing and artistic input on the series ended around 2000[29] following the release of Mortal Kombat 4 |
In 2012, he said: "I knew exactly what I was going to do with a future story |
A few years ago, I [wrote] a sort of sequel to the first MK film and an advancement to the game's mythological roots."[36] |
The title Mortal Kombat was the idea of pinball designer Steve Ritchie,[37] following difficulties trademarking the original title of Mortal Combat.[30] Since then, the series often intentionally misspells various words with the letter "K" in place of "C" for the hard C sound |
According to Boon, during the Mortal Kombat games' development they usually spell such words correctly, only making the substitution when one of the developers suggests it.[38] |
The characters of the original Mortal Kombat and its initial sequels were created using digitized sprites mostly based on filmed actors, as opposed to hand-drawn graphics.[39] Mortal Kombat games were known for their extensive use of palette swapping, which was used for the ninja characters; many of the most popular ch... |
All of them gradually became very different characters in the following installments of the series |
Eventually, Mortal Kombat 4 brought the series into 3D, replacing the digitized fighters of previous games with polygon models animated using motion capture technology.[41] |
Most series releases included secret characters, secret games, and other Easter eggs |
The original game contained the hidden fighter Reptile, who could be fought by players if they fulfilled an exact set of requirements |
A counter for ERMACS (short for error macros) on the game's audits screen was additionally interpreted by players as referring to a second hidden character named Ermac |
Midway denied the character's existence in the series before adding him to Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 in response to the player rumors and feedback.[42][43] |
Some Easter eggs originated from in-jokes among the series developers |
One example is "Toasty", which was included in Mortal Kombat II in the form of an image of sound designer Dan Forden that randomly appeared in a lower corner of the screen after a player landed an uppercut.[44] Hidden games of Pong and Galaga were included in Mortal Kombat II and Mortal Kombat 3, respectively.[45][14] |
The original Mortal Kombat game was released by Midway in arcades during October 1992, and has been ported to several console and home computer systems, with early ports released by Acclaim Entertainment.[50] The sequel, Mortal Kombat II, was released for arcades in 1993, featuring an increased roster and improved grap... |
Mortal Kombat 4 was ported to the PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and Microsoft Windows |
Mortal Kombat 4 was the last Mortal Kombat game released for arcades |
Its updated version titled Mortal Kombat Gold was released for the Dreamcast in 1999. |
At this point that the series started being targeted at consoles only |
Also the series' naming scheme changed to favor the use of sub-titles instead of numbered installments, beginning with Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance in 2002.[55] Deadly Alliance was released initially for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube.[56][57][58] Deadly Alliance was also the first Mortal Kombat game to feature... |
The next sequel was 2004's Mortal Kombat: Deception, released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube.[59][60][61] Its port for the PlayStation Portable, Mortal Kombat: Unchained, was released in 2006.[62] Mortal Kombat: Armageddon was published in 2006 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and in 2007 for the Wii.[63][64][65... |
Mortal Kombat vs |
DC Universe, a non-canonical crossover fighting game between the Mortal Kombat franchise and DC Comics, was released in 2008 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[66][67] |
A ninth game in the series, a reboot titled Mortal Kombat, was developed by the former Midway Games, now known as NetherRealm Studios.[68] It was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2011, and was ported to the PlayStation Vita in 2012 and Microsoft Windows in 2013 |
Downloadable content became a feature of games in the series at this time |
Its first sequel, Mortal Kombat X, was released in 2015 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows, and marked a return to numbered sequels |
This was paired with the first Mortal Kombat game for tablet and smartphones, Mortal Kombat Mobile |
A follow-up, Mortal Kombat 11, was released in 2019 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows |
A sequel to Mortal Kombat 11, Mortal Kombat 1, released in September 2023.[69] |
Besides the fighting games, there are three action-adventure titles that work as spin-offs from the Mortal Kombat storyline |
Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero was released in 1997 for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64;[70][71] its story is focused on the first incarnation character of Sub-Zero and is focused in the timeline before the first Mortal Kombat game |
