The Mortal Kombat storyline
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Mortal Kombat is one of the most successful fighting games of all time, and one of its most popular features is the deep and complex storyline.
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[edit] The One Being and The Elder Gods
At the beginning of time, there only existed two beings: The Elder Gods and the One Being. The One Being gained his power by draining that of the Elder Gods. Eventually the Elder Gods declared war on the One Being to save themselves. In the end, the Elder Gods created 6 weapons called the Kamidogu. When they used the weapon, the One Being split into many pieces, although its consciousness survived. The Kamidogu became lost in 6 different pieces of the One Being. Eventually, these pieces became the realms, and life began to grow inside them. There were 6 main realms: Earthrealm, Netherrealm, Outworld, Orderrealm (Seido), Chaosrealm, and Edenia, each with a representative Kamidogu which held the essence of each realm.
[edit] The Armageddon Prophecy
Not long after the creation of the realms, the Edenian protector-God, Argus, and his sorceress-wife, Delia, had two children: Taven and Daegon. Delia frequently had visions and prophecies of the future. One of the events she predicted was the destruction of all the realms due to the warriors of Mortal Kombat growing too powerful and too numerous. The Elder Gods demanded that a safeguard be put in place in order to prevent Armageddon, and left the task to Argus and his wife. Delia predicted that the climax of battle would take place at a crater within the Edenian Ruins. For this reason, Argus had a pyramid constructed underground at this crater, while Delia created a Fire-Spawn known as Blaze. Blaze would contain the power needed to stop the Mortal Kombat warriors. While Argus wanted all of the warriors destroyed, Delia wished a more merciful approach; stripping the warriors of their powers. They decided that they would put their two children in competition, and whichever one defeated Blaze would be gifted with the power to become the new protector of Edenia. On their way to confronting Blaze, each brother would have to retrive a sword from one of their father's temples in Earthrealm, and a suit of armour from one of their mother's temples, also in Earthrealm. One suit of armour would mean that all of the Mortal Kombat Warriors were destroyed, the other would mean that they were stripped of their power. In effect, this would be like a coin toss between Argus and Delia, to decide which outcome would be achieved. The two brothers were then asked to Argus' temple in Edenia, where they were ambushed and placed in stasis. They were both placed within mountains in Earthrealm, with a Dragon to watch over them. The Golden Dragon, Orin, watched over Taven, whilst the Red Dragon Caro watched over Daegon. When Blaze gave the signal, the Dragons would wake their protectee from stasis to begin the quest.
[edit] Shinnok and the War for Earthrealm
The Elder Gods watched over the realms, and governed the realms with untold wisdom; but one such Elder God, known as Shinnok, gave into greed and illusion of false power and wanted the new realm of Earth for himself; however, the Elder Gods had appointed the young God of Thunder known as Raiden to protect Earth. The battle between Raiden and Shinnok was fierce, sending Earth to its near destruction and plunging it into centuries of darkness. Raiden discovered that Shinnok entered the realm through the power of a mystical amulet. It allowed Shinnok to weaken the borders of a realm and therefore enter the realm without challenge and keep the Elder Gods from interfering. Forced to choose between destroying the budding Saurian civilization or to give Earthrealm to Shinnok, Raiden chose the former and stripped the amulet of Shinnok's possession and with the aid of Elder Gods banished the fallen Elder God to the Netherrealm. Raiden buried the amulet deep with the mountains of Asia and created a massive temple to house the amulet and appointed four guardians to serve as the protectors of the amulet. These guardians represented an element that make up the realm: Wind, Earth, Water, and Fire. As long as the amulet remained on Earth, Shinnok would remain trapped in the Netherrealm.
[edit] Onaga's Reign
At some unknown point in history ruled an emperor in the realm of Outworld called Onaga. Onaga was the first Emperor of Outworld, uniting an otherwise divided realm. He began to conquer other realms, merging them to add that realm's power to Outworld and expand his ever-growing domain. Onaga's secret to victory was his undefeatable and seemingly invincible army. Onaga's heart gave him the ability to raise the dead, allowing him to revive his dead soldiers over and over. However, Onaga wished to live forever; using the last dragon egg, his followers formed a spell that would transfer his body into the tiny dragon inside and with it, be granted eternal life. It was at this point Shao Kahn, who had been a trusted advisor at Onaga's side, decided to strike. Onaga was poisoned, and with Onaga gone, Shao Kahn took control. However, unlike Onaga, Shao Kahn was not able to rule Outworld as a united realm.
[edit] Shao Kahn's Reign
Like Onaga before him, Kahn sought to expand his domain and his power through conquests of other realms. He attacked and conquered many smaller realms, slowly building up power over thousands of years. Eventually, he built up enough strength to take on another realm equal to Outworld's size, to gain even greater power, Edenia. To conquer Edenia, Kahn had to win the sacred tournament protecting the realm, and if he succeeded, it would allow him to merge the two realms. Despite the warriors of Edenia's best efforts, Kahn eventually won and Edenia was conquered. The ruler of Edenia, King Jerrod, was murdered; Kahn took his wife Sindel as his queen and adopted their daughter Kitana as his own. However, Sindel could not bear the thought of being Kahn's queen and commited suicide. At this time, the son's of Argus and Delia who were Taven and Daegon were put into suspended animation as a fail safe, after the forseeing of an approaching armageddon in the future. The brothers would then awaken from their slumber and bring balance back to the corrupted realms.
