| Johnny Cage | |
|---|---|
| Series | Mortal Kombat series |
| First game | Mortal Kombat (1992) |
| Voiced by | Jeff Bennett (The Journey Begins) Jeff Pilson (MK2011) |
| Portrayed by | Daniel Pesina (MK, MKII) Chris Alexander (MKT) Linden Ashby (first film) Chris Conrad (second film) Jeff Durbin (Live Tour) Matt Mullins (Rebirth) and (Legacy) |
| Fictional profile | |
| Origin | United States, Earthrealm |
| Fighting styles | Jeet Kune Do (MK:DA) Karate / Shōrin-ryū (MK:DA, MK:A) |
| Weapon | Scimitar (MK4, MKG) Nunchaku (MK:DA, MK:A) |
Johnny Cage (whose real name is John Carlton) is a video game character from the Mortal Kombat series. Cage is portrayed as a film actor who enters the game's tournament, and provides the comic relief of the franchise.
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Johnny Cage introduced as a playable character in the first Mortal Kombat game. He enters into the titular tournament to prove he does not use special effects in the films he stars in. In the sequel Mortal Kombat II, Cage goes to another tournament in the realm of Outworld after allying with the warriors who wish to protect Earth led by the thunder god Raiden.
He does not reappear in the series until Mortal Kombat Trilogy, where he was killed by Shao Kahn's forces invading Earth. He is shortly revived to help his former comrades defeat Shao Kahn. In the next game, Mortal Kombat 4, Cage is allowed to continue his life after seeking Raiden's help to revive and joins friends once again to defeat the forces from the former god Shinnok who plans to initiate a war between the realms.
By Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Cage once again joins Raiden's group, in order to stop the menace from the alliance of sorcerers Quan Chi and Shang Tsung. However, Cage is killed alongside most of his comrades and he is resurrected by the Dragon King Onaga to use him as a slave. He is freed from his mind control by the ninja Ermac and Liu Kang's ghost. He returns in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon as a playable character, participating in the new tournament Armageddon that will decide mankind's fate. In the ensuing battle, Cage is decapitated by an unknown opponent.
He has also appeared in the spin off game Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks that reprises the events from Mortal Kombat II. Besides being a supporting character across the game, he is also playable in the fighting mode.
He reappears in the 2011 Mortal Kombat game. As the game retells the events from the first tournaments, Cage joins Raiden's forces to save Earth. He and Sonya Blade become the only Earthrealm warriors to survive the course of the game's plot.
Johnny Cage is one of the main characters in the Mortal Kombat comic book series. His portrayal in the comics is faithful to the games, keeping both his desire to prove his moves are real and his personality traits. He appears during the whole Blood & Thunder series, most of the time alongside Sonya, with whom he shares a relationship in the comics. His most serious moment is during issue 4 when he, under Raiden's advice, decides to not seek the power of the Tao Te Zhan, since he felt it would be like faking his moves in his films. During the second series, Battlewave, he is seen resuming his acting career when Sonya asks him to help with an investigation after Jax was brutally attacked. He initially refuses, but later reconsiders what's important and decides to follow with Jax into the Outworld. In the meantime, he sends his musclebound bodyguard, Bo, to protect Liu Kang.
In the first Mortal Kombat film, Johnny Cage was played by Linden Ashby, whose portrayal was faithful to the games in keeping with Cage's personality and his comic relief role. During the film, he fights both Scorpion and Goro in Mortal Kombat, and manages to defeat both.
Johnny Cage reappears in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. He was played by Chris Conrad. In the opening scene, Shao Kahn takes Sonya Blade hostage, and Cage attempts to save her. He is killed when Kahn snaps his neck.
Matt Mullins appears as Johnny Cage in the internet video, Mortal Kombat: Rebirth. He was an action movie star, whose career was dying. To allow his talents to still be used, he became an undercover agent for Jackson Briggs. However, Alan Zane / Baraka killed him shortly thereafter in battle.[1] Mullins reprised his role in Mortal Kombat: Legacy, in which he plays a failing (but still alive) Johnny Cage who, after all but ruining his show career after a fist fight with TV executives and security, is approached by Shang Tsung with an offer to provide "a way out of everything".
The character was modeled after Jean-Claude Van Damme.[2] Cage's appearance in the first game was loosely based on Van Damme's portrayal of Dux Ryu Ninjutsu founder Frank Dux in the 1988 movie Bloodsport, from his outfit to his "Split Punch". Designed to be a Hollywood star, Cage is meant to be comic relief character in contrast to more serious characters like Liu Kang and Raiden.[3] Johnny Cage's real name came from Midway game artist John Carlton, who worked on the NBA Jam series.
UGO.com ranked Johnny Cage fourth on their "Top 11 Mortal Kombat Characters" list, praising his role as the comic relief of the series with the added statement that "there's nothing better than kicking somebody's ass with a fighter that's supposed to be a joke".[4] GameDaily put him 23rd in their feature "Top 25 Gaming Hunks", stating "If you can't marry Brad Pitt, you can always settle for Mortal Kombat's Johnny Cage".[5] 1UP.com ranked him ninth in their "They Is Risen" feature, which covered the ten most notorious video game resurrections. The publication noted that one of the most remarkable part of his character was that he was one of the few ones who died during the storyline.[6]
Cage's Split Punch was in GamesRadar's article "Gaming’s most devastating genital attacks" with its author commenting that "It’s hardly Cage’s most impressive or most damaging move, but it’s inarguably his best."[7] In another article, the split-punch was listed as his signature move with notes that while it is performed in a "decidedly un-Street Fighter way", it was the first "silly" moment in the franchise.[8] Johnny Cage's split-punch on Goro in the Mortal Kombat film was rated by UGO.com as one the top 11 Game Movie Moments.[9] He was also ninth in Game Revolution's "Top 10 Old School Mortal Kombat Characters" with praise on his special moves that made him stand out.[10] IGN listed him as a character they would like to see as downloadable content for Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, stating Johnny "remains a favorite among MK heroes, even though he's spent a good portion of the series' life in a coffin".[11]
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