Highlights
- Mortal Kombat 1 introduces bold new directions for the franchise, with familiar characters undergoing significant backstory tweaks in Fire God Liu Kang's universe.
- Baraka, previously viewed as an antagonist, is now a well-respected Outworld merchant affected by the incurable Tarkat disease, cast off to a segregated colony. His role in Mortal Kombat 1 could be even greater, possibly turning him into a sympathetic, tragic hero.
- The Tarkat disease may play a vital role in the story, with Mileena also afflicted by it. Liu Kang's new universe may be thrust into chaos due to this disease, making Baraka's role all the more important and potentially turning him into a major player.
Mortal Kombat 1 is taking the long-running fighting game franchise in some bold new directions, and for the most part, fans are really looking forward to seeing how everything shakes down. Following on from the end of Mortal Kombat 11's Aftermath DLC, Fire God Liu Kang has created his own "perfect" universe, reviving all of his lost friends in the process. But while familiar faces like Raiden, Kung Lao, Kitana, Mileena, and Johnny Cage are all present in Liu Kang's new universe, they're not quite the same characters they once were.
In an attempt to assure peace in his new universe, Fire God Liu Kang has tweaked every iconic Kombatant's backstory. For some characters like Kenshi, these tweaks are minor alterations to the hero's origin, but for characters like Sub-Zero and Scorpion, who are now biological brothers, the changes are much more significant. And with characters like Baraka, it's unclear just how much his altered backstory is going to affect the main plot of Mortal Kombat 1.
How Baraka Could End Up Being a Major Player in Mortal Kombat 1's Story
First introduced in Mortal Kombat 2, Baraka in the original timeline is a warrior of the Tarkatan civilization, a race that lives in Outworld. When he's first introduced, Baraka is a servant and guard to Shao Kahn, though his real allegiances lie with the half-Tarkatan Mileena, the emperor's daughter. Together, Mileena and Baraka attempt to overthrow Shao Kahn, but it's unsuccessful, leaving Baraka exiled. Throughout the rest of the original Mortal Kombat timeline, Baraka is seen working for various antagonist forces, essentially being their puppet.
Even in NetherRealm's rebooted universe that began back in 2011, Baraka is still primarily used as a servant to higher-powered antagonists, though he does have a bit more agency. Baraka is occasionally depicted as the leader of the Tarkatan army, a force that he uses in Mortal Kombat X against Kotal Kahn. But while Baraka has always been viewed as an antagonist in every Mortal Kombat timeline, Mortal Kombat 1's new universe could be about to change that.
Just introduced in a recent trailer, Baraka will be one of Mortal Kombat 1's 24 fully playable characters. And much like the rest of Mortal Kombat 1's starting roster, Baraka's origin and role in this new universe seem to differ quite heavily from all of his past appearances. From what fans have seen in the trailer and Mortal Kombat 1's official bio details, Baraka used to be a well-respected Outworld merchant before he contracted the Tarkat disease. In this new universe, the Tarkatans aren't a separate race of people, but instead those who have been affected by a deadly disease that greatly disfigures a person, and is completely incurable.
After contracting the Tarkat disease, Baraka was forced out of his Outworld home and pushed into a colony specifically designed to segregate those affected by the Tarkat disease from the rest of the realm. With the disease now fully taking over his body, Baraka has become somewhat of a leader for the rest of the colony and seeks to better their lives in any way he can.
Though it hasn't been confirmed just how important it'll be to Mortal Kombat 1's story, it seems as though the Tarkat disease will play some kind of vital role, with Mileena catching the disease. It's likely that the Tarkat disease is one of the core reasons behind Liu Kang's new universe being thrust into chaos, and with Baraka being the face of the disease, his role in the story could be even greater than ever before, perhaps turning the usual minor antagonist into a sympathetic, tragic hero.
Mortal Kombat 1 releases on September 19 for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
