Highlights
- Mortal Kombat 1 is keeping its story and major villains a mystery, even just weeks before release, adding excitement and anticipation for fans.
- The game's rebooted universe allows for unique character changes and fresh twists on classic characters, potentially flipping the dynamics of heroes and villains.
- The possibility of Sub-Zero, a traditionally heroic character, becoming a primary antagonist in Mortal Kombat 1 adds an exciting twist to the game and challenges classic MK franchise tropes.
In this modern age of gaming, it's extremely rare for a game to be just a few weeks out from release, and still have most of its story remain a mystery, but somehow Mortal Kombat 1 has managed just that. While 21 of the 24 Kombatants have been revealed, the overarching plot has been detailed countless times, and additional game modes have all been confirmed, Mortal Kombat 1 is still keeping a few tricks up its sleeve for release day, and one of its biggest mysteries revolves around who Earthrealm's champions will be facing off against this time.
Over the last 30 years, the Mortal Kombat franchise has had a number of villains, some of which are admittedly much more iconic than others. But while Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn are set to return in Mortal Kombat 1, neither one seems to be the big bad of the story. And although NetherRealm has certainly made some teases, Mortal Kombat 1's very premise invites twists and turns galore, and hopefully one of those flips the series' usual villains on their head.
Mortal Kombat 1's Villains Could Flip The Series On Its Head
For those unaware, Mortal Kombat 1 is set to reboot the universe once more, but this time, things are set to be pretty different. The end of Mortal Kombat 11 saw the newly anointed Fire God Liu Kang reset the timeline, this time trying to ensure peace and prosperity by manually tweaking some characters' origins. It's these tweaks that'll hopefully make Mortal Kombat 1 both an accessible entry for newcomers and a rewarding one for fans, offering plenty of fresh takes on classic characters.
These character changes range from minimal tweaks, like Johnny Cage not technically having magical abilities, to pretty radical alterations, such as Scorpion and Sub-Zero now being biological brothers. With each new official character bio that gets released, the more unique Mortal Kombat 1's universe gets, and it all paves the way perfectly for some wild out-of-left-field twists, with the biggest potentially being the game's villains.
Right now, no official villain has been confirmed for Mortal Kombat 1. The closest thing fans have got is a tease of Kronika's return, first shown when the opening act of Mortal Kombat 1's story mode was released on YouTube. But the tease felt like exactly that, a hint that there's still more to come and that this is far from the only villainous twist in the game. There may be more than meets the eye to Kronika's supposed return in Mortal Kombat 1, and it could lead to some classic MK character dynamics being flipped on their head.
What would really catch fans off guard is if Mortal Kombat 1 turned some of the usual heroes into villains. The most likely candidate for this twist is probably Sub-Zero. A consistent protector of Earthrealm in every continuity, Sub-Zero still maintains this position in Mortal Kombat 1, though from the story trailers released so far, he seems less invested in Earthrealm as a whole, and more interested in the Lin Kuei's own prosperity.
It's more than possible that Sub-Zero would turn his back on Liu Kang and the rest of the Earthrealm champions if he's given an opportunity to further his own clan's success, and some pre-match voice lines between Liu Kang and Sub-Zero heard during Mortal Kombat 1's beta could hint at this possible villainous turn. Mortal Kombat 1 already looks like it's subverting some classic MK franchise tropes, and making Sub-Zero a primary antagonist would certainly make for an exciting twist.
Mortal Kombat 1 will release September 19th for PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X/S.
