Let's get a few things outta the way first and foremost, Kronika is gone, her existence literally breaks the entire narrative, so NO Kronika...she's a lame villain anyway. And with her outta the way, NO TIME TRAVEL! This game is going to take a very different approach. It'll still maintain the character-based chapter storytelling. Also, Kung Jin and Takeda will be in this game, I have no clue why they're absent in "MK11", it makes no sense since they were JUST INTRODUCED! Jacqui and Cassie got to continue on but Kung Jin and Takeda are gone, no! They're the new guard and it's their time to shine. Also, no Jax or Sonya, we have Cassie and we have Jaqui, Johnny Cage is still there (not only because he's my main) but because Johnny Cage has a unique enough move-set to not make him redundant.
Also, as much as I hate it, Zazalamel...I mean Geras is gone. No Kronika, no Geras, simple as that. Kollector and Skarlet can stay. Now let me tell you who's returning! Hotaru from "Deception" will be joining the fray, followed by Shujinko and Rain will return. Rain was never addressed, he just got his ass kicked and then left, Rain needs resolution. So let's dive in.
So before we begin here is the Roster:
Cassie Cage
Johnny Cage
Jacqui Briggs
Kung Jin
Takeda
Kotal Kahn
Rain
Ermac
Erron Black
Kollector
D'Vorah
Ferra/Tor
Liu Kang
Kitana
Raiden
Kano
Baraka
Sektor
Cyrax
Noob Saibot
Reiko (Unlockable after the campaign)
Hotaru
Cetrion
Shujinko
Scorpion
Sub-Zero
Kung Lao
Reptile
Skarlet
Shoa Kahn (DLC)
NEW CHARACTERS:
Rook
DLC:
The Comedian (Watchmen)
The Headless Horseman (Washington Irving)
Ash Williams (Evil Dead)
Pinhead (Hellraiser)
Motaro (Mortal Kombat, with all 4 legs because a guy can dream, can't he?)
Shang Tsung (Mortal Kombat)
Kenshi (Mortal Kombat)
In the aftermath of "Mortal Kombat X", Raiden throws Shinnok's severed head before Liu Kang and Kitana and makes his declaration that Earth Realm will start showing teeth to those who threaten it. Liu Kang does NOT wanna challenge Raiden after seeing what happened to Shinnok, so he's content with being the ruler of The Nether Realm. Kitana asks Liu Kang why he'd just allow Raiden to leave but Liu Kang's advisor, Havik, tells him he'll have a chance to get back at Raiden during the next Mortal Kombat tournament. Among his trainees is a young female demon named Ashrah. The story proper begins in Outworld where Kotal Kahn is attempting to secure his rule, his empire is basically in shambles after D'Vorah's betrayal and the potential invasion from the Nether Realm, Kotal has lost public trust. His only means of reestablishing his empire is to round up the last of Shoa Kahn's allies and executing them, starting with Kollector.
Little does Kotal Kahn know that there is a group of Shoa Kahn's allies who were not allied with Mileena that have been biding their time lead by a Shoa Kahn's chief shadow priest Rook. Rook is in possession of Outworld's Kamidogu (in this iteration it's a dagger) and has been told by a great spirit named Damashi that if he were to gather all the Kamidogus including Raiden's amulet at The Nexus he'll have powers beyond an Elder God. Outworld's Kamidogu is pretty damn stronger because it has the powers of all the Kamidogus of the realms that have merged with it, save for Edenia's (who were allowed to keep their Kamidogu per Sindel's request, the terms of her marrying Shoa Kahn). Keeping Edenia's Kamidogu intact ensures that one day Edenia could be separated.
Kotal Kahn gets wind of this plot from sweating Kano (who's been collaborating with Rook) and goes to Raiden for help. Raiden is not at all interested in helping Kotal Kahn since Kotal was all but ready to serve Earth Realm to Shinnok, but Kotal tells Raiden that if he is no longer Emperor of Outworld whoever takes his place won't be willing to negotiate. We pause right here and we're taken to The Order Realm where Hotaru has been instructed to find Raiden and secure his amulet, he is given this order by none other than Cetrion. Recognizing The Amulet as a Kamidogu and being an Elder God she would know what it can potentially do in the wrong hands and now that she's aware of its location, let's be honest Shinnok is an Elder God he'd know how to hide it, Cetrion wants that thing out of play.
