Blaze

"Now face me... in MORTAL KOMBAT!"

- Blaze's challenge to Taven in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon

Blaze is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series who made his debut as a background character in Mortal Kombat II. He made his playable debut in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance as a hidden character, and served as the final boss of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.

About Blaze
First introduced in the series as a non-playable character seen in the background of the Pit II arena in Mortal Kombat II, Blaze was depicted as an elemental being from Outworld shrouded in flames. As his name and appearance suggests, he has control over fire, lava, heat, etc.

In Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Blaze became a playable character and gained more background information. He would later become the final boss of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.

Blaze's first chronological appearance was supposedly in Mortal Kombat II, visible only as a burning figure in the Pit II background, fighting a character fans have since named Hornbuckle does not come without controversy. Daegon is described in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon as being awoken centuries prematurely, due to Caro losing mental contact with Blaze (because of his imprisonment guarding the last dragon egg) and mistook that for the signal to awake Daegon. Also, in Blaze's Armageddon Bio, Blaze is set free after the egg hatches during the events of Deception, and is unaware that Daegon was awoken prematurely. It's not until Blaze gives the signal to wake both brothers he learns that Daegon had already been freed. If the burning figure in Mortal Kombat II was truly Blaze, that means Blaze had been imprisoned to guard the egg sometime after Mortal Kombat II, which means Daegon could not have been awoken centuries earlier because Blaze would have known. With the Black Dragon dating back to before the first Mortal Kombat and the Red Dragon dating back beyond that, it seems the burning figure seen in Mortal Kombat II could not have been Blaze, since at the time he was already guarding the egg.

Appearance
In his first appearance, Blaze appeared as a swap of Liu Kang with his entire body engulfed in flames. Following his return in Deadly Alliance, Blaze had the appearance of a male humanoid composed of blazing lava and wearing only black underwear. In his transformation in Armageddon, Blaze's humanoid shape is twisted into a hulking, monstrous form with a mask piece similar to a ninja's and rock formations resembling armor. His fully fingered hands become three digit claws and his feet became two-pronged talons.

Armageddon endings
With Blaze being the final boss in both Konquest and Arcade mode in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, all the endings centered around the godlike power that would be bestowed upon the victor as a result of his defeat. This includes Blaze himself, as if he was selected in Arcade mode after being unlocked, he would still be the final boss - thus in a sense pitting him against himself. This also includes your kreated kombatant.

Blaze's Armageddon ending states that while he was enslaved by Onaga's men, he was corrupted by the spell that kept him bound to their wills. He then defeated Taven, Daegon, and all the kombatants, and from there, destroyed all of reality. Because of this, it was indeed Blaze that ironically caused the Armageddon which Delia predicted, rather than help prevent it. (Thus the player as Blaze "defeating himself" seems more appropriate, becoming in a sense symbolic of his corrupted power overcoming his original design.) Meanwhile, because Blaze is the final boss, in everyone's other endings they defeat him and obtain the power of a god, which brings about a scenario which culminates the character's quest in the epitome of their benefit, although in some endings (specifically the endings of Shao Kahn, Shinnok, Daegon, Taven, Moloch, Quan Chi, Meat, Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Kenshi, Kobra, Jax, Kai, Mokap, Hsu Hao, Darrius, Kano, and Kira) this benefit is not without its consequences. Again, this also includes a kreated character, whose ending can be personally written as their "biography".

In Mortal Kombat (2011), it's confirmed that Shao Kahn is the one who defeated Blaze. It makes Taven's endings no longer canonical. John Vogel confirmed on Twitter that in Armageddon, NetherRealm Studios wanted Taven to defeat Blaze, but in MK 2011, it turns out to be Shao Kahn.

Notably, it was Mokap's ending that would have achieved the effect that Argus originally intended, resulting in the would-be deaths of all the other kombatants and stopping Armageddon - though the death toll would include all three sons of Argus himself and Mokap turned into a constellation. Similarly, in Hsu Hao's ending, he is killed from Blaze's death explosion and his corrupt soul is sent to the Netherrealm, where he becomes a demon. Unlike Mokap's ending, however, this only involves Hsu Hao getting killed, not the other kombatants.

Powers and abilities
Being a fire elemental, Blaze governs power over everything fire-related, ranging from flame projectiles to physical strikes augmented by his fire powers. In Deadly Alliance and Armageddon, it was revealed that his captors who forced him to guard the Dragon Egg "corrupted his original design" which perhaps explains the new form he has taken on. Created by Delia, Blaze serves as a catalyst of ultimate power which can be absorbed by any kombatant who successfully defeats him, giving the winner god-like power, amplifying their powers to omnipotent levels and granting a single wish. It is also in this new form that Blaze becomes the most powerful kombatant in the entire franchise in which he is able to single-handedly cause Armageddon by devouring existence itself.

Signature moves

 * Flame Ball: Blaze shoots a flaming projectile at his opponent. (MK:DA, MK:U)


 * Flame Uppercut: Blaze performs an uppercut on the opponent. The move is borrowed from Drahmin (MK:DA, MK:U)


 * Flame Charge: Blaze charges at the opponent. (MK:DA, MK:U)


 * Quake Slam: Blaze punches the ground, sending lava up underneath his opponent. It is unblockable. (MK:A)


 * Steam Roller: Blaze rolls along the ground, flattening his opponent. (MK:A)


 * Charge Up: Blaze taunts his enemy, regaining some health. (MK:A)


 * Melting Lava Teleport: Blaze teleports underneath lava, rising on the other side, behind his opponent. (MK:A)

Character development
Blaze was included in Mortal Kombat II ' s Pit II background by art director Tony Goskie as part of the series' tradition of adding mystery elements to the games. He was originally called "Torch" by the developers. However, they were not able to use this name in the games due to Marvel holding the rights to the name as part of the Human Torch. In his MKII appearance, Blaze's sprites (and Hornbuckle's as well) were actually palette swapped versions of the Liu Kang character with flames covering his upper body.

Design concepts from Deadly Alliance ' s Krypt show pictures of a non-fiery Blaze with hair on his head and double axes for a possible weapon stance. Blaze's character had been added late into the development of this game, hence he lacked many character-specific attributes such as his own fighting styles, a weapon stance, and a fatality.

Game information
Blaze, like most characters in the series, made a cameo in Mortal Kombat: Deception ' s Konquