-=MK9_Characters=-
Johnny Cage is a Hollywood movie star. Originally entering the Mortal Kombat tournament to display his fighting skills and prove himself to skeptical movie critics and the movie-viewing public, who believed Cage was nothing more than an actor who relied too much on stunts and camera work and not a real proficient fighter. Eventually, Cage becomes one of the most important defenders of Earthrealm. Though he occasionally lapses into his former selfish and materialistic ways, he has always been a brave and loyal warrior for Earthrealm.
Johnny Cage is depicted as the typical American action movie star; bare muscular build with karate pants and his trademark sunglasses. In his debut, his clothing was modeled directly after Jean-Claude Van Damme's character in Bloodsport, consisting of black shorts with a red Kung Fu belt and black shoes. From MKII to MK4, he is depicted with black pants with blue accents.
In Deadly Alliance onwards, his design becomes a fusion of his first and familiar appearances, regaining the black shorts, but with a Cage emblem and blue belt tied at his waist. He goes barefoot with bandage straps. Interestingly, he has dyed his hair to a blond color.
In MK 2011, he has a similar outfit from MKII, but with slight changes: he keeps his sunglasses on all the time, his chest is tattooed with his own name, he has straps in his arms and hands, his pants' accents are white, and his last name is on his belt.
Throughout the various Mortal Kombat games he was involved in, Sektor has grown into an ever more menacing mechanized warrior. He represents the closest thing to evil a cyborg can be, and combines traits of both a stealthy ninja and a ruthless killing machine fit for modern warfare. In contrast to his counterpart Cyrax, Sektor never bothered to rediscover his human side, and may be unable to. As far as this could be said about a cyborg, it is likely that he suffers from a form of insanity. He is capable of independent thought and action like Cyrax and Smoke; however, unlike the other two cyborgs, the only emotion Sektor really displays is anger.
As with his fellow Lin Kuei test subjects, Sektor is a cyborg ninja adorned in red armor plating. After the events of Deadly Alliance, Sektor gave himself a technological upgrade to further his conquest as leader of the cyborg ninja army, the Tekunin.
The redesign changes all except his helmet completely, resembling a battle robot more than a ninja. In the newest Mortal Kombat, Sektor is given an entirely new design with a distinct manga-esque inspired style. The only thing kept from the original is the topside of his helmet featuring loose wires. An alternate costume also features him for the very first time in human form, appearing as an Asian warrior wearing a red and black gi. Unlike his reluctant partner Cyrax, he embraces technological advances, utilizing a jetpack and hidden conventional weaponry.
Liu Kang is also one of the most easily accesible characters in the series, and one of the most powerful warriors of Earthrealm, and has beaten many to prove his valor. Throughout the series, Liu Kang has been gradually portrayed as the main hero, becoming champion after the first Mortal Kombat tournament. The one character who could be considered the closest thing to a nemesis Liu Kang has is Shang Tsung, who has been repeatedly defeated in battle by the Shaolin monk. Because of this, Kang is often considered to be the biggest threat to the plans of Tsung and his emperor, Shao Kahn. He is a member of the White Lotus Society. Kang was killed by the Deadly Alliance of Tsung and Quan Chi.
In the first few entries in the series, Liu Kang was shown to be non-violent, in that his finisher did not explicitly kill the opponent. Starting with Mortal Kombat II, however, all of his finishers involved killing the opponent in one way or another. Due to his zombie state in Mortal Kombat: Deception, he has been shown to kill hundreds of innocent people at a time although it's not really him committing these crimes, but his body itself.
Originally, Skarlet was a character rumored to have been a secret in Mortal Kombat II, though this was speculated to be a coding glitch from Kitana, much like Ermac had supposedly been a color glitch from Scorpion.
Skarlet has red hair with a black stripe tied back in a low ponytail, and her clothing is primarily red and black with minimal white accents. She wears a ninja mask over her face and neck. She also has four kunai strapped onto her right leg, which are featured in her moveset.
The female kombatant known as Skarlet is actually a being made by Shao Kahn himself, due to the fact that he trusted very few people. Shao Kahn created Skarlet by collecting the blood of countless warriors, and infusing them with sorcery. A bloodthirsty warrior, Skarlet gained strength from the blood of her opponents, which meant that she was only released by her master as a last resort. As such, she is typically kept chained until he had a need of her services. During the Mortal Kombat Tournament, he released her on a mission: to uncover Quan Chi's true intentions. Should she discover any plot to destroy her creator, she is tasked with eliminating any such threats.
Kung Lao is a former Shaolin monk and a member of the White Lotus Society. He stands in the shadow of his great ancestor, the Great Kung Lao, but unlike his great ancestor he has no desire to be champion and would rather live a life of peace. As well, he has sought counsel from master Bo' Rai Cho. Of the Earthrealm warriors, Kung Lao is the most outspoken pacifist, although he will not hesitate to severely punish those who attack him, Earthrealm, or his friends. His trademark is his Razor-Rimmed Hat, which he can employ quite powerfully and effectively in combat. Many of his fatalities involve the use of his hat to some extent.
