Maybe Johnny is just making comments, but did MLK just say something in Mortal Kombat 1?
Mortal Kombat 1 is now in the hands of many people, so the long-awaited brutal battle can finally begin. Because of the new world, there are a lot of references and easter eggs to the previous games in the next story in the series. Some familiar characters will be back, but they will be in different groups and have different relationships. You might even find connections to well-known movies.
Mortal Kombat 1 has a lot of Easter eggs in the Kampaign area alone, thanks in large part to Johnny Cage’s character. Some might be harder to find and need your full attention to catch, which could be hard in battle. You might have missed these.
Scorpion, Cyrax, And Sektor’s Classic Fatality References
There are a lot of new, extremely bloody ways for characters to die in Mortal Kombat 1, but some old favorites are also back from Mortal Kombat 3 and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, with some new twists, more blood, and, of course, better graphics. Those were the deaths of Scorpion’s second opponent and Kameo fighters Cyrax and Sektor.
When Scorpion was defeated in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, a big wave of his copies would appear on the screen and surround the player until the screen went black. This time, though, only three clones appear, and they help kill the person until MK1 Scorpion finishes the job with a kick that goes through the back of the skeleton.
When Cyrax dies, a bunch of bombs explode from his cyborg suit and destroy Earth. Sektor, on the other hand, has a compactor that he can use to crush the character. Both of these deaths are back, but they look very different this time.
Mortal Kombat 1 Still Keeps It Toasty!
Dan Forden is the sound director for Mortal Kombat. After landing a clean uppercut, his voice and sometimes even face would show up at the bottom of the arcade cabinet screens, saying “Toasty!” in a falsetto voice. Even though Mortal Kombat 1 takes place in a different time period, it still has Toasty!!! in more than one place.
In Johnny’s second death, he drags an opponent by their intestines while driving the Lamborghini. As the engine starts up and flames come out of the tailpipe, you can hear Forden’s “Toasty!” If you play the game in Invasion Mode, the Klue for the ‘Pure Chaos’ node in Sun Do Festival says “Toasty!!!” with three extra exclamation points to make it more fun. You know what to do if you know this Easter egg.
Ashrah’s Wonder Woman References
Ashrah is a demon with black eyes and wings that look like angels. She hasn’t been playable in a fighter since Mortal Kombat: Armageddon in 2006, but she’s back with a new look and voice actor. Susan Eisenberg voices Ashrah. Eisenberg is best known for playing Wonder Woman in many cartoon shows, movies, and video games, including NetherRealm’s Injustice series.
This was also talked about a lot by the production team. For one of her deaths, Ashrah’s sword changes into a bright gold lasso that looks like Princess Diana’s Lasso of Truth, but instead of getting the truth, it cuts off a character’s body parts. As well, one of Johnny’s words to introduce himself to Ashrah is, “You are truly a wonder, woman.”
Smoke’s Gear References Watchmen
When Johnny says things in Mortal Kombat 1, he makes a lot of connections to other games. Here’s another DC reference from a different fighter in the game. Smoke’s customizable gear lets him switch out masks, just like other masked characters. The mask called “Fogged In” is a clear reference to Rorschach’s character in Watchmen.
Alan Moore wrote the DC comic book Watchmen, which is a darker, noir-style look at a superhero team. It was made into a movie by Zack Snyder and then into an HBO series. This mask is not made of metal like the rest of the gear. Instead, it has a white cloth sewn inside to cover it, and there are spots of ink all over it. It looks exactly like Rorschach’s mask, even though it lacks the precision of the ink separating.
Johnny’s MK11 Best Actor Award Decorates His New Home
Johnny Cage’s Excellence Award for Best Actor, which was like an Oscar, was used as a tool in Mortal Kombat 11 to kill people. He used it to do some pretty horrible hits and stabs, but the trophy has been cleaned up and put away. It’s now sitting on a shelf in Johnny’s Mortal Kombat 1 house, just like it should have been from the beginning.
