Mortal Kombat 1 presents a soft reboot of the franchise with an all-new timeline. As the twelfth mainline game in the long-running series, Mortal Kombat 1 focuses around Liu Kang assembling a group of fighters to compete in the latest Mortal Kombat tournament. Liu Kang's leading role in this new story breaks away from a title the fighter acquired at the end of Mortal Kombat 11, but there's a good reason for this.

The finale of Mortal Kombat 11's story saw Raiden merging with Revenant Liu Kang. This leads the merged soul to enter the body of the past Liu Kang. This new version of Liu Kang combined both his powers and Raiden's into one being, making him the God of Thunder and Fire. Liu Kang gaining the title of a god was an exciting arc for the character, but there is a small change to his moniker in Mortal Kombat 1, as he's now only known as the God of Fire.

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Liu Kang's Role In Mortal Kombat 1

Although Mortal Kombat 1 is set in a different timeline than Mortal Kombat 11, this version of Liu Kang is the same. Thanks to his newfound Fire God status gained at the end of Mortal Kombat 11, Liu Kang restarts history, beginning the timeline of Mortal Kombat 1. In the game, Liu Kang refers to himself as not only the protector of the Earthrealm, but also the God of Fire, leaving out thunder completely.

Raiden's Role in Liu Kang's New Timeline

The franchise entries pre-Mortal Kombat 1 saw Raiden possessing control over lightning as a God of Thunder. However, Liu Kang's rewrite of history has changed Raiden. Instead of making Raiden a god, Liu Kang chose to have him reborn as a mortal in order to keep him from repeating history. The past timeline's version of Raiden may have been a more powerful being, but he also had a strong temper that didn't mix well with his godly status.

Liu Kang Relinquishes His Thunder Powers

Still wielding the old Raiden's thunder powers after Mortal Kombat 11's timeline reset, Liu Kang decides to relinquish them completely, transferring the powers into the Amulet that Raiden had the Elder Gods craft in the older timeline. Later on, when Raiden proves himself worthy of fighting as this timeline's Earthrealm champion, Liu Kang gifts him the thunder-powered amulet in order to take on the powerful opponents of the Outworld.

Bringing Everything Full Circle

Despite Raiden being born as a mortal this time around, Liu Kang gifting him the amulet infused with thunder powers brings everything back full circle. However, this is a safer way for Raiden to wield such powers. Mortal Kombat 1 has broken franchise tradition in many different ways, and its handling of Raiden is one of the biggest changes. Raiden's thunder powers are iconic in the history of the series, but this is a compelling twist that still makes the character powerful while also keeping him grounded.

As the official protector of the Earthrealm and God of Fire, Liu Kang now has more responsibility than ever. The choice to remake Raiden as a mortal while still allowing him to wield the powers of thunder and lightning shows just how focused Liu Kang is on keeping peace. Mortal Kombat's multiverse has presented some fascinating new versions of beloved characters, and choices like this prove that Liu Kang is a great character to have looking after the Earthrealm.