The ultra-violent fighting game series Mortal Kombat has become known for gory kills, over-the-top characters, a story built around deep lore, and cinematic battles. The games are some of the more movie-esque games on the market, with the newer versions having story-modes filled with long cutscenes to move the player from fight to fight.
With how big the world has grown, and how cinematic it all is, it is no surprise that Mortal Kombat has pulled a lot of details from famous films and folded them into their world. Even going all the way back to the original game, they have always been filled with secrets and homages for the fans to find. Here are ten of our favorite movie-themed Easter Eggs in the series.
Dead Or Alive, You’re Coming With Me - Mortal Kombat 11
In Mortal Kombat 11, if the tough commando with robotic arms, Jax, faces off against DC’s clown prince of crime, The Joker, he opens the fight with this classic line from Robocop. The gifting of a Robocop line to Jax makes sense, but the set-up of having it be against the DLC fighter Joker is a strange choice. Maybe Joker has simply committed enough crimes that he’s on the most wanted list in other realms as well as his own.
Tearing Out Someone’s Spine - Mortal Kombat
In the classic arcade game, one of the most iconic fatalities was Sub-Zero’s, where the character would grip the spine of his opponent, then rip it out, with the skull still attached. Although given more build-up and fanfare in the game, this kill is a direct pull from Predator.
In the film, the titular alien hunter takes one of his defeated foes, reaches into their back, then pulls out their spine, with the skull still attached. The only difference is that the victim in Predator was already dead, so Sub-Zero’s version would hurt a whole lot more.
Cassie’s Toy - Mortal Kombat 11
In the newest entry of the franchise, Johnny Cage has a fatality where he proudly shows off his own action figure. No shocking, considering the star’s number one fan has always been himself. For a brief moment in the fatality, it can be seen that on the figure’s foot, Cage’s daughter, Cassie’s name is written in black sharpie, just like how Andy’s name is written on Woody’s foot in Toy Story.
KAHN! - Multiple
One of the biggest villains in the Mortal Kombat universe is Shao Kahn. The evil emperor that forces the tournament for Earth’s fate and starts everything off. In the crossover game Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe, the characters of Mortal Kombat find themselves alongside the heroes and villains of DC comics.
The Easter egg comes from Batman villains The Joker, who when facing Shao Kahn, screams KHAN, imitating Captain Kirk from the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. This exact gag is repeated in Mortal Kombat 11 where if Johnny Cage is selected as an announcer when Shao Kahn is fighting, he will take the opportunity to yell like the famous Starfleet captain.
Johnny Cage’s Filmography - Multiple
One of the running gags in the 2011 remake/reboot of the franchise Mortal Kombat is Johnny Cage’s incessant naming of his old movies. Every one of them is a play on a classic film, tweaked to include him in some way, and there are a ton of them.
The titles include such classics as Citizen Cage, Tommy Scissorhands, and Breaknose Mountain just to name a few. The gag continues in both the sequel games, with more pun-centric movie titles.
Jax, You Son Of A… - Mortal Kombat X
In Mortal Kombat X, Jax has a costume that makes him into Karl Weathers’s character, Dillon, from Predator. Johnny Cage has a costume literally titled “Commando” that resembles the outfit Arnold Schwarzenegger sports in the film of the same name.
Fittingly, if both these characters and costumes are chosen on the character select screen, before switching to the loading screen, the characters quickly recreate the famous scene the two actors share in Predator, where they embrace for a ridiculously manly handshake.
Here’s Johnny! - Mortal Kombat (2011)
It makes sense that being a former movie-star himself, Johnny Cage is responsible for many of the references on this list. This one comes from one of his fatalities in Mortal Kombat X, where he firmly plants both hands into his opponent’s torso, then rips it open down the middle.
Cage then sticks his face in the hole in the same fashion that Jack Nicholson’s Jack Torrance does in the horror film The Shining. The fatality is, of course, complete with the famous line from the film.
Reptile Has The Auryn - Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
In both Mortal Kombat: Armageddon and Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, Reptile wears a medallion around his waist. The medal is two snakes intertwining, eating each other’s tails. If the medal seems familiar, that’s because it is the exact same as the medal that Bastian, the main character of Neverending Story wears around his neck.
Sure, the Uroboros is a common symbol used in video games, but this one in particular, with two snakes intertwined in the same fashion as the other medal, is too close to call coincidence.
Jean-Claude Van Cage - Mortal Kombat (1992)
When the original Mortal Kombat was being developed, it was set to be a video game adaptation of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s martial arts film about a deadly tournament, Bloodsport. With the game close to complete, the deal fell through, and the creators turned their game into an original concept instead.
In an effort to not waste the work already put in, the character that has been designed to be Damme was slightly repackaged into Johnny Cage, the arrogant Hollywood martial artist. Maybe Cage’s personality was a shot at Damme, or maybe he was just an idea to salvage the work that had been put in on the game. Either way, his appearance in the first game is clearly referencing the main character of Bloodsport.
Big References From Big Trouble - Multiple
The designers of the game have stated that John Carpenter’s mash-up of Western pulp with martial arts film, Big Trouble in Little China was a huge inspiration for the team. This is apparent in a few places. The thunder god and arguably the most famous character in Mortal Kombat Raiden is modeled after a trio of assassins from the film called “The Three Storms.”
A main villain in the games, Shan Tsung, is directly inspired by the evil wizard of the film, Lo Pan. Then, there’s the most blatant reference in Mortal Kombat 11, where if you pair Liu Kang against Johnny Cage, they recite three notable lines from the film back and forth for really no reason at all.