To get to the other side of the room, past the pool and stairs, you can punch, combo, and kick your opponent. There is a wooden shelf above the fireplace that goes all the way around the wall. One of the awards is a statuette that looks just like Johnny’s in MK11 in terms of carving, color, and shape of the figure.
Indiana Jones And Steven Spielberg References
The first part of Chapter 2 in Mortal Kombat 1 is all about Indiana Jones and Steven Spielberg, who directed the movie series. In his normal environment, Johnny Cage is on the set of an action-adventure movie called Temple of Katara Vala (Temple of Doom, anyone?). He’s wearing his trademark hat, explorer’s bag, leather jacket, and pants.
And if that wasn’t obvious enough, the director sitting in the chair with the WB studios badge is named Steven, and you can see his name on the clapperboard. The enemies you fight are also named Kalima, which comes from a phrase you say in Temple of Doom. When Raiden fires his lightning in Chapter 3, Johnny also yells, “Ark of the Covenant!”
Aliens Ellen Ripley Reference
You’ll learn that Johnny Cage can’t help but make movie comparisons. Because he loves and works in Hollywood so much, he probably knows all the movies from the beginning to the present. He also drops one for James Cameron’s 1986 sequel to Alien, when Ripley is facing the Queen inside the Power Loader. This is a great mech design to think about for your Armored Core 6 character.
That’s what MK1 is talking about when Kenshi says, “Get away from her,” and Johnny responds, “You bitch.” And Kung Lao doesn’t like that kind of talk. Johnny tries to explain that it’s from a movie, even bringing up Sigourney Weaver’s character Ellen Ripley because that’s exactly what she says to the Queen in Aliens.
Jennifer’s Body Reference
The voice actress Megan Fox plays the vampire fighter Nitara, who eats her prey’s blood. This is obviously a reference to her role as the title character in the 2009 horror movie Jennifer’s Body, who also eats her male friends. It’s put well in her introduction with Kung Lao.
Kung Lao asks Nitara, “What did you do with Jen’s body?” as they lock arms before the fight. Nicara tells him that he will never see her body again. So, it looks like we know what happened to Jennifer after the movie, or it could also be a nod to MK Conquest. In Nitara’s introduction to Johnny, he calls vampires “foxes,” which is an even more meta and clear reference to Megan Fox’s name.
Johnny’s Boots Weren’t Made For Walking, But Nancy Sinatra’s Are
In Chapter 4, Johnny Cage, Kenshi, and Kung Lao are sent across the desert to find the bad guy Shang Tsung. However, Johnny’s shoes don’t seem to be right for the environment. He makes fun of how long their trip is and then says, “These boots weren’t made for walking.”
This is, of course, another reference to pop culture from Johnny. This time it’s a song instead of a movie. The line from Nancy Sinatra’s song “These boots are made for walking, and that’s just what they’ll do” could not be more different from his feet killing him. It looks like they walked all over Johnny Cage today.
Shujinko’s Kill Bill Fatality
The death of the Kameo character Shujinko in Mortal Kombat 1 makes a reference to a movie that goes beyond a quote. Quentin Tarantino might like this. When Uma Thurman’s character, The Bride, does this move in self-defense to kill her mentor Bill in the second book, it’s a clear reference to that move. Start with your fingers in a certain way for this method, which is called the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart.
The character played by Shujinko has a little extra power in his dangerous move, as it sends out beams every time it hits something. Things go in the same direction as Bill’s reaction, with him coughing up some blood. But then things take a turn when the heart explodes from the chest!
Johnny Cage Foreshadowing
One more place you might see a table with three picture frames is in Johnny Cage’s house stage, when you throw Kenshi to that side of the room near the end of Chapter 2. The bigger black-and-white picture on the far left is of Johnny’s ex-wife Cris. The picture in the middle, on the other hand, is of Johnny wearing a Shaolin Monk uniform and putting his hands on top of each other.