Rook dispatches Kollector and Kano to steal Rain's Kamidogu. Rain has Edenia's Kamidogu per the agreement Mileena had with Tanya to free Edenia should she become Empress. Rain makes quick work of the two and demands to know what's going and of course, they spill the beans, leading Rain to realize that if he gets all The Kamidogus he can finally claim what's eluded him for so long, godhood. So now Rain joins the fray to hunt The Kamidogus. Meanwhile, on Shang Tsung's island, a scavenger is searching for a Kamidogu when he's attacked by Baraka, the scavenger reveals himself to be a young Shujinko and he mops the floor with Baraka. Shunjinko fails to find a Kamidogu and Damashi suggests he goes to Earth Realm since he already has two in his possession (Order Realm and Chaos Realm).
Shujinko arrives on Earth Realm to steal their Kamidogu but is stopped by Cassie. After some prodding from Raiden, after all, Raiden is a god, Shujinko reveals that he's on a quest from an emissary of The Elder Gods named Damashi to find The Kamidogus to prevent an oncoming evil. Raiden claims he never heard of a Damashi but decides to consult The Elder Gods, before he can leave though Hotaru arrives and walks through Special Forces and the others like nothing, finally being subdued by Raiden. Hotaru tells Raiden of his quest to retrieve the amulet and notes them all as criminals for sheltering Shujinko, a man he recognizes as a thief because he stole The Order Realm's Kamidogu, a notion that Shujinko blows off because he was given permission by Damashi. Raiden decides to consult with The Elder Gods but they won't talk to him as they recognize that at this point in time Raiden is going dark and that amulet can destroy them.
Deciding not to waste time Raiden agrees to help Kotal Kahn and thus Outworld and Earth Realm are officially allies. United, they storm Shoa Kahn's old fortress and battle against Kollector, Kano, Baraka, and The Tekunin Klan (now officially formed under Sektor). However, they're intercepted by Rain who battles against Shujinko, Rain uses his Kamidogu but is thwarted by the combined might of the Order Realm and Chaos Realm's Kamidogus, Rain loses Edenia's Kamidogu and escapes. In the Nether Realm Rook requests The Nether Realm's Kamidogu from Liu Kang, Liu Kang is no fan of Outworld still but Rook convinces Liu Kang that he's not Shoa Kahn and his goals don't lie in conquest but in securing Outworld against outside forces, he finally convinces Liu Kang by promising to use The Order Realm's Kamidogu to restore his soul so that he can get his revenge on Raiden, to which Liu Kang agrees.
Now armed with The Nether Realm and Outworld's Kamidogu Rook decides to head out for The Nexus by word of Damashi who tells him the others are coming soon. Cetrion visits Hotaru and releases him from Raiden's hold and tells him to go to The Nexus. On their way to The Nexus Special Forces, Erron Black and Shujinko are attacked by none other than Liu Kang and his Nether Realm horde. Rook is there and now armed with 2 Kamidogus he battles Shujinko and mops the floor with him (again The Outworld Kamidogu is much stronger than a normal Kamidogu). Kitana stealing Shujinko's Kamidogus (Order Realm and Chaos Realm). Cassie reveals that she still has Earth Realm's Kamidogu and they have to get to The Nexus to stop Rook.
They arrive at The Nexus with Earth Realm (Raiden, Shujinko, Special Forces and Lin Kuei) and Outworld (Erron Black, Ferra/Tor, Ermac, Reptile, Kotal Kahn) to battle against Nether Realm (Liu Kang, Kitana, Noob Saibot) and Rook's Contingent (Kano, Kollector, Skarlet, Baraka) and The Tekunin all war at The Nexus. Rain jumps into the fray making it to The altar along with Shujinko, Raiden, and Rook, amidst the confusion Hotaru arrives and starts kicking everyone's ass. However, the combined forces of Rook and Shujinko subdue him. In the battle, Rook manages to best the others and place the Kamidogus upon the altar and stands to claim the powers...however an explosion blows him away, a portal opens with Rook and Shujinko recognizing the voice coming from the portal ordering them to "Stop!" they both recognize as Damashi. Reiko emerges from the portal and kicks 8 different shades of ass and orders, everyone to bow before the Emperor of all The Realms, and from the portal steps Onaga The Dragon King.