[edit] The Beginning of Mortal Kombat
A few millenia had passed, now with Edenia conquered and other realms added to Outworld, Shao Kahn turned his sights to the conquest of Earthrealm. Shao Kahn sent Shang Tsung to establish the sacred tournament as a competition between his armies and Earthrealm. Raiden rallied the best fighters of Earth into the White Lotus Society, a group established to discern a champion every 50 years to defend Earth in the tournament. The Great Kung Lao was one such warrior defeating Shang Tsung and becoming Grand Champion. Lao only kept the title for one generation before eventually falling to Shang Tsung's then-new secret weapon, a Shokan prince named Goro. Goro proceeded to win the following eight tournaments, giving the Outworld warriors 9 consecutive victories.
Before the events of the Mortal Kombat tournament, Quan Chi had recruited Sub-Zero the Elder to help him retrieve the ancient amulet. Sub Zero proceeded to venture through Earthrealm, defeating the gods of Wind, Earth, Water, and Fire and obtained the amulet. Sub-Zero then delivered the amulet to Quan Chi. Quan Chi later gave the amulet to Shinnok, which happened to be a fake, and kept the real one for himself. Raiden then confronted the Lin Kuei ninja and revealed to him his mistake by giving Quan Chi the amulet. Reluctantly, Sub-Zero then proceeded to return to the Netherrealm and retrieve the amulet from Shinnok. Sub-Zero was successful and preserved the peace of all reality for the time being.
Two years later, Earth rallied some of its best fighters in order to win the tenth tournament and preserve Earthrealm's freedom. Amongst the established warriors were Liu Kang, Sonya Blade, and Johnny Cage. With the help of Raiden, the Earthrealm warriors were victorious and Liu Kang became the new champion of Mortal Kombat. Scorpion, who was a rival clansman of the Lin Kuei, and the same man Sub-Zero killed years before, fought one another again. In the end however, Scorpion slew Sub-Zero in retribution for the death of his family and his own murder as well.
Unable to deal with Shang Tsung's failure, Shao Kahn ordered the Tarkatan horde to raid the Wu Shi academy. The Tarkatan horde killed most of Liu Kang's fellow monks. This enraged Liu Kang enough to follow them into Outworld. He was not alone; Kung Lao, Johnny Cage and Major Jackson Briggs (a.k.a Jax), who was in search of his missing subordinate Sonya Blade. The three would follow right behind Liu Kang into the realm to seek revenge. Though they were running into the Emperor's trap, they eventually thwarted Shao Kahn's sinister plan and rescued Sonya as well. Shao Kahn responded by resurrecting Queen Sindel on Earth and stepping across the realms to claim her, thus succesfully merging it with Outworld. The Earthrealm warriors rallied once more, defeating Shao Kahn and ending his threat. He was severely wounded, but most importantly, when he was defeated, Edenia was freed from Outworld, and was returned to a whole realm.
[edit] The Return of Shinnok
During his time in the Netherrealm, Shinnok rallied an army of allies to help him avenge his losses. With the help of disguises and allies in Earthrealm (Noob Saibot) and Outworld/Edenia (Tanya), Shinnok escaped to the newly restored Edenia, eventually returning to the heavens. Shinnok proceeded to kidnap Queen Sindel and Princess Kitana in the process of taking over Edenia, then proceeded to destroy as much as he could in the heavens, including murdering several of the Elder Gods and many of the lesser gods.
Fujin and Raiden escaped to Earthrealm, where they rallied the Earthrealm warriors for yet another realm-threatening battle. After a long and arduous fight, Liu Kang eventually defeated Shinnok, emerging victorious as Mortal Kombat champion once more. Shinnok was banished back to the Netherrealm along with his ally, the sorcerer Quan Chi, where he was believed to have been killed. Scorpion was sent to the Netherrealm with Quan Chi, as it was revealed that the Sorcerer had killed his clan, and the Ninja was out for vengeance.
[edit] The Deadly Alliance
While in the Netherrealm, Quan Chi discovered much information about the past, including the existence of the Dragon King's seemingly immortal army. He managed to escape from the Netherrealm using a secret portal and approached Shang Tsung with an offer to join forces and rule the realms together. Quan Chi established a Soulnado in Shang Tsung's fortress with the agreement that Shang Tsung would use some of the souls to animate the army. Together, they approached Shao Kahn and attacked him, seemingly killing him in his weakened state. It was later revealed that they killed a clone, and that the real Shao Kahn had escaped. The Deadly Alliance then double-teamed and killed the only one who could possibly stop them, the Mortal Kombat Champion, Liu Kang.