According to MK co-creator John Tobias in a 1995 interview with EGM, Kung Lao's hat was inspired by the 1964 James Bond movie Goldfinger, in which a character named Oddjob threw his derby hat as a weapon.
In spite of her gloomy, gothic appearance, Sindel is benevolent in nature. She rules the realm of Edenia alongside her daughter, Princess Kitana. Sindel's power appears to be more one of an inner, ethereal nature in more than one way. She is a distinctly older and mature character, with flowing grey hair and a regal attitude befitting of her role as Queen of Edenia. She has a natural affinity with aerial magic, as evidenced by her ability to levitate and manipulate sonic waves.
In Mortal Kombat: Deception, creator Ed Boon describes Sindel as a challenging character in more ways than one. Although Sindel is not one of the main characters in the series, she was involved in a big part of the game. This had to do with the fact that her ruling over Edenia, and how it was a target to many rulers like Shao Kahn, Shinnok, and Onaga. Sindel was one of the few evil characters to turn good in the series.
Mileena is a clone of Kitana, created by Shang Tsung's sorcery in his flesh pits for Shao Kahn, using Tarkatan physiology. Vicious and evil, she despises Kitana, and feels that it is her own right to rule Edenia as Princess in her place. Her fondest wish is to kill her "sister", and claim her existence for her own. Something of an opportunist, she will make use of any chance to seize power that comes within her hands.
Originally, as with all MK female ninjas, Mileena wore a tight bodysuit (and mask), with her uniform being colored in shades of magenta. Later on, her costumes changed, some of them rather loose, but usually more revealing than Kitana's. In terms of physical features, she is identical to Kitana except her face, as her visage is twisted by the Tarkatan DNA flowing in her veins, giving her a large mouth rimmed with long, sharp teeth and and orange sharp eyes much like Baraka.
In Deception, she compensates for this by wearing revealing apparel to show off more of her lascivious physique, wearing a veil to keep her face hidden.
In Mortal Kombat (2011), she boasts an even more revealing outfit, much like her alternate costume in Deception and her eyes are Tarkatan-like. In Kitana's part of the Story Mode, Mileena's appearance when Kitana encounters her in Shang Tsung's Flesh Pits showed Mileena with Tarkatan teeth and wearing nothing but bandages on parts of her body giving a half-naked appearance.
Jade is a childhood friend of Princess Kitana. While her motives were unclear, she served Shao Kahn alongside Kitana and Mileena as his personal assassin for most of her life. When Kitana finally turned against Shao Kahn, Jade was ordered to capture her for the Emperor. She ultimately chose to join her friend, and has since loyally assisted Kitana in her quest to free their native realm and restore its original beauty. Now residing in the freed Edenia, Jade is a General of the Edenian Army and continues to dutifully serve Kitana and her mother Sindel.
Jade's confident, self-assured and sassy personality was first thoroughly portrayed in her Girls Gone Wired campaign video, but later expanded upon throughout her story in Mortal Kombat (2011). Always known for her loyalty towards Kitana, she has proven herself to be a dependable, sincere and devoted friend to the princess. She is sarcastic, patronizing and cocky towards her opponents, and incredibly ruthless and towards those she considers a personal enemy (at one point splashing Tarkatan essence on the Edenian traitor, Tanya, and allowing her to be torn to pieces by Baraka's militia).
As a female assassin adorned in a green skin-tight outfit, Jade was initially very similar in appearance to Kitana and Mileena, the only noticeable difference being her darker skin. She appeared first as a hidden, unplayable character in Mortal Kombat II whose moveset were mostly like Kitana's including the use of the fan blade weapon, only a golden instead of silver. To reach Jade, the player would fight a one-player game on the match just before the "?" on the map of the mountain. If the player won at least one round of the match using only the Low Kick button (no punches, High, or Block button presses), they would immediately be warped to Goro's Lair to fight Jade. The player did not have to win the match -- only one round -- to fight Jade.
Princess Kitana is 10,000 years old, but is considered young in her realm of Edenia and only appears to be in her early twenties. Throughout the years, she rose to great importance; first as the loyal stepdaughter of Shao Kahn, then as his enemy, tearing herself away from his grasp and freeing her home realm of Edenia. She also led an army into Outworld to combat any chance of Shao Kahn rising to power again.
She shared a subtle love interest with Mortal Kombat champion Liu Kang, even after he was murdered by the Deadly Alliance. She has aligned herself with the good side, despite her loyalty to Shao Kahn for most of her life, until learning the truth about her past and real family.
Sonya Blade is member of a top United States Special Forces unit, Sonya Blade is a beautiful, stern, tough-as-nails lieutenant. Her impulsiveness is catalyzed by her superior and good friend, Major Jackson "Jax" Briggs. Sonya represents a very emancipated and headstrong woman, but for all her stubbornness and pride, she deeply cares about the lives of her friends and comrades. She has a long-standing enmity with the thug, Kano, who had murdered a former partner of hers, and stands for everything Sonya despises.
