Jarek
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Jarek is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series.
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[edit] About Jarek
First debuting as playable character in Mortal Kombat 4, Jarek was thought to be the last member of the Black Dragon. In the game, he utilized special moves and fatalities popularized by Kano. His lack of originality has caused him to be labelled as an uninspired character by Mortal Kombat fans. However, he later gained his own moves in Armageddon, taking the Dragon discipline that Sub Zero had in "Deception".
[edit] Storyline
He made his first chronological appearance in Mortal Kombat: Special Forces. Kano freed him and other Black Dragon members from a United States Special Forces detention facility. Kano had proposed to reform the Black Dragon clan, but merely wished to use them to slow down any Special Forces agents who may have pursued him. Jarek was Kano's best student and was stationed at a downtown office which the clan were using as a front for their activities. While there, he was confronted and defeated by Major Jackson Briggs and brought back into custody.
Some considerable time later, he escaped to Edenia. During this period, he agreed to help his sworn enemies defeat Shinnok. Shortly after the defeat and destruction of Shinnok's forces, he fell from a cliff in an attempt to kill Lieutenant Sonya Blade. He apparently survives this brush with death, however.
In Jarek's Mortal Kombat: Armageddon ending, he defeats Blaze, and the chi from all the other kombatants begins to flow through the firespawn and funnel into Jarek. He starts to feel as if Death itself were guiding his actions. Sealing off the crater, Jarek begins to perform the other fighters' own signature fatalities on them, eventually finishing them all.[1]
[edit] Combat characteristics
[edit] Signature moves
- Tri-Blade: Jarek throws a star-shaped exotic blade (not Shuriken) to his opponent. (MK4, MKG)
- Cannonball Roll: Jarek crunches himself to a ball and hurls himself to his opponent. This move was borrowed from Kano. (MK4, MKG)
- Vertical Roll: Jarek performs the vertical version of "Cannonball" move. (MK4, MKG)
- Rhino Stomp: Jarek slams his body to ground, creating a small tremor and damaging the opponent. (MK4, MKG, MK:A)
- Lasso Snatch: Jarek snatches a lasso towards the enemy, and if it connects, he brings the enemy over his body and slams them down, making him/her bounce. If a combo or attack is done after the Lasso Snatch, the move will strangely do more damage. (MK:A)
- Tricky Switch: Jarek attempts to grab the enemy, and if succesful he will push him to his side, then kick his back. (MK:A)
- Flying Legs: Anchoring himself to the ground with his rope, Jarek impulses himself feet-first towards the opponent. (MK:A)
[edit] Character development
Because Jarek had the same moves as Kano, many fans angrily claimed that he is simply Kano in Mortal Kombat 4. This holds some truth since the development team began making 3D models of existing MK characters and then decided they needed to add some new people as well. Jarek is simply a different texture over Kano's model. This explains why he shares so many moves with him. The same holds true for Reiko (originally Noob Saibot) and Tanya (originally Kitana).
Both Jarek and Kira used moves from Kano. Unlike Jarek, however, Kira has her own set of fatalities and shared some of Sonya Blade's moves. In MK4, Jarek was assigned Kano's fatalities, but without an artificial eye like Kano's, he had no viable reason to shoot lasers from his own eyes. This was left anyway and never explained. In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Jarek was finally given his own set of moves, thus making him unique from Kano. It is possible that Jarek's ending in Armageddon, with him using other characters' fatalities against them, is a reference to some of his unexplained move copying.
It was revealed in his Armageddon bio card video that Jarek is modeled after MK character designer and modeler Herman Sanchez.[2]
[edit] Trivia
- When he appeared in Mortal Kombat: Special Forces, he had the ability to throw blades, taunt, and fire an orb that paralyzed the player if shot.
- He is referred to by Jax in Special Forces as "some punk kid with a sharp toy".
- During Shujinko's quest in Mortal Kombat: Deception, Jarek was in the Netherealm looking for Oni teeth in order to prove his worth to the Black Dragon clan. However, he simply pays Shujinko to find these for him.
[edit] References
- ^ Jarek's Armageddon info at Mortal Kombat Warehouse
- ^ Jarek's Bio Card. Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Premium Edition Bonus Disc, Midway Games, 2006.
