Nightwolf

Nightwolf
Mortal Kombat character
Nightwolf's alternate costume in Mortal Kombat (2011)
First game	Mortal Kombat 3 (1995)
Created by	John Tobias
Voiced by	Tod Thawley (DotR) Larry Omaha (MK 2011)
Portrayed by	Sal Divita (MK3, UMK3, MKT) Litefoot (Annihilation)
Fictional profile
Origin	Earthrealm, United States
Fighting styles	Vale Tudo (MK:D, MK:U, MK:A) Tae Kwon Do (MK:D, MK:U)

Nightwolf is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. He debuted in Mortal Kombat 3 as a Native American shaman and historian who is chosen as a warrior of Earthrealm during Shao Kahn's invasion. As one of the main characters, he was also featured in the game's companion media, such as the live action film Mortal Kombat Annihilation and the animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm.

He was also playable in the updates Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat Trilogy. After being absent from Mortal Kombat 4 and Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, he reemerged as a player character in 2004's Mortal Kombat: Deception and also appeared in the follow-ups Mortal Kombat: Armageddon and the 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot.

Response to the character has been mixed, with some citing Nightwolf as an example of a Native American stereotype. His retooled character in the 2011 game has met with mainly positive reception.

Appearances

In video games

Although introduced as a historian and a shaman, he does not live in the past. He is a proud and fierce warrior dedicated to the cause of good, and is in contact with Raiden through visions. As such, he draws both on internal and external spiritual energy to enhance his strength. Although his patch of tribal land provided a vital shelter territory for the Earthrealm warriors at the time of Shao Kahn's invasion, it seems Nightwolf prefers solitary work to companionship. Nightwolf had been warned of the coming invasion of Earthrealm by a vision from Raiden. As such, he was fully aware and prepared for the events as they occurred, including the attacks of Kahn's extermination squads. His own homeland protected through shamanic magic, he would soon be joined by the other chosen warriors. Together, they then travelled back to the East Coast, prepared for battle against the Emperor and his minions, and won.

Nightwolf made his return during the events of Mortal Kombat: Deception. In the events leading to Deception, Nightwolf viewed images of the Dragon King and his resurrection in his dreams. These nightmares recurred constantly, and Nightwolf came to recognize them as a warning. He knew that a new evil threat was about to arise from the ashes, and in view of Reptile's transformation into Onaga, his predictions most assuredly came true. The method that Nightwolf would use to destroy Onaga was one passed down to him by his forefathers. This method was that of the "Sin Eater", which involved absorbing the sins of his tribe. However there was a terrible consequence to be considered in taking on such a role. If he were to do this, he would be a danger to all that surrounded him, including his allies. Hence, he made the decision to destroy Onaga on his own, keeping his allies out of harm's way. His role as a Sin Eater would involve entering the Netherealm, drawing Onaga's soul to him, and releasing the absorbed sins of his ancestors, which would bind Onaga to the spot. His method was successful and he managed to separate Reptile from Onaga, and bind the Dragon King to the Netherealm.^[1]

After completing his quest, he was guided back to Earthrealm by his spirit guides - a pack of wolves. Nightwolf began to receive visions of a battle, where an unknown power was forcing the participating warriors to fight each other. His visions started to become reality, when he spoke with Johnny Cage and their allies, and agreed to assist them in battle against Shinnok and his forces. Eventually, Nightwolf was met by Kitana and the spirit of Liu Kang. The bond that the two of them shared was enough for Kitana to keep Kang's spirit whole, until a way was found for him to rejoin with his body. Still drained after using his shamanic powers on Onaga, Nightwolf used what magic he could to relieve Kitana of her burden, and took on the responsibility of looking after Kang's spirit.^[2] In his Armageddon ending, he defeats Blaze, allowing him to absorb his power. Nightwolf is catapulted into the spirit world, where he becomes the ultimate shaman, a living ghost. He finds Liu Kang's spirit and guides it back to the physical world. There, Liu Kang is able to reunite with his body, becoming human once more.^[3]

In the 2011 reboot, Nightwolf is responsible for destroying Shao Kahn's Soulnado and is one of the few Earthrealm warriors to survive Sindel's initial onslaught. Ultimately, Nightwolf sacrifices himself to destroy Sindel.