The next action game was Mortal Kombat: Special Forces, released in 2000 for the PlayStation, starring Major Jackson Briggs in his mission to destroy the Black Dragon.[72] Both games were critically panned (although the reception of Mythologies was more mediocre) |
Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, developed by Midway Studios Los Angeles, was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox, starring Liu Kang and Kung Lao and telling an alternate version of the events between the first and second Mortal Kombat games |
A similar game entitled Mortal Kombat: Fire & Ice, which was to star Scorpion and again Sub-Zero, was canceled when the developers of Shaolin Monks "couldn't do it in time and under budget".[73] On October 18, 2022, Mortal Kombat: Onslaught was announced; it is a role-playing game released in 2023 for Android and iOS |
NetherRealm said it would be a cinematic experience and also it will be loyal to its core visceral nature.[74] |
An animated prequel to 1995's Mortal Kombat film, titled Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins, was released direct-to-video in the same year as the live-action film.[75] |
A series of direct-to-video films titled Mortal Kombat Legends began in 2020 as a co-production between Warner Bros |
Animation and either Studio Mir or Digital eMation |
The first, Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge, was released in April 2020, as the first R-rated Mortal Kombat film.[76] The second film, Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms, was released in August 2021.[77] The third film, Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind, was released on October 11, 2022.[78] A fourth ... |
Mortal Kombat was adapted into two major motion pictures, Mortal Kombat (1995) and Mortal Kombat Annihilation (1997), both released by New Line Cinema |
The first film was released on August 18, 1995, grossing $23 million on its first weekend.[80] Despite mixed reviews from critics, Mortal Kombat became a financial success, grossing approximately $70 million in the U.S |
and over $122 million worldwide; the film gained a cult following amongst fans of the video game series with Robin Shou, Linden Ashby, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Bridgette Wilson, Talisa Soto and Christopher Lambert starring, and its success launched the Hollywood career of its director, Paul W |
S |
Anderson.[81] Mortal Kombat Annihilation was directed by John R |
Leonetti with Shou and Soto as the only two returning from the first film |
The film received a poor reception by critics, grossing $36 million in the U.S |
and $51 million worldwide.[82] |
In 2010, director Kevin Tancharoen released an eight-minute short film titled Mortal Kombat: Rebirth,[83] made as a proof of concept for Tancharoen's pitch of a reboot film franchise to Warner Bros |
Pictures.[84] Tancharoen later confirmed that the unofficial short featured the writing of Oren Uziel, who at the time was rumored to be writing the screenplay for a third Mortal Kombat film.[85] In September 2011, New Line and Warner Bros |
announced that Tancharoen had signed on to direct a new feature-length film from a screenplay written by Uziel,[86] with the intention of aiming for an R rating.[87] Shooting was expected to begin in March 2012 with a budget of well under $100 million (projected at between $40–50 million[88]) and a release date of 2013... |
Tancharoen quit the production in October 2013.[91] |
A reboot, Mortal Kombat (2021), was released on April 23, 2021, to mixed reviews, grossing over $84 million worldwide from theaters while also releasing simultaneously on the streaming service HBO Max.[92][93] Production restarted on a reboot in 2015 when James Wan joined to produce and director Simon McQuoid joined th... |
* Cole Young is a film-exclusive character who has not appeared in any of the games. |
Midway published official one-shot issues based on Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II, which were written and illustrated by Tobias and set prior to the storylines of both games |
From 1994 to 1995, Malibu Comics published a licensed series consisting of two six-issue miniseries in addition to one-shot specials and miniseries dedicated to specific characters |
Special tie-in issues were packaged with the PC release of Mortal Kombat 4 and for Mortal Kombat vs |
DC Universe, respectively.[100] A Mortal Kombat X series by DC Comics, set before the game's events, ran from January to September 2015 with three miniseries of twelve issues that were released weekly in 36 chapter installments. |
A novel titled Mortal Kombat was written by Jeff Rovin and published in 1995, and featured an original plot that preceded the events of the first game.[101] Novelizations of both Mortal Kombat feature films were written by Martin Delrio and Jerome Preisler, respectively. |
Mortal Kombat: The Album, a techno album based on the first game, was created for Virgin America by Lords of Acid members Praga Khan and Oliver Adams as The Immortals in 1994.[102] Its iconic theme "Techno Syndrome", incorporating the "Mortal Kombat!" yell first shown in the Mortal Kombat commercial for home systems, w... |
Each film had their own soundtracks (including the hit and award-winning compilation album Mortal Kombat: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), as had the second video game (Mortal Kombat II: Music from the Arcade Game Soundtrack) |
