Jackson "Jax" Briggs first made his debut in Mortal Kombat II, but it wasn't until Mortal Kombat 3 that he started sporting his iconic bionic arms. In Mortal Kombat II, this Special Forces badass rescued Sonya from the Outworld and was able to single-handedly bringKano into custody. When he learned of Kahn's plans to invade Earthrealm in MK3, he ordered a pair of bionic implants for his arms that gave his punches an extra boost of pain. Together with Sonya, he later went on to form the Outer World Investigation Agency in an effort to make sure incidents such as Kahn's plan to conquer earth never happen again.
Princess Katana is over 10,000 years old, yet she can still somehow go toe-to-toe with the best of 'em in battle -- and look really hot while doing it. She and her mommy, Sindel, should be on every Hot Females in Videogames list. On top of all that, we have never seen a more badass usage of fans in a video game. Are fans really this handy in battle? Perhaps if they're made of metal and have knives sticking out of them, they would be.
Just as John Tobias and Ed Boon were getting ready to release the first Mortal Kombat, they came to a somewhat shocking realization – there were absolutely no female characters in the entire game! Early beta testers complained of the lack of a lady to kick ass with, so the boys removed perpetual loser, Kurtis Stryker -- who would eventually make his debut in Mortal Kombat 3 -- and replaced him with the hot, butch Sonya Blade, a Special Forces soldier inspired by actress Cynthia Rothrock. Sonya is another one of the franchise's mainstays, appearing in almost every game, but unlike some of the other characters, her appearance and moveset have changed dramatically, from her original green spandex outfit to the military fatigues and exposed midriff look she sports today.
A member of the mutant race called the Tarkatan, Baraka is known in Mortal Kombat for the deadly blades that protrude from his forearms (which prove to be formidable weapon used in many of his attacks). And these brutal things aren't just good in close quarters. Scraping them together shoots out a deadly spark of energy, a fantastic ranged weapon. Baraka debuted in Mortal Kombat II as one of Shao Kahn's minions. The Tarkatan's famous fatalities include decaptiation and using his blades to make Shish kebabs of his opponents' heads. In a recent live action video, Baraka was depicted as a pent up surgeon who put himself under the knife.
The original hidden character, the green-skinned Reptile, made his debut as a simple reskinned Sub-Zero in Mortal Kombat I, but the sheer amount of work necessary to face and unlock him (perform a double flawless victory with fatality just as the shadow passes over the moon in the Pit stage) made him an arcade legend. The fact that Boon and Tobias included a hidden fighter that only the most hardcore would ever see helped promulgate the world of Mortal Kombat as one where other secrets and surprises lurked around every corner, ready to be revealed at the drop of a quarter. He returned as a playable character in the second game, with a pile of interesting special moves that combined the best ofScorpion and Sub-Zero. Future games would feature even more hidden enemies and complicated ways of accessing them, but the first was still the best.
Kung Lao first appeared in Mortal Kombat II as the last descendant of the Great Kung Lao. Although he is a pacifist of the Earthrealm, he has no qualms about slicing your head off with his hat if you should provoke him. According to co-creator John Tobias, he was inspired by Goldeneye villian Oddjob.
One of the grand old men of the Mortal Kombat world, Raiden has electrified every game but one – the abysmal PS1 spin-off, Mortal Kombat: Special Forces. The thunder god of Japanese mythology is cast in the Kombat universe as the protector of Earthrealm, recruiting a team of defenders to battle against the demonic invasion of Shao Kahn's hordes game after game. Raiden is most notable for his Chinese coolie hat and tendency to utter bizarre phrases during special moves – voice actor John Hey revealed in an interview that Raiden's language isn't Japanese, or even Chinese, but rather made-up nonsense sounds. His special moves have remained constant throughout the series – lightning bolts, teleports, and the extremely abusable Torpedo. Played by legendary actors Christopher Lambert and James Remar in the pair of MK movies, Raiden is one of the iconic characters of the franchise, and we only wish we could get Mortal Kombat Vs. Marvel to see him go toe-to-toe with Thor.
If there's one character design that screams Mortal Kombat, it's the masked ninja. Daniel Pesina, one actor clad in an iconic costume received multiple palette swaps to be recolored and repurposed as Ermac, Smoke, Scorpion, Reptile – the list goes on and on. But we all know that Sub Zero came first. The blue-clad Chinese ninja warrior with a heart so cold made his debut in the first game and is the only character to be playable in every single installment of the series. A secret operative for the Lin Kuei clan, Sub-Zero's people are descended from Cryomancers, demons who could wield the power of cold for various effects. One thing that's lost in the mythos of the games is that Sub-Zero was actually two different people – in the first Mortal Kombat, he was killed by Scorpion and replaced in the following games by his younger brother, who took up the frosty mantle. But nobody stays dead for long in MK, so look for Sub-Zero elder to show up later on this list... as someone else.
"Get over here!" That battle cry is recognizable by anyone who has stepped into an arcade at any point in the past 15 years. It is the special move sound of the evil zombie ninja Scorpion, who proves that tough guys do indeed wear banana yellow. Formerly a human ninja, Scorpion faced Sub-Zero in a battle over some mysterious map and was eventually decapitated by the icy warrior. But death is just the beginning in Mortal Kombat, and Scorpion was resurrected as a revenant with a bad attitude, capable of teleporting and throwing brutal grappling hooks. Out for revenge, he killed Sub-Zero at the end of the first Mortal Kombat tournament before returning to the Otherworld. But that wasn't the end of Scorpion, as he's returned in almost every other MK game since, with meaner moves and more attitude. His signature Fatality -- the one where he removes his mask and immolates his foes with fiery breath -- is one of our all-time faves.
Known as the champion of the Mortal Kombat tournament, Liu Kang has to be on this list somewhere. Fighting vigorously to defeat Shang Tsung since the original Mortal Kombat(and beating him a few times since), he is known for his speed and power. He has used many fatalities over the years, including throwing fireballs at his opponents as well as possessing them and then ripping their heads off. Fun fact: In the original game, Liu Kang's fatality was the only one that didn't depict the killing of an opponent. Rather, he resorted to uppercuts and butterfly kicks. Since then, though, he's more than made up for it.