Onaga begins to absorb The Kamidogus power into himself but Rook chants a spell and sends the Kamidogus off to other realms. Raiden and Shujinko try to defeat Onaga but he shrugs off everything they throw at him. Rain gets tossed around and finally, Raiden decides to self-destruct, he destroys himself but fails to make a dent in Onaga. Onaga reclaims his amulet and blows everyone away before ascending into the sky, Reiko leaving in a portal. With nothing to gain and completely defeated, Rook and his forces split. In the finale, Fujin now Guardian Of Earth Realm makes an official treaty with Outworld declaring them allies, Cassie asks Shujinko if he'd like to join Special Forces but Shujinko prefers to work alone and he'll have Fujin helping him since The Kamidogus are a god weapon. Feeling responsible for Onaga's release Shujinko has a renewed purpose and destroying him.
Hotaru returns to The Order Realm and is told by Cetrion that his mission remains the same but he must find The Order Realm's Kamidogu. We now see the Chaos Realm's Kamidogu and a man named Darrius picks it up, his eyes flash red. In The Nether Realm, The Order Realm's Kamidogu is picked up by Ashrah, her eyes flash white and she smiles. In the post-credit scene, we're taken to a cave, a Dragon roars and a warrior opens his eyes, The Dragon says "Wake up, Taven. Your journey begins.".
So let's discuss now that that's over I managed to accomplish a few things, for starters, I skipped the "Deadly Alliance" storyline because at this point Shang Tsung and Quan Chi are effectively dead and went straight into the "Deception" storyline. Bare in mind Shujinko still did begin this mission as a teen but for the sake of this "What If...?" after stealing the Order Realm's Kamidogu it managed to preserve his youth for a long time. Making Shujinko young is a personal preference as I'm turning him into the new Liu Kang, a lot of people think Liu Kang is void of personality, Shujinko will be more of an arrogant Kung-Fu guy humbled by being tricked by Damashi. He's not a chosen one like Liu Kang, he's a guy cleaning up a mess he made.
Furthermore, I established other characters and their motivations and their motivations are outside themselves. Hotaru's conflict in "Deception" was specific to The Order Realm and could have been solved without interfering in the story overall, but in this Hotaru is tasked with finding The Kamidogu of The Order Realm and Raiden's amulet and Shujinko has one and Raiden has the other and other characters are trying to get the same thing thus putting all of these characters in direct conflict with each other. Now I do talk about Rook a lot and he's a character that was created for "Mortal Kombat: Chaotic" or "New Era" but either way, Rook's introduction make him a different villain than any other "Mortal Kombat" villain, Rook isn't after Earth Realm, he simply wants Outworld to be secure and under Kotal Kahn he doesn't believe he's capable of doing so. Furthermore, Rook is a sorcerer and we just lost 2 of "Mortal Kombat's" premier sorcerers so introducing a new one, specifically one with a unique move set (he'd have an ability where he'd slide into the background and slide to the other end of the stage unharmed...like a rook...YES, I thought this through!) would be proper "Mortal Kombat" fare.
Likewise ai did a few things as well, I introduced old new characters and established their origins and future conflicts, Darrius begins The Order Realm uprising after being corrupted by The Kamidogu of Chaos, and in "Deception" they say that Ashrah finds a sword that purifies her...but what if that sword was The Kamidogu of Order? That would make sense, wouldn't it? Likewise, I went to "Mortal Kombat 4's" ending just without Raiden, at this point Raiden is perma-dead (like everyone else) so Fujin becomes the new Guardian Of Earth Realm. Likewise, Reiko's return is due to Onaga keeping him alive while being fused to The Kamidogus, yes, I know in the comics he's dead but again those aren't canon, so in my version, Reiko ended up foolishly being fused to a Kamidogu and while inside Onaga basically schooled Reiko and established himself as being a better leader than Shoa Kahn to the point Reiko decided to become his general. Reiko originally began as a general for Shinnok and that was retconned to him always working for Shao Kahn but in this version, Reiko returns just like in "Mortal Kombat 4".
Likewise, I'm not quite setting up for "Armageddon" just yet, but as you can see much as changed but a lot has stayed the same, what's changed? Well, Earth Realm and Outworld are now allies, that's a completely different dynamic than before. Liu Kang and Kitana rule The Nether Realm instead of Shinnok, and there is an Outworld Separatist movement seeking to overthrow Kotal Kahn. New realms have been introduced and therefore new threats are rising. So there, what do you guys think of my "Mortal Kombat 11", let me know and I'll catch you all later!
No comments:
Post a Comment