It’s clear to anyone paying attention that the team at NetherRealm Studios is having the time of their lives getting ready for the launch of Mortal Kombat 1. The game is not just one of the most-anticipated games of 2023, but people have already been blown away by what has been shown for the title. The graphics look better than ever, and the new timeline offers new stories, opportunities, and options for what can be done in combat. An example is the Kameo fighters, who are “assistants” to the main character you pick but aren’t part of the main roster.
To that end, the playable roster is full of characters we know, but we only know a few who are confirmed. For example, we know we’ll see Liu Kang, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Kitana, Milenna, Kenshi, Johnny Cage, and a few others. But the team at NetherRealm Studios is already teasing a new trailer koming soon, unleashing some new playable characters. The first tease came on Saturday via studio head and series co-creator Ed Boon:
For those of you who aren’t music fans, that’s a reference to a song from the late great singer Prince. As franchise fans know, the character Rain was made in reference to that performer, complete with his “standard color” being purple to honor the song “Purple Rain.”
The next day, the Community Manager for Mortal Kombat 1 posted a quote tweet about the new trailer and said it would “melt faces”:
Many agree that this is likely a reference to the character Reptile, who indeed can melt faces off.
Even if you’re not a fan of these new characters, it’s important to understand that this game is resetting quite a bit, and that means we’ll likely see more klassic characters as a reference to the original games in addition to some new faces with the timeline we’re now in.
That is important to state because, through Liu Kang, everyone’s histories are different than before. For example, we know that Scorpion and Sub-Zero are now truly brothers, even if they still have different ideas on handling things. Furthermore, Kitanna and Milenna are twin sisters in the new timeline, with the latter being a little older and the rightful heir to Outworld.
So even if Rain and Reptile are in the new game, their histories could vastly differ from what we’ve known before. That makes it exciting to see who they are and who else might be getting a big change later.
