The History of Mortal Kombat, Chapter 2: Kings and Emperors, Gods and Prophecies

[Charybdis]

.

 

[Swindle]

My “like “ is for Charybdis’ excellent work consolidating this history.
That said, this is where the MK lore totally loses me. I find that this story direction destroys the original essence of what MK is, and I hope that MK11 find a new way to bring this story around.

 

[Marlow]

Nice job on the series. I normally roll my eyes at MK "lore" because it just sounds like hokey ninja mumbo jumbo to me, but the write ups are fun to read.

 

[TackyHaddock]

Is this all from in game content?

 

[Charybdis]

My “like “ is for Charybdis’ excellent work consolidating this history.
That said, this is where the MK lore totally loses me. I find that this story direction destroys the original essence of what MK is, and I hope that MK11 find a new way to bring this story around.

Really appreciate that @Swindle very nice of you to say. I'm not gonna lie, this isn't my favourite aspect of the lore either but I wanted this to be a complete, thorough history. When we get to MKM and MK1, I find it really ramps up

Nice job on the series. I normally roll my eyes at MK "lore" because it just sounds like hokey ninja mumbo jumbo to me, but the write ups are fun to read.

This is exactly what I wanted to achieve with this series. I love the lore passionately but I've found a lot of it to be written either badly (no offence), done in ubiquitous Youtube videos (a format I've never seen done well outside of Oculus Imperia for 40K) or written with an expectation of prior knowledge. Plus, it can be a monolithic thing to get into (the entirety of my write ups total over 30000 words). So I wanted to make this accessible, available and most importantly enjoyable for people to read. I've always been decent at writing so I thought I'd use that. Hopefully in two months you won't find it quite so hokey

Is this all from in game content?

The vast majority, yes. I consider in game content and in game content only the 'primary sources', the lore around which we have to fit everything else. Other stuff, like endings or strategy guides etc, I consider secondary. A lot of my complaints with other MK lore repositories, naming no names, is they'll recite things that cannot be traced to the a source. A particular example that stands out to me is a Youtube channel, I can't remember which, that claimed Tremor was intended to be in MK3. He wasn't. Now, my series isn't a metahistory, it's an in-universe history, but I promise that everything in my series can be verified in the games (I hope haha).

I'd love to give direct citations but I'm afraid I actually wrote all of this in the lead up to E3, expecting MK11 to be revealed there. Thus, because I do the endless citations for articles to publish in my real life and it sucks dick, I can't point you to the exact location I've found things. As I noted in the first chapter regarding my sources:

We don’t have sources beyond tweets or hints or lines of dialogue in Konquest for most things, so I’ll cover by saying something like “according to legend”. This essentially means, “this is true I just can’t back it up in game”. Where we have conflicting information, I’ll mention both. I’ll also take some very minor dramatic liberties and knit together things which aren’t necessarily done so explicitly or provide a little helpful flavour text but nothing that in anyway affects the story.

The games cover their respective stories but a huge amount of the lore comes from Konquest snippets in Deception and Deadly Alliance or Krypt Descriptions. As such, it takes some divining to get through it. For instance, in the first chapter, I noted that Kahn is likely the god of war. That can't be backed up in game but it's an observation (that I don't claim solely to be my own, I've others like Razor and TMK make it too) that Shao is canonically a former Outworld Protector God, that Outworld is a realm of war and that Shao is canonically noted to draw power from battle.

But aside from stuff like that, which I hope I always signpost in the text, it's all confirmed, inescapable canon. This will cause an issue in the next chapter or two, when MK9 just retconned some things thousands of years before MK1, which is an impossibility that can only be explained away through the multiverse theory.

 

[MKF30]

I'm not sure I'd say MK 9 retconned things thousands of years before MK time period, but just updated, dived more into them. For example, Raiden clearly confirms Mythologies happened the same exact way prior to MK 1 which makes sense since he only effected time from MK 1 period onward.

 

[Onilordasmodeus]

@Charybdis Great Write up! I liked this write up more than the last one really. I forgot how much lore there was for Onaga, and the history of Outworld. I think you hit on everything, even down to the smallest details. Amazing work!

 

[Lt. Boxy Angelman]

This is amazing, Char. I've literally always wanted a history lesson about Onaga and the all the way back history of Outworld before the Shao Kahn Administration.

That being said...whoever wrote this absurd story of how Argus and Delia decided to handle the prophecy should have stayed in school. Forever.

 

[mattteo]

Wait...soo, you end the story without Daegon waking up and killing his father? I thought the canon says "he woke up shortly after being entombed" cause Shao Kahn and Edenia are already at War when Argus and Delia are talking in that balcony scene and Taven recalls during the konquest mode, after he frees Caro, that his family and the dragons have been pushing back Shao Kahn for years.