Raiden once again rallied the Earthrealm soldiers to stop this impending threat. Also included in the battle were newcomers Li Mei and Nitara. Nitara's realm had been merged into Outworld against her will, whereas Li Mei was trying to free her land from The Deadly Alliance. Others joined the fight as well, including the newly reprogrammed Cyrax (now working for the U.S. Special Forces Unit with Jax and Sonya), as well as Kenshi, a warrior who had been blinded by Shang Tsung's treachery and who sought revenge. Unfortunately, these heroes were unable to stop the Deadly Alliance, as the two sorcerers overcame all foes, destroying the majority of the opposition.
[edit] The Return of the Dragon King
Imprisoned in death for centuries after his betrayal by Shao Kahn, the Dragon King secretly worked to revive his physical body. By transferring his essence into an apparition, he appeared to Shujinko, a very promising warrior who was set to be the chosen Earthrealm combatant in an upcoming Mortal Kombat tournament. Claiming to be an emissary of the Elder Gods named Damashi, he tricked Shujinko into collecting the Kamidogu from the various realms and placing them in the Nexus, a special location created between the realms to ease the travel of the Champion of the Elder Gods. After the Kamidogu had been collected, the egg he was imprisoned in hatched; the Dragon King resumed his physical form by merging with the ninja Reptile, and collected the Kamidogu from Shujinko, informing him that Shinnok's amulet (now in the hands of Quan Chi) was the key to the power of the Kamidogu.
Meanwhile, Raiden (with his allies laying defeated), faced the Deadly Alliance on his own. Despite managing to hold his own for a time, he was ultimately defeated by their combined power. With their victory in hand, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi quickly turned on each other, each looking to grab all the power for themselves. Quan Chi emerged victorious, but once again, the victory was short lived, as the Dragon King returned to Outworld. Quan Chi proceeded to try to stop him, and the quickly recovering Shang Tsung and Raiden aided as well, forming an impromptu alliance against the greater threat. They were unable to defeat the Dragon King, however, as even Raiden releasing his essence and destroying everything around him had no effect on the revived former ruler of Outworld.
The Dragon King then proceeded to continue where he left off, seeking to control Outworld as well as all of the other realms. It is suggested that he is being manipulated by a power that even he doesn't understand, namely The One Being. Scorpion, the Elder God's champion, and Shujinko, the one who gathered the Kamidogu for Onaga, raced to confront the Dragon King. It's not known yet which one defeated Onaga, although it was hinted at the Fight Night interview with the MK Team in 2006 that Shujinko is the one who managed to defeat the former Outworld Emperor, yet Scorpion mentions during Armageddon's Konquest mode that despite performing a task for the Elder Gods (presumably eliminating Onaga, as no other tasks from the Elder Gods were ever mentioned), their end of the deal was not fufilled.
[edit] Armageddon
During the Dragon King's conquest, the beginning of Armageddon, previously predicted by Delia, began. Daegon however, had mistakenly been awakened centuries early, as Caro mistook the loss of Blaze's contact (possibly when he was kidnapped in order to watch over the Dragon King's eggs) as the signal to begin the race.
Daegon discovered what the aim of the quest was, and became obsesssed with the power which would be granted to him. He set up the Red Dragon clan (to represent the Red Dragon that awoke him) and enslaved Caro in order to use him to create portals.
The Red Dragon's primary aim was to find Blaze and to assassinate Taven, although they were also a powerful crime organization. When Taven was finally awoken at the correct time, during Onaga's return, he was constantly attacked by Red Dragon warriors. Eventually, Taven made his way to his father's temple, only to find the weapon that was meant to be there had been stolen. As he finally made his way to his mother's temple, which was now occupied by the Lin Kuei, he managed to find the suit of armour that had been placed for him. During this time, Quan Chi assembled other warlords of Darkness, including Shao Kahn, Shinnok, Onaga and Shang Tsung. Quan Chi had managed to find out about the power that Blaze contained, and the power that would be gifted to the one who defeated him, and in the process of discovering this, had killed Orin, Taven's protector Dragon. The forces of evil united in order to claim this power, whilst the forces of good united in order to either stop evil, or claim the power for themselves for their own ends.
The battle came to a head in the crater within the Edenian ruins, just as Delia had predicted. As Taven made his way to these ruins, he encountered Blaze who revealed the true nature of this quest: to either use the power gifted to him to either destroy all of the Mortal Kombat warriors, or simply strip them of their power. Daegon revealed that it was he who had killed their parents, with the very weapons that they had intended be used to fight their way to Blaze (as it became apparent that Daegon was the one who had stolen Taven's sword). Taven and Daegon fought, with Taven emerging the victor. As this happened, the warriors clashing within the crater were suddenly stopped as the huge pyramid placed by Argus millenia earlier rose from the ground, with Blaze, now empowered and huge in size, waiting at the top. The warriors began to make their way to the top, fighting amongst themselves and turning on one another in order to claim this prize. With Daegon defeated, Taven took his sword and made his way into the crater himself, in order to defeat Blaze as he was destined to.
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