The third installment of a rebooted trilogy of Mortal Kombat video games, Mortal Kombat 11 continues the story from the epilogue of 2015’s Mortal Kombat X (itself a sequel to 2011’s Mortal Kombat). The game finds a creative excuse to bring back old and familiar characters whilst promoting new-gen characters introduced in this new trilogy of games by introducing the time-travelling villain Kronika who had masterminded the events in this new timeline of Mortal Kombat lore. However, with almost every world-ending trope explored in its lore and an over-saturated roster of ninjas, monks, monsters and ghouls, the video game franchise might be running out of excuses to make another game unless another lore reboot is on their mind.
Spoilers from Mortal Kombat 11 and MK11: Aftermath ahead.
A second-gen character headlines the sequels
Defeating Shinnok, an Elder God and final boss of Mortal Kombat X, is not something you do everyday unless you’re destined for greatness. No, we’re not talking about being a ‘Chosen One’, but headlining the franchise lore. Cassie Cage, the daughter of Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage, outshines her legendary parents by doing the impossible and earning her family’s legacy.
With her mother dead and her father incapacitated early into the latest game, Cassie Cage’s story in MK11 is a figurative ‘passing of the torch’ with her trying to find her own legacy outside of her family name, even becoming a representing leader of Earthrealm’s forces in the climatic battle against Kronika’s army. Cassie Cage’s importance may give way for other second-gen characters to debut or return (like Takeda and Kung Jin from MK X).
Legacy characters exit From ‘main’ timeline
Many legacy characters from the early Mortal Kombat games have died or been left out of the latest game’s roster.
– Kano: Cassie Cage killed past-Kano to eliminate present-Kano from existing
– Sonya Blade: Died early into the game to pave way for Cassie Cage’s story
– Johnny Cage: Incapacitated early into the game and seemingly made amends with his past by inspiring past-Johnny to be a better man
– Kenshi: Revealed to have died some time between MK X and MK11
– Ermac: Revealed to have died some time between MK X and MK11
– Goro: Revealed to have died some time between MK X and MK11
– Jax Briggs: May have ‘passed the torch’ to his daughter Jacqui
– Raiden: Sacrificed himself to break the cycle of vengeance against Liu Kang
– Liu Kang: Merged with Raiden to become a God of Thunder and Fire and the Keeper of Time
That said, the outcomes of these characters remain unknown since ALL ‘time’ has been wiped out during the final battle between Kronika and Liu Kang.
The realms may actually be at peace with each other
By the end of MK11, forces from Earthrealm and Outworld have united to fight against Kronika and her Netherealm army commandeered by Revenant Liu Kang and Kitana. With Revenant Liu Kang merged with past-Liu Kang and past-Raiden to form the God of Thunder and Fire and all Kitanas wiped from existence due to the final battle between Kronika and Liu Kang, the Netherrealm army may be leaderless and powerless as a result. With Shao Kahn dead, Outworld may never go to war against Earthrealm again. If the timelines are to be written similar to the past ones, the realms may be at peace with each other for once.
Liu Kang and Raiden’s exit may make way for a major reboot
At the end of MK11, Liu Kang is seen at a void meant to represent the ‘beginning of time’ crafting ‘time’ with his new found powers while Raiden serves as a Force Ghost-esque guide to Liu Kang. With these two remaining in the void of time, it is unlikely that we would see them return to the main roster of characters again. With these two important pieces gone from the proverbial chess board of MK lore, we may be a significant reboot of the roster and the lore moving forward. Like Tony Stark and Steve Rogers in Avengers: Endgame , their exit made way for new characters to take the center stage and inherit the ever-expanding empire that is the MCU.
While it is unlikely that NetherRealm Studios (the creators of the MK series) would go with a total and complete revamp of the design and backstories of the many fan-favourites and legendary characters, a significant amount of retconning and rebooting is necessary to keep the lore from tearing itself apart once again. Once you have time-travelled, you can’t go back to doing the same thing ever again.
Images from FANDOM.com.
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