And I can't see that War going on for very long after Argus dies (although it's true that Rain's bio has him orphaned at the start of it it and by the time he is a young adult there still is a Edenian Resistance, barely, but by now I expect Rain is already a young adult and the War is in its final days). Shinnok attacking Earthrealm is after Shao Kahn takes Edenia, my opinion. It could coincide with the legend of the Great Flood of Noah, roughly 10k years ago (8000 BC by modern dating).

Awesome take on the Sin Kiang story, I haven't played much Special Forces so didn't really know much about that one, it sounds really good and it gives evidence that Onaga was not a bad ruler, as these Kings below him and their city were said to have been prosperous and content with him.

 

[Onilordasmodeus]

Wait...soo, you end the story without Daegon waking up and killing his father? I thought the canon says "he woke up shortly after being entombed" cause Shao Kahn and Edenia are already at War when Argus and Delia are talking in that balcony scene and Taven recalls during the konquest mode, after he frees Caro, that his family and the dragons have been pushing back Shao Kahn for years.

Daegon wakes up directly after the end of the events in this write up. Caro wakes him up after he looses psychic contact with Blaze when Blaze is captured and enslaved by Onaga priests.

 

[mattteo]

Daegon wakes up directly after the end of the events in this write up. Caro wakes him up after he looses psychic contact with Blaze when Blaze is captured and enslaved by Onaga priests.

Yes. Either this, but this would mean that the other dragon, Orin, has been a REAAALLLY patient dragon even though he lost the psychic contact with Blaze 10k years ago. Or...Shinnok and Daegon had a father-son kind of relation and a mental connection or Shinnok slipped him some kind of tracker so he could find his burial location and trick Caro into losing contact with Blaze and wake him up.

This would make the Shao Kahn assault on King Jerrod's forces (together with Rain's betrayal of the Edenian Resistance) and the Shinnok assault on Earthrealm rather simulaneous. It would make a heck of a preques series!

 

[Onilordasmodeus]

Yes. Either this, but this would mean that the other dragon, Orin, has been a REAAALLLY patient dragon even though he lost the psychic contact with Blaze 10k years ago.

Yes, Orin is hella patient. I mean, it was his job to wait. Caro f***** up.

Or...Shinnok and Daegon had a father-son kind of relation and a mental connection...

Shinnok and Daegon didn't have a father son relationship (as far as I know), it was a quid-pro-quo scenario. Daegon wanted the power his father "promised" him, and Shinnok wanted to use Daegon to get that power as well. Shinnok's plan in MKA was like a fail safe. A back up plan to get revenge on the EGs.

...or Shinnok slipped him some kind of tracker so he could find his burial location and trick Caro into losing contact with Blaze and wake him up.

Shinnok played no part in Caro's mistake according to the current lore.

This would make the Shao Kahn assault on King Jerrod's forces (together with Rain's betrayal of the Edenian Resistance) and the Shinnok assault on Earthrealm rather simulaneous. It would make a heck of a preques series!

I always took it that Shinnok tried to take Earthrealm before Edenia fell, but yeah, it could have been after; or even simultaneously... WAIT! No it couldn't!

@Charybdis what is your take, and the take of people you've talked, about this?

If Shinnok and Raiden's war was the cause of what killed the dinosaurs (I assume this as MK4's intro talks about the death of an entire civilization, and we know that civilization is Reptile's people), and in the real world dinos lived 65 Million years ago, Shinnok's fall happened WAAAAY before Edenia fell (10k or so years ago).

Thing is though, the MK4 intro says that Shinnok invaded "thousands of years ago" so there is a lot of wiggle room there. And more over, the intro only says that Raiden killed "an entire civilization," and the Saurian people (Reptile's people) could have survived the meteor that killed the dinos millions of years ago, and only had to run off to Zaterra after Raiden and Shinnok's battle "plunged the Earth into centuries of darkness".

IDK. Like I said, I always took I that it was Shinnok and Raiden who killed the dinosaurs, so I always took it that their battle happened millions of years before most other things, and that is also when Zattera was populated by Reptile's people.

 

[Madog32]

dinosaurs???

I never knew much about the MK lore at all, but now I'm really confused

 

[Onilordasmodeus]

dinosaurs???

I never knew much about the MK lore at all, but now I'm really confused

Reptile's people, the Saurians, descended from the Dino's, and that was that civilization that was destroyed by Raiden and Shinnok's war. I always assumed that their battle happened millions of years ago, but it really could have only happened "thousands" of years ago.

 

[Madog32]

Reptile's people, the Saurians, descended from the Dino's, and that was that civilization that was destroyed by Raiden and Shinnok's war. I always assumed that their battle happen millions of years ago, but is really could have only happened "thousands" of years ago.

huh. thanks! I always just assumed reptile was from Outworld

 

[Charybdis]

This'll be covered next week but because we can date Shinnoks fall to a short tine after Kahn conquers Edenia thanks to Armageddon and we know Kitana is 10000 years old, the war between Shinnok and Raiden didnt wipe out the dinosaurs but is the cause of the 'Great Flood' myths which happen approximately 10-8000 years ago in almost all human mythology.