The 2011 video game saw the release of Mortal Kombat: Songs Inspired by the Warriors, a new soundtrack album featuring electronic music by various artists. |
An animated series titled Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm was released in 1996 |
It ran for one season and received negative reviews. |
In 1998, Mortal Kombat: Conquest was released |
It lasted one season.[75] In 2010, Warner Premiere ordered a web series inspired by the Rebirth short, titled Mortal Kombat: Legacy and also directed by Kevin Tancharoen.[103] The series' first season was released for free on YouTube starting in April 2011, promoted by Machinima.com,[104] and the second season arrived ... |
In 2014, Blue Ribbon Content had been developing a live-action series that was to tie in with Mortal Kombat X for a planned 2016 release, titled Mortal Kombat: Generations |
The series, however, was not released.[106][107] |
A stage show titled Mortal Kombat: Live Tour was launched at the end of 1995, expanded to 1996, and featured Mortal Kombat characters in a theatrical display on stage. |
Mortal Kombat: Federation of Martial Arts technically, this was Mortal Kombat's first "web series," although it was more of an online gambling game with fake money |
Mortal Kombat's first popular web series would come a decade later and be called Mortal Kombat: Legacy. |
BradyGames produced the collectible card game Mortal Kombat Kard Game in 1995.[108] The Duelist called the game a "worse clone" of Magic: the Gathering.[109] Score Entertainment's 2005 collectible card game Epic Battles also used some of the Mortal Kombat characters. |
Mortal Kombat has been one of the most successful fighting game franchises in video game history, previously only trailing Bandai Namco's Tekken, Capcom's Street Fighter, and Nintendo's Super Smash Bros |
As of 2021, it has surpassed the competitor fighting game franchises in worldwide lifetime series sales |
It generated more than $4 billion by the late 1990s[177] and $5 billion in total revenue by 2000.[178] A particularly successful game was Mortal Kombat II, which had unprecedented opening week sales figures never seen before in the video game industry, for the first time beating the box office numbers of summer hit fil... |
Mortal Kombat games have sold more than 6 million units by 1994[181] and 26 million by 2007,[22] and the figure has exceeded 30 million by 2012.[182] As of 2022, the franchise had sold about 79 million units.[183] By 2025, it has surpassed over 100 million copies.[184] |
The 2008 edition of Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition awarded the Mortal Kombat series with seven world records, including "most successful fighting game series".[185] The franchise holds ten world records in the 2011 Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition, including the "largest promotional campaign for a fightin... |
Numerous publications described it as one of the most important and also most violent series in the history of video games; in 2011, the staff of GameSpy wrote "its place in fighting game history is undeniable".[187] In 2009, GameTrailers ranked Mortal Kombat as the ninth top fighting game franchise[188] as well as the... |
According to IGN, during the 1990s "waves of imitators began to flood the market, filling arcades with a sea of blood from games like Time Killers, Survival Arts, and Guardians of the Hood |
Mortal Kombat had ushered in an era of exploitation games, both on consoles and in arcades, all engaging in a battle to see who can cram the most blood and guts onto a low-res screen."[1] Notable Mortal Kombat clones, featuring violent finishing moves and/or digitized sprites, included Bio F.R.E.A.K.S., BloodStorm, Car... |
In a 2009 poll by GamePro, 21% of voters chose Mortal Kombat as their favorite fighting game series, ranking it third after Street Fighter and Tekken.[195] In 2012, Capcom's Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono said he is getting a lot of requests for Street Fighter vs |
Mortal Kombat and understands why people want it, "but it's easier said than done |
Having Chun Li getting her spine ripped out, or Ryu's head bouncing off the floor...it doesn't necessarily match."[196] In 2014, martial artist Frankie Edgar opined Mortal Kombat has been far superior to Street Fighter.[197] |
The series and its characters are also referenced in the various other works of popular culture, such as in the title of Powerglove's debut album Metal Kombat for the Mortal Man and the Workaholics episode "Model Kombat" |
According to Complex in 2012, "Years ago, Mortal Kombat became a phenomenon far outside gaming circles alone |
Its name has become recognizable enough to be name dropped on sitcoms (Malcolm in the Middle and Married.. |
with Children), found in movies (Christian Slater plays Mortal Kombat 4 in Very Bad Things), and used as part of cultural studies (see Justine Cassell and Henry Jenkins' book From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games)."[27] It was also featured in the film The Doom Generation |
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