Design and gameplay

During an early development of Mortal Kombat 3, the character was known simply as "Indian" before his name was determined. Ed Boon described him as "a very nontraditional Indian. He doesn't swing an axe that he's always holding, like Chief Thunder from Killer Instinct. He doesn't have all of the stereotypical Indian-type things like T. Hawk or Chief Thunder; he doesn't go 'Hoya! Hoya!' and all that."^[4]

Nightwolf uses a mystical set of weapons (an axe and a bow and arrow) in fight. He has the distinction of having three Fatalities in MK3.^[5] According to Total 64, once mastered, Nightwolf "is one of the brightest stars" of Mortal Kombat Trilogy, adding: "None of his moves are seemingly useful at the start, but stick with him to get some great results."^[6]

In other media and merchandise

Litefoot as Nightwolf in Annihilation (the character's classic look from MK3)

In the 1996 cartoon series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, Nightwolf (voiced by Tod Thawley) serves to offer both spiritual and technical help to the Earthrealm warriors, having experience with computer technology. He only fights a few times, spending most of his time back at base monitoring the Earthrealm looking for dimensional rips. Nightwolf has a pet wolf named Kiva, who could merge with Nightwolf to increase his power. The cartoon version of the character uses his MK3 design.

Nightwolf briefly appeared in the 1997 live-action film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, played by Litefoot. Nightwolf has no fight scenes, although he attacks Liu Kang in his wolf form and strikes him unconscious with a hatchet in order to put him in a "dream state", where he is shown sitting at a campfire in Liu's dream and teaching him how to use his Animality. Nightwolf was initially described in the shooting script as wearing a Stone Temple Pilots T-shirt and a pair of Oakley sunglasses, which was ultimately aborted in favor of his MK3 outfit.

An action figure of Nightwolf was released by Jazwares in July 2012 in two versions, 4-inch and 6-inch.

Reception

Nightwolf has been often discussed in the context of portrayal of Native Americans in video games, being one of most famous such characters.^[7] In 2008, GamesRadar featured him as on the list of the top Native American stereotypes to represent "The Warrior" stereotype, concluding that "while this pro-Indian sentiment is certainly heartwarming, much of Nightwolf’s character is wide of the mark."^[8] In 2011, Dorkly ranked him as the second most stereotypical Native American character in fighting game history.^[9] In 2012, Complex called him the most stereotypical character in all video games (representing stereotype "Native Americans"), describing him as "the epitome of every red-skinned, feather-wearing sports mascot and old cowboy movie serial" and commenting that "while other characters can have a gallery of normal punches and kicks, Nightwolf, our resident shaman, calls upon skills that even the old DC Comics’ Apache Chief would frown on."^[10] He was also used as an example of an ethnically stereotypical characters by Cracked.com that same year.^[11]

Among other reception, Nightwolf was ranked as the 20th best Mortal Kombat character by UGO.com in 2012.^[12] That same year, Complex also ranked him as the fourth most underrated Mortal Kombat character, stating that "the fact that he can transform into a wolf and maul you to death should tell you he's nothing to play with."^[13] One of his Fatalities in MK2011 was ranked as the ninth best in this game by Paste,^[14] while another was included on a similar list by 1UP.com.^[15] Game Informer also noted similarity of Soulcalibur V's new character Z.W.E.I. to him.^[16] Nightwolf was also one of the characters that stunt coordinator Larnell Stovall wanted to be featured in the second season of Mortal Kombat: Legacy, described as being potentially "cool too due to his powers, knives and that axe!".^[17] The readers of Dorkly voted him the series' 28th greatest character in a 2013 poll.^[18]

References