It also destroyed the Saurian civilization and forced them to flee to Zaterra when they had been tbe dominant species on Earth

 

[Onilordasmodeus]

huh. thanks! I always just assumed reptile was from Outworld

Reptile (technically) you could say is from Outworld, but his race originated on Earth.

His people fled Earth to Zattera after Shinnok's invasion, and then Shao Kahn took over that realm and merged it with Outworld. I think Reptile was a hatchling back then, but that may just be my own head-canon.

You can look at Reptile's MKX ending where it is revealed that there may be a bunch of Saurians still living on Earth.

 

[mattteo]

Now that that's straigthened out (it was the sauriand who were "destroyed", not the dinosaurs), I'd really like to see how you answer this question in your next chapter: how old was Kitana when Shao Kahn atacked?? This is one of the greatest mysteries, cause in the MK Legacy series they made her an infant and that's the image most people have of her. But that's non-canon and has a lot of flaws in it (like Shang Tsung being there 10k years ago when his bio says he's from medieval Earth).

In the old timeline and especially in John Tobias' canon, Kitana was old enough (teenish maybe or even young adult) when Shao Kahn attacked Edenia. The approved comic books by John Tobias (though they were non-canon too) presented Kitana grown up. In-game there is only a pic of young girl Kitana and Sindel with Shao Kahn's Outworld looming over Edenia, so that could be at the start or ending of the Edenian War (which we know lasted for some years cause of Rain's vignette).

So Kitana definitely knew the truth about her parents and could have even opposed Shao Kahn to a certain degree.

A logical explanation was given in Shaolin Monks, where Kitana is put under a spell to forget the reality of her life, which could even explain her unknowing nature and naivity in the MK9 reboot. We know Shao Kahn is a master sorcerer even surpassing Shang Tsung, so wanted to brainwash Kitana every hundreds of years or so in these last 10k years wouldn't be surprising. Surely she must have met Raiden some time in these thousands of years and she had learned about her past, but every time she was reduced back to the Shao Kahn loving daughter.

In Mortal Kombat Defenders of the Realm, Kitana was a teenager in King Jerrod's court by the time Shao Kahn attacked.

http://rq87.flyingomelette.com/RQ/C/MK/13/13.html

And in Mortal Kombat Conquest she also knew about her past and worked together with the Great Kung Lao against Shao Kahn until he sent his elite assassins to kill them all (or did he kill her?)

All this media came before MK Legacy and considering that MK Shaolin Monks has the writers' take on the lore (minus the deaths, which they explained as having been in the story because they couldn't just end the fight with a character running away all the time+ a few other inconsistencies) and the first comics were aproved by John Tobias, I think that Kitana as a young girl at least should be canon at the time of Shao Kahn's invasion.

 

[mattteo]

Shinnok and Daegon didn't have a father son relationship (as far as I know),

The canon was that Shinnok (and Fujin and Raiden for that matter) were very close to Edenia and to the parents of Taven and Daegon. Taven refers to him as "Lord Shinnok" and treats him with great respect. And it is probably the same relation he had with Daegon, if not even a closer one

 

[Eddy Wang]

Really good stuff and very accuratte as well.
I remember on a interview Boon Said Shao Kahn used to be what raiden was to earthrealm, legend says that One Being corrupts individuals from time to time with the will of uniting realms.

The sword of delia thing its something that has been going for a while, there is a lot to the story that NRS itself just don't explore and it would be great to see those things. Imagine a MK0 or an MK-1 it would have been hella good.

 

[Onilordasmodeus]

@mattteo I think it is safe to say that she was a "young girl" when Kahn took her realm. Probably in the 6 or 7 range. She may have been old enough to remember at least some of what happened during that time, but not old enough to truly understand it. She always remembered her Mother, but never her Father. I'd imagine it would have been a pretty stressful time then, plus Kahn most likely used his magic on her to manipulate her mind (that is a pretty consistent theme throughout the old lore, though it was only officially mentioned in MKSM).

I wouldn't use any 3rd party material at all to figure these things out. Sure the games eventually were influenced by the movies and such, but you really can cherry pick things like that. You should stick to the game specific materials, and that's it.

Anyway, Mileena was thought to have ALWAYS been there for years with Kitana, training with her, competing with her, interacting with her as a sister, while Kahn overlooked their training. But I really don't think the old game lore supports that explicitly. It was mostly from the peripheral material. Kitana learning of her true heritage was a relatively recent revelation come MK2 according to her bio. And we still don't know how Kitana found out what the real deal was before she actually killed Mileena.

