I’ll give it to NRS though I think they created some unique and interesting characters in the NRS timeline which I hope are brought back. Well particularly MKX. I think the trifecta of Kotal, D’Vorah, and Erron Black were great concepts and I want to see them back one day. I can agree with you though that the story for the last few games has been bad but I hope they don’t just toss those 3 away.
I agree with you on the Outworld characters. I really do think those were great characters that deserve to come back again. I don't know why, but someone at NRS has the biggest hate-boner for Kotal Kahn.
I agree! Kotal was such a cool concept to bring in only for them to shit all over him in the story.
The old Midway characters are still canon...they are all the Titans. LOL!
Not really, as the Titans are the MK9/MK11 version of characters. The midway versions were things like Mileena being a 10 thousand year old clone (and not created in the time of the events of MK2).
Is that true though? I mean sure, Shang SAID that his and Liu's battle put off a ton of energy thus spawning more timelines, but how could he really even know? Both Liu and Shang are unreliable narrators as they were and are lost just as much as anyone else when it comes to timeline shenanigans.
This is where I'm at. The Mortal Kombat Story ended. Though I am still a bit salty over the MK9 - MK11 storyline, The MK1 story and beyond is just filler. It's like Boruto to me.
I mean, all they seem to do is redo the entire MK history every time there’s a reboot. This time they changed a lot, but it’s the same premise.
Honestly, it’s kind of exhausting to think about, and I don’t even want to try making sense of it anymore.
They don't though. Kotal's issue is he bites off more then he can chew. He's very arrogant, over reaches, and pays for it. He's very human and thus a great character.
It's even funnier if you watch in the background of like the very next scene where they show Chaos Rain turning into water to teleport
I would argue he just came across as incompetent and it really makes you question how he ever became ruler of outworld.
He became ruler of Outworld because he successfully overthrew Mileena. He did that by chance/luck, with Ermac defecting to his side spur-of-the-moment, with D'Vorah pressed into siding with him, and with Reptile already in his camp. He had internal conflict and civil strife throughout the entire ~4 years of his reign.
He has several wins in his own Chapters of both game's Story Modes, including defeating Shao in 1on1 kombat. Though in fairness, Raiden and Liu softened Shao up for him.
If you really want to get all conspiracy theory...D'Vorah was probably setting the stage all along for Shinnok. She was playing the Tanya role. Not that Mileena was a super power or anything, but she was crazy and surrounded by others with there own agendas. Only more competition for D'Vorah's manipulation. Kotal could have been a patsy all along.
We know through the Mortal Kombat X comics, which were canon at the time, that this isn't the case. D'Vorah began serving Shinnok well after Kotal became Kahn.
The only thing we know about Mileena's rule is that it lasted for about 17 years, and she was dubbed "the mad empress," yet very little seemed to have happened during her rule. No incursions, no civil war until Kotal usurped her, nothing. Earthrealm was at war with, and threatened by, the NetherRealm but Outworld was not yet.
He was smart and strong, but also arrogant and overconfident. Thus the "biting off more then he can chew" phrase I always use with him. This is a guy who was pissed at his dad for surrendering to Shao, fled to Earthrealm and enjoyed being a "god" to the Aztecs. Until he gets them all killed. He then sulks back home and reconciles with his dad, and ends up idolizing Shao! Until Shao betrays him and tosses him to the Flesh Pits. After Shao's fall he then pushes for Mileena to make peace/alliance with Earthrealm, and when she refuses, he overthrows her. He then does squat with Earthrealm until he needs their help years later in the civil war that started because he was being too strict with the other races of Outworld (Edenians and Tarkatans). When he goes to seek the Special Forces, they put him in chains.
It's been a while since I reviewed the MKX comics, so you may be correct, but I don't recall anything explicitly confirming that timeline.
Mileena’s rule was likely similar to Shao Kahn's but without the same aggressive conquering approach. That might explain why Kotal’s uprising succeeded—Shao Kahn crushed any internal dissent quickly, but Mileena, without Shao's raw force, was more vulnerable to rebellion.
It sounds like you’ve got some serious hate for Kotal.
First off, the MKX comic cannot, and could have never been, entirely canon to even the MKX game, despite being presented as such at the time. There are inconsistencies between the comic and the game, especially regarding Kotal’s relationship with Shao Kahn.
Kotal did seek an alliance with Earthrealm, primarily to guard against the NetherRealm’s invasion of Earthrealm, which Mileena was ignoring as a threat. It’s possible that D'Vorah had already aligned herself with Shinnok by then, serving as a hidden agent to weaken Outworld. We know D'Vorah had been a follower of Shinnok for "many years", but we don't know when that relationship began.
It’s tough to compare rulers:
Mileena's rebellion was already in play, and Cassie and Jacquie were roughly 18-ish, I think. So the comics would have been set at roughly 2-5 years before the game, give or take.
It's certainly possible, but we don't know for sure. So little was shown. My best guess is a whole lot of nothing happened during her rule, and she simply indulged herself and a rich life style. Mileena was very immature and spoiled, but seemed to "grow up" when she was usurped and imprisoned.
