John Tobias

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John Tobias (right) with Ed Boon in a 1993 photo.

John Tobias (born August 24, 1969 in Chicago, Illinois) was one of the creators (along with Ed Boon) of the groundbreaking Mortal Kombat fighting game series for Chicago-based Midway. He was credited with developing the detailed storylines and designing many of the characters. Following its arcade debut in 1992, the MK franchise exploded into an overwhelming phenomenon and merchandising bonanza, spawning a host of additional games, as well as two movies, toy and apparel lines, a comic book series, and a 1996 live tour, among others.

By the end of the 1990s, however, the MK series, due to several disappointing releases and the ill-received 1997 film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (the sequel to the successful 1995 original), hit a low ebb. Dissatisfied with the downward direction in which the franchise he helped bring to life was heading, Tobias, along with many staff members, left Midway in 2000 during the production of Mortal Kombat: Special Forces, which flopped upon its release.

He went on to form Studio Gigante. Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus was the first game Studio Gigante created. Tobias would also later develop the WWE WrestleMania 21 video game.

However after Studio Gigante ceased operations, John Tobias has been recently doing various freelance work.

Despite being one of the original creators of the Mortal Kombat series, Tobias has never been mentioned in any sort of commentary or description on how Mortal Kombat began, such as the ones found in Deadly Alliance and Deception. However, he can be seen in the commentaries for Mortal Kombat 2 and Mortal Kombat 3 in the Midway Arcade Treasures 2 game.

John Tobias also worked on comic books for The Real Ghostbusters series before he went to Midway.

[edit] Trivia

The character named Noob Saibot is actually John Tobias' and Ed Boon's names backwards (Boon makes Noob, Tobias makes Saibot). However, ever since he has left midway, the character has been less and less referred to as Noob Saibot and more to as just Noob, like in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon and Mortal Kombat: Deception, where the character is called Noob by the announcer (Noob-Smoke in Deception).