 

[mattteo]

Anyway, Mileena was thought to have ALWAYS been there for years with Kitana, training with her, competing with her, interacting with her as a sister

I actually have an explanation for this. You know how Raiden sent his message to himself back in time during the first tournament and all the history up until then is supposed to be the same as in the original timeline though the biggest error in MK9 was Mileena not being around when Kitana grew up?

Well, Mileena is a clone. And no matter how Shang Tsung made her, she'd always be evil if grown by Shao Kahn. What if...Kitana had killed the original Millena clone when she discovered the truth? Only to find her mind manipulated and memory erased again into serving Shao kahn. And then Shang Tsung worked on the process of creating a clone...again.

There really is no reason for why a Mileena clone shouldn't have existed before. When you look at the scene where Kitana goes to the Flesh Pits to investigate...it's kind of fishy...Jade knows something, as if she's aware they're making clones of Kitana there. Why would Jade know this if it hadn't happened before? And Jade knows that if Kitana screws up "one more time" Shao Kahn would not forgive her anymore. Where did this screwing up thing started? Has she done something before against Shao Kahn? Maybe, if she killed her half-tarkatan sister original Mileena clone and got "only punished with a brainwashing" for it.

10k years is a long time. Just create 1 clone after these 10k years in the exact time the Earthrealm tournament is taking place is super awkward! Yes, Shao Kahn is overjoined when Shang Tsung brings him the news that he's done it, but it never says it's the first time they've done it. Maybe he just had enough of Kitana. He raised her as his daughter and abstained from killing her every time she rose against him, yet it happens over and over. His patience has run out.

Don't know if I'm grasping at straws here, but it would be a perfectly logical explanation for me.

 

[Onilordasmodeus]

I actually have an explanation for this. You know how Raiden sent his message to himself back in time during the first tournament and all the history up until then is supposed to be the same as in the original timeline though the biggest error in MK9 was Mileena not being around when Kitana grew up?

Well, Mileena is a clone. And no matter how Shang Tsung made her, she'd always be evil if grown by Shao Kahn. What if...Kitana had killed the original Millena clone when she discovered the truth? Only to find her mind manipulated and memory erased again into serving Shao kahn. And then Shang Tsung worked on the process of creating a clone...again.

There really is no reason for why a Mileena clone shouldn't have existed before. When you look at the scene where Kitana goes to the Flesh Pits to investigate...it's kind of fishy...Jade knows something, as if she's aware they're making clones of Kitana there. Why would Jade know this if it hadn't happened before? And Jade knows that if Kitana screws up "one more time" Shao Kahn would not forgive her anymore. Where did this screwing up thing started? Has she done something before against Shao Kahn? Maybe, if she killed her half-tarkatan sister original Mileena clone and got "only punished with a brainwashing" for it.

10k years is a long time. Just create 1 clone after these 10k years in the exact time the Earthrealm tournament is taking place is super awkward! Yes, Shao Kahn is overjoined when Shang Tsung brings him the news that he's done it, but it never says it's the first time they've done it. Maybe he just had enough of Kitana. He raised her as his daughter and abstained from killing her every time she rose against him, yet it happens over and over. His patience has run out.

Don't know if I'm grasping at straws here, but it would be a perfectly logical explanation for me.

Kitana's MK9 bio states that Kahn was dissatisfied with her because she wasn't bloodthirsty enough. Kahn always wanted Kitana to be more like Mileena would become.

To be honest, I NEVER liked the multiple Mileena clones thing, as to me that just watered down her story. Maybe there could be some failed attempts way back when, but the version that woke up was the "perfect" version. In the OG timeline, after Mileena was killed, Kahn reached into hell to bring her back. He didn't want another clone, he wanted her. Of course that was the time of the invasion, so maybe he didn't want to spend the time growing a new clone, but still, back in the OG days it was like Kahn actually had some affinity for both of them (more so Mileena).

And I don't think Kahn outright rewrote Kitana's mind to manipulate her, more he gave her subtle pushes and hid stuff from her. He seemingly wanted to groom an heir (for some reason), and so he put time into her. Or maybe he just saw in her promise and loyalty, so he kept her around. IDK. I NEVER got the inclination that Kahn actually loved her, more that she "loved" him and thus wanted to please him. She would listen to his orders and try hard to not disappoint, thus making herself valuable to him on a level not shared by anyone else.

Another theory is that Sindel hid the truth from her in order to save her life. Sindel convinced Kahn to keep Kitana around before she died. Maybe Sindel augmented Kitana's mind, making her forget Jerrod, thus allowing Kahn to believe that Kitana would never betray him. The downside would be what actually happened. That Kitana would look at Kahn as her father, and end up doing MANY horrific things as the years passed. (If that were true, that would be pretty twisted if you think about it.)