The 10 BIGGEST Changes in Mortal Kombat 1
Transcript
00:00 Welcome to Mojo Plays and today we're taking a look at the 10 most drastic changes in Mortal
00:05 Kombat 1.
00:17 Liu Kang and Raiden
00:25 For decades we saw the Elder God and Monk hold a beautiful and respectful relationship
00:30 as mentor and apprentice.
00:33 Though Raiden does relinquish his powers to Liu Kang at the end of MK11, it left us wondering
00:38 what would become of Raiden.
00:39 Well, in Liu Kang's new timeline, we see a simple reverse of the roles.
00:44 The Monk is now the mentor while the Elder God is now the apprentice.
00:48 Interestingly enough, both exchange their character traits and attitudes too.
00:53 On top of that, Raiden proves his strength and becomes the winner of the tournament,
00:57 just as Liu Kang did in the original.
00:59 Speaking of which...
01:08 The Rules of Mortal Kombat
01:23 Previous timelines depicted the tournament as a test for survival.
01:27 Warriors from across six realms, Earthrealm, Outworld, Chaos Realm, Order Realm, Netherrealm,
01:32 and Edenia, would fight for their realm's protection.
01:35 Those defeated would not only lose their lives, but also risk their realms in getting conquered.
01:41 In Liu Kang's timeline in MK1, the tournament is completely rewritten.
01:45 Rather than a fight for survival, the tournament is now a fun joust between Earthrealm and
01:50 Outworld, formed by Liu Kang and former Outworld ruler King Jared.
01:55 And despite the game's title, Liu Kang quickly assures Raiden that no one has died in a tournament.
02:04 The Tarkat
02:21 In MK1, we learn that Outworld is having a bit of a crisis.
02:24 Tarkat has begun spreading, turning people into cannibalistic, bloodthirsty monsters.
02:30 If you never played previous MK games or didn't pay attention to the story at the time, Tarkat
02:35 was never a thing.
02:37 Instead, Baraka and his folks were Tarkat-en, outworlders who served as soldiers for Shao
02:42 Kahn and were fused from Outworld and Netherrealm races.
02:47 But after the first timeline reset in MKX, Baraka implies that Shao Kahn had conquered
02:52 his realm.
02:53 Whether that means he and his people are from one of the aforementioned realms or a completely
02:57 different realm was never clarified prior to MK1's reset.
03:11 Shao Kahn
03:22 While we're on the subject of Shao Kahn, MK1 provides an interesting window into the
03:26 Outworld Emperor in a life where he never held the throne.
03:30 Honestly, we were surprised Liu Kang even allowed him in the new era at all.
03:35 This time he is simply a general, serving under Sindel with Reiko as his right hand
03:40 man.
03:41 Of course, we quickly learn that just because he's had a change in job title, that does
03:45 not mean he is completely purged of any evil intent.
04:02 Sindel
04:10 We have always known Sindel as the wife of King Jared, mother of Kitana, and the queen
04:15 that would marry Shao Kahn against her will, get killed, revived, and then brainwashed
04:19 into being evil.
04:21 MK1 gives her a slightly better life as the ruler of Outworld, and she is shown to be
04:26 a just and fair queen.
04:28 As we mentioned earlier, not all is right as the Tarkat disease runs rampant and Shao
04:34 Kahn is conspiring against her.
04:48 Havok
04:56 We honestly weren't expecting Havok to get such a massive rewrite, let alone allowed
05:00 into Liu Kang's new timeline.
05:02 This dude was almost pure evil during his time as a Chaos Realm resident.
05:07 Everywhere he went, he wanted madness to take over, send people into a frenzy, and begin
05:11 attacking anything and everything around.
05:14 But in MK1, that's all done away.
05:17 Well, at least until the next game if that mid-credits scene is anything to go by.
05:22 Havok is no longer a denizen of Chaos Realm, but a disgruntled citizen of Sado, aka Order
05:28 Realm.
05:38 Li Mei
05:46 The older MK games gave Li Mei drastically different roles before MK1.
05:51 Before the first reset, she and her people were captured and forced to build Shang Tsung's
05:55 palace.
05:56 Li Mei had entered the tournament in hopes of freeing her people before getting killed
06:00 off in the events of Armageddon.
06:02 She would appear in the second timeline in MKX, and give intel to special forces as to
06:07 the power Mileena held with Shinnok's amulet.
06:11 MK1 makes her role more significant as she leads the Royal Guard of Outworld, the Umgadi.
06:17 Unfortunately, one mistake that resulted in King Jared's death has painted a target
06:22 on her back.
06:34 Johnny Cage
06:42 Johnny Cage, action movie superstar from Hollywood.
06:46 That's the Johnny we've known for decades, the same smarmy, smack-talking ass-kicker
06:51 since 1992.
06:52 Well, the Johnny we see in MK1 is almost nothing like the original.
06:57 Yes, he does spit quips and dumb movie references and views himself as the best actor in Hollywood.
07:03 However, he is now washed up, having lived his golden years and refusing to accept that
07:07 he is in a financial crisis.
07:10 Also he's Jean-Claude Van Damme.
07:16 The 3D Era Storylines
07:31 Now it was interesting to see the second timeline completely ignore the events of Deadly Alliance,
07:36 Deception, and Armageddon, for the most part.
07:40 Not only does MK1 bring back a ton of favorites from those games like Natara, Lee May, Havoc,
07:45 and Reiko, it does attempt to mash all three into a single story.
07:49 You have the deadly alliance between Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, the deception of a mysterious
07:54 benefactor known as Dimash, and a climactic battle on a massive pyramid.
08:00 But does this all lead to yet another timeline reset?
08:08 Timeline Rules
08:09 Does it lead to another timeline reset?
08:21 Yes and no.
08:23 Rather than give us a brand new, original story with characters in completely different
08:27 rules with different motives and everything, MK1 wedged in a whole new set of rules to
08:32 its world.
08:33 This is why you just don't do time travel.
08:35 Apparently, Kronika's defeat in MK11 rippled what was once a single timeline into a litany
08:41 of timelines, each one seeing a different character taking Kronika's place and birthing
08:46 new mashups of various characters.
08:49 In other words, everyone is a titan, everyone can time travel, no one truly dies, and the
08:54 story will never end.
09:08 Which change surprised you the most?
09:10 Let us know down in the comments and be sure to subscribe to Mojo Plays for more Mortal
09:14 Kombat videos.
09:24 Thanks for watching!