Nah, there's actually dates in the games cutscenes. You put them together and do some math, and you come out to about 17 years in which she was Kahn. I say about because the dates in the game's cutscenes shift later in the game; they screwed up the consistency there, sadly (which is why I also give a rough range for the comics).
He imprisoned her and Rain and Tanya freed her. It is heavily implied that Edenians in general sided with Mileena and her "rebel" forces.
I recall the Special Forces themselves put him in chains (though Kotal permitted it seeing as how easily he broke out) themselves.
Not in the slightest. He's one of my favourite new characters.
They actually were fully canon until sometime during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021 I think) when Dom de-canonized them. He then (apparently) re-instated them a while later to a degree.
In the comics, I recall he did.
His Mortal Kombat X Bio specifically states he does.
I'm sure he didn't but he still got them killed and luxuriated in being treated as a god. The later part even Raiden comments on in an intro (not that intros are canon, mind you).
When did he do that? Between him taking the throne and then going to the SF in the comics, he doesn't do anything with Earthrealm that I recall.
Anything is possible, but we never see her deal with the NetherRealm until the end of the comics, so roughly 2-5 years before the game, give or take.
This is a common misconception. Go watch the cutscene again, you'll see that the point is dismissed and no one cared about her origins but Reptile himself.
The above is speculation.
You have the years ruled swapped for both characters. Again, Mileena had the longer rule as per the game itself. She also didn't seem to struggle to hold control and lost out in a spur of the moment coup.
True, but the fact that she actually united the world, openly and honestly, speaks volumes I think.
you would have to actually show me this. I don't recall anything that would signify 17 years.
Regardless of who or when they were announced as canon, the Comic and the game conflict on many points.
Again, he did not sulk back to his dad. In the comic Kotal returned home just as his father instructed he should AFTER he had proven himself. It was his first time coming home after years away. It was after that reunion that Kotal realized the Tribe was doomed due to a blood disease.
Again, the MKX game and comic CANNOT be intertwined. They are 2 different renditions of Kotal that have very different motivations.
I remember that quote, Kotal said he let the people believe what they wanted. It was a give and take relationship regardless.
Kotal mentions working together with Earthrealm in the game during the coup scene with Mileena, where he also mentions that Mileena wasn't heeding counsel.
I'd urge you to watch it again. D'Vorah didn't act until after Reptile spoke, when before that D'Vorah stood unconvinced. And nor did Ermac defect until her legitimacy was questioned. The only reason Ermac followed Mileena was becuase of Shao Kahn. If Mileena was just a pretender (which she was), Ermac, and many others, had no duty to follow her.
Speculation about D'Vorah working behind the scenes to destabilize Outworld? Not really. Quan Chi confirmed D'Vorah had been working for the Netherrealm for years in order to get close to the throne. At a minimum she was feeding information to Quan Chi, and the fact that Mileena ended up with the Amulet during her rebellion is proof that she was getting the helping hand from the Netherrealm (either wittingly, or unwittingly).
Your going to have to provide your timeline.
I agree with you whole heartedly, but it would be unfair compare an empire that only exists in like 1 image and a blurb, vs one that is actually documented and has had some turmoil under its belt.
You'd have to sit down and play (or watch) the Story Mode and look at the dates they show in the various cutscenes, and then do the basic math. Later in the game though, the dates shift, they were unable to keep things consistent there, sadly. Thus why I say about 17 years.
Yes, that they do.
No, so what happened was when the comics released, they were toted as canon by Warner Brothers and Ed Boon. That lasted for about half a decade, until in the pandemic (late 2020 or early 2021 I think) Dominic tweeted they were no longer canon. Someone random chased him on that a bit later, and then Dom backtracked and replied that they were canon on specific points mentioned in the game's Story Modes, or something like that.
Just had a chance to look at the comics again, and you're correct. Yet when Kotal came back, his father called him a disappointment and Kotal struck him, and went back to Earthrealm to enjoy being a "god," only to find the tribe dead by disease.
He does, but then he appears to do little about it until Mileena is freed and rebels.
I've watched it many times, as this is a point I've discussed over and over with different people on the official Discord. Everyone for some reason always seems to think Mileena being a clone is the big point since it's what Reptile focused on, but it wasn't as ultimately no one cares/comments about that further. Even Kotal doesn't pursue it further. When people finally watch the cutscene again they realize that I'm right.
She was not. Mileena is Shao's heir and the legitamate Empress of Outworld by Shao's own decree. She states this in the above cutscene and Kotal does not dispute it for obvious reasons. Shao openly declares her his "true daughter" in Mortal Kombat _2011.
His switch there was interesting, and I still think the outcome of that fight would have been different had Ermac remained on her side.
It is speculation, you're putting forth your own suggestions of what could be in the above paragraph.
If you're truly interested you can watch the Story Mode scenes again and do the math. Again, like I mention above, you need to take the dates or years they provide and work it out (and again, the dates shift later in the game, so as you already know in general, NetherRealm is not keeping things 100% consistent).
True, and fair enough. Still though, short lived as it was, it's still an amazing accomplishment that the three other Kahns we saw in the alternate timeline were unable to acheive.
