The Mortal Kombat franchise has kept one foot in the past while keeping another in the present to great success in recent years. After rebooting the series with 2011's Mortal Kombat, NetherRealm Studios has developed a new canon for the series inspired by some of the best aspects of previous titles. The developer has also used this reboot to introduce bold new storylines and characters, reaching a crescendo with the time travel featured in Mortal Kombat 11. All eyes are on what's next for the franchise in Mortal Kombat 12, and the answer could come in the form of a powerful villain from MK's past.
The Mortal Kombat reboot saw developer NetherRealm reintroduce some of the franchise's greatest villains, with Shang Tsung and Shao Khan at the center of MK9, and Quan Chi and Shinnok serving as the main antagonists of MKX. Mortal Kombat 11 broke this trend by introducing the time-bending Kronika, but Mortal Kombat 12 could be an opportunity to bring back another element of MK's past, by reintroducing Onaga from the divisive Mortal Kombat: Deception. The Dragon King has been absent from the series for some time, but MK12 could be the perfect stage for him to reassert his power over MK's heroes.
Onaga's Role in Mortal Kombat: Deception Explained
Onaga served as the primary antagonist throughout all of Mortal Kombat: Deception. The game gets its subtitle from the Dragon King, as Onaga manipulates key Mortal Kombat characters to reclaim his throne as emperor of Outworld and become all-powerful. Deception's story mode sees Shujinko collecting the Kamidogu, relics that contain the power of each Mortal Kombat realm. While Shujinko believes he's doing so in order to return the Kamidogu to the Elder Gods, he is actually bringing them right to Onaga, as the Dragon King used an avatar named Damashi to deceive Shujinko into this task.
With the Kamidogu in his possession, Onaga seeks out Shinnok's amulet, so he can use all of these relics to merge the realms into Outworld. This brings players to the events of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, as Raiden attempts to defeat Quan Chi and Shang Tsung. When Onaga makes his appearance during this battle, all three fighters attempt to combine their strength against Onaga to no avail. Onaga succeeds in collecting Shinnok's amulet, and the kombatants that survived the events of Deadly Alliance, including Scorpion and Sub-Zero, must fight Onaga and his forces for the sake of the realms.
How Mortal Kombat 12 Could Use Onaga
The story that MK was building with Deception fell apart with Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, but Mortal Kombat 12 is an opportunity to right those wrongs. MK9 showed Onaga in Raiden's vision of previous games, and MK11 makes frequent reference to him in pre-fight banter between certain characters. MK12 could bring Onaga into the fold once again by taking inspiration from Deception, having him seek out the Kamidogu in order to merge the realms. It could even find inspiration in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by framing Onaga's hunt for the Kamidogu similarly to Thanos' hunt for the Infinity Stones.
Onaga was built up as the villain to beat all villains in Mortal Kombat: Deception, but the story Midway pursued didn't completely capitalize on that potential. Now that Mortal Kombat is well into its reboot, NetherRealm has an opportunity to flesh out Onaga and demonstrate his power beyond that of previous games. Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon has already been vocal about remasters of old Mortal Kombat games, and reintroducing Onaga with Mortal Kombat 12 could be the one thing that fully ties today's Mortal Kombat to the series' past.
Mortal Kombat 12 is currently in development.