It is known that his father, a former member of the Shirai Ryu, forbade his son from joining the clan, as he did not wish for his son to live the life of an assassin. However, Hanzo joined in spite of his father's wishes in order to provide his wife and son with a comfortable life.
Now, Scorpion is a black and yellow garbed, hell-spawned spectre, inexorably seeking vengeance against those responsible for the destruction of his clan and the death of his own family. Despite the fact that Scorpion has previously allied himself with the forces of evil (when promised either means of resurrection on Earth or the chance to inflict his wrath against those who butchered his clan), he is not inherently evil. In fact, Scorpion has, at times, indirectly assisted the game's protagonists, although his reasons for doing so ultimately serve to benefit his own motives.
Fans of the series often perceive Scorpion as the title's foremost anti-hero, due to his tendency to undertake actions which serve to benefit good, albeit in his own gruesome, self-serving and vigilante manner. Scorpion's demeanor, characteristics, persona and self-reliance have all contributed to his popularity, with Scorpion ironically appearing as the most human in nature and choice when compared to the purely virtuous, "good guys" and the diabolically evil, "bad guys". Although Scorpion is featured alongside the forces of evil in the opening scene of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, he remains neutral, due to his fierce hatred of Quan Chi.
When masked, Scorpion appears human, although this is merely an illusion. When revealing his true self, only Scorpion's skull remains, which sometimes appears on fire. Scorpion's most popular and recognized skill is his famous spear attack, which is used to draw an opponent toward him. This attack will also stun the opponent for a short amount of time. Scorpion will shout, "Get over here!" or "Come here!", while executing this technique.
Shao Kahn the Konqueror is represented as the embodiment of evil. In many respects, he resembles a large Asian warrior, and is well known amongst the roster of Mortal Kombat Kombatants for his godlike strength which rivals that of Raiden, the God of Thunder. He is also known for his extreme callousness, brutality, ferocity in battle, and his fondness of personal executions, though he has occasionally spared the lives of his subordinates, if they prove their worth, and his victims such as Sindel and Kitana, raising the latter like his own daughter and treating the former like his own wife. However, his true power that has served him well and allowed him to rise above the image of a mere warlord is his high intelligence and profound knowledge of the black arts. Like his subordinate Shang Tsung, he has the power to consume other souls.
Perhaps Shao Kahn’s greatest strength lies in his ability to work towards his goals with great tenacity and his ability to organize. However, his greatest weakness is his arrogance and overconfidence. Shao Kahn has often underestimated mankind, and therefore tried to conquer Earthrealm many times, with or without a queen (consort), to no success.
Shao Kahn's appearance is one of the few non-ninja characters whom has stayed consistent throughout the years. He is easily recognizable by his intimidating stature, usually dwarfing other humanoid fighters by a couple feet or so. He is almost never seen without his trademark warlord helmet which features a skull-like design with a long crest at the forehead. His attire usually consists of spiked shoulder pads, a skull medallion embedded in two intersecting straps, and similar designed kneepads with tabi. When his helmet is removed, he appears to be bald with a slightly demonic face featuring red eyes and small spikes protruding from his head.
Smoke debuted in Mortal Kombat II as a hidden character to fight against. He was often spotted in the Living Forest stage in which he (along with Jade) peeked out of the trees. Like Reptile when he made his first appearance, he was simply a palette-swap of Scorpion with puffs of smoke surrounding him, but would move extremely fast. He would appear randomly before matches, offering clues that would enable the player to fight him, as Reptile had in the original Mortal Kombat.
Smoke would not have his own storyline until he was featured in Mortal Kombat 3, where he was once again a hidden character, but accessible to players with the use of a code. In this appearance, he would be a tortured, human soul trapped in the body of a cyborg. His most defining feature is the fact that he constantly seems to emit a smoke or vapor. This, combined with his power to teleport and turn invisible, once made him one of the Lin Kuei's top assassins.
In Mortal Kombat (2011), its revealed that he has long, flowing, ghostly white hair, which, while blown back in renders and artwork, covers his face in game.
Reincarnated in the darkest of all realms, the Netherrealm, Noob Saibot is the very incarnation of evil. Before becoming a wraith, he was once Sub-Zero, an assassin among the most powerful of Lin Kuei. As Sub-Zero's name, clothes, and powers would suggest, his character was icy and distant. In all aspects, he was a cold-blooded and violent assassin absolutely dedicated to his clan, the Lin Kuei. While essentially neutral, his soul had become dark and corrupted from years of violence and remorseless killing. Before his story is revealed to the player, the player can make an educated guess on who he was. He disappears after MK, and reappears in MKII reborn as Noob Saibot.
When he died in the first Mortal Kombat tournament at the hands of Scorpion, his soul, corrupted by years of violence, descended to the Netherrealm's Fifth Plane. The evil within his soul was released, stripping him of pride, compassion, and everything else "human." He wishes not only to remain in the Netherrealm, but to conquer and rule it. Though he has been seen in the service of conquerors such as Shinnok and Shao Kahn, his ultimate allegiance is himself.