PLEASE NOTE: This article contains MINOR SPOILERS for Mortal Kombat 1.Over the last 30 years, the Mortal Kombat franchise has gathered quite a cast of colorful characters. Starting all the way back in 1992 with the original seven MK Kombatants, Mortal Kombat has only continued to grow its roster with every new entry since, and though recent games have paired back their rosters a little, the vast majority still try to build upon the canon in some exciting, novel way. While it may not bring any characters to the table, Mortal Kombat 1 is still no exception to this rule, tweaking and reworking both some classic and lesser-known franchise characters.

Set in Liu Kang's new universe, Mortal Kombat 1 puts some fun little spins on some iconic franchise heroes and villains, giving all of them slightly tweaked origins and roles in this timeline. Naturally, this leads to some pretty fun interactions, twists, and turns during Mortal Kombat 1's story mode, but one of the biggest highlights of the game is actually the surprising pair-up of Kenshi and Johnny Cage, whose love-hate relationship ends up being one of the story's most entertaining assets.

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Kenshi and Johnny Cage's Pairing Is a Big Highlight of Mortal Kombat 1

In the previous Mortal Kombat continuities, Kenshi and Johnny Cage rarely interact with one another in any meaningful way. The vast majority of the time, Kenshi is painted as this stoic, mysterious figure, and any time that Johnny Cage interacts with him, his trademark snarky humor usually bounces right off the near-silent protagonist. But in Mortal Kombat 1, things are a little different.

Mortal Kombat 1 tweaks the backstories of just about every classic franchise character, and Kenshi is no different. Rather than be the world's best swordsman, this new timeline sees Kenshi try and free his Taira clan from the centuries-long hold that the Yakuza has on them. To do so, Kenshi first needs to reclaim Sento, his family's long-lost sword, and that journey takes him to Johnny Cage's Malibu mansion. Naturally, Cage refuses to give Sento up without a fight, and the two start the story as enemies. But as Mortal Kombat 1's story mode progresses, that relationship, rather surprisingly, starts to take center stage.

After Johnny Cage and Kenshi are chosen by Liu Kang to be protectors of Earthrealm, the two start to warm to one another, albeit through biting quips and mocking comments. For long-time fans of Mortal Kombat, it's great to see two iconic characters finally interact with one another in a meaningful and genuinely entertaining way, and it only gets better as the story progresses.

A constant point of contention between the two, and a running gag for the audience, is that Cage refuses to give Kenshi Sento, even going as far as to bring it with him on their mission to capture Shang Tsung just to deliberately tease the swordsman. But this running gag turns into a surprisingly emotional beat for both characters. After Kenshi is blinded, Cage refuses to leave him behind and even willingly gives him Sento. It's an extremely simple plot line, but it's a really effective one, tying up both character's arcs in one fell swoop. Johnny Cage is finally becoming the hero that he was always destined to be, and Kenshi finally becomes the character that fans know him to be. It isn't a relationship that many fans were expecting going into Mortal Kombat 1, but it's certainly a big highlight, providing some genuine laughs, and some surprisingly sweet moments.

Mortal Kombat 1 is available now on PS5, Xbox X, Nintendo Switch and PC.

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