Liu Kang shows up right after Johnny and Kenshi’s fight to ask them to train for the competition. After a short time, Johnny puts on the yellow monk fabric on the Wu Shi Academy grounds. In a fighting game, that’s a smart way to use the background to hint at a story.
A Selfie Of MK11’s Younger And Older Kano
The first fight in the story is a friendly one that takes place in Madam Bo’s business. In the background, there’s an Easter egg with Kano’s old character designs. In Mortal Kombat 11, Kano came in two different versions: one younger and one older with a beard and goatee. A picture of the two of them taking a selfie is stuck on a building in Madame Bo’s.
The picture shows up as a faded black-and-white picture right below a painting of Madame Bo on the wall. This picture makes it look like Hollywood stars have eaten here before, so maybe they went to Madame Bo’s in a different time.
Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Film References And Bloodsport Johnny Cage Model
Not only does Megan Fox play a famous actress in MK1, but Jean-Claude Van Damme plays a famous action movie star and martial artist in a role that looks a lot like Johnny Cage. The way this Johnny looks is a lot like Van Damme’s Bloodsport character, Frank Dux, who competes in a martial arts contest in Hong Kong. Wow, what a moment of completion!
There are details like Johnny’s black shorts, black belt, and the red garland around his waist that finish off the Bloodsport look. The model is naked, showing off her muscles and abs.
In his intros, Van Damme’s Cage also talks about his other movies. For example, he says, “I’ve played universal soldiers,” apologizes to Time Cop for being late, and says, “Pardon me, Time Cop!” He also talks about Kickboxer and Street Fighter, saying, “I’ll play a kickboxer, you a streetfighter.”
MK11 Johnny In New Johnny’s Phone Gallery
This is a cute little Easter egg, but it’s also easy to miss because it’s not very long. When Johnny pulls out his phone to record Raiden’s first use of his lightning skills, the interface has the usual icons and settings, plus some that Johnny has changed to suit his tastes, like the sunglass slider. On the other hand, you might see MK11 Johnny’s selfie as the most current picture on the phone.
The bottom right corner of the screen has a buff red icon for taking a picture. Next to it is a picture of Johnny wearing the same shades and having his head in the same pose as his Mortal Kombat 11 costume. That’s just one more fun way that the old timeline keeps showing up in the story.
Liu Kang’s MLK Quote
They even used the great Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s words in Mortal Kombat 1, though they were changed a bit to fit better with the story of the game. Although MLK said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” Liu Kang changed it in his speech to say, “across all the timelines, the arc of history bends toward justice.”
Shang Tsung doesn’t believe Liu Kang’s claim that the fight will go their way. Kang, on the other hand, is stubborn and is sure that they will win for this very reason. that the timelines tend to work themselves out in the end.
Liu Kang And Raiden Use The Same Hero Line In Opposite Timelines
People who have been reading the story for a while may have seen this one right away. When Mortal Kombat 2011 was set in a different time, Raiden told Liu Kang, “He [Johnny] is a hero, though he may not yet know it.” In Mortal Kombat 1‘s new storyline, the roles are switched around. It’s Liu Kang answering Raiden, and he feels the same way about Johnny.
You can question Liu Kang’s decision because of Johnny’s behavior, but seeing the exact exchange word-for-word in the new timeline is perfect. This one has probably caught the eyes of a lot of Drift Boss fans.
Armageddon
With the events in the last part, NetherRealm likely gives Mortal Kombat one of the most epic endings ever. Armageddon is the name of the movie where Liu Kang and all the other forms of characters from different rosters and timelines fight Shang Tsung and Quan Chi’s evil multiverse enemies at the Pyramid of Argus.
The name of the chapter, the action scene, and the place where it takes place are all big homages to the cutscene at those same steps in the 2006 PS2 game Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. But that was the beginning, and this is the end. It’s another way to show how dates are changed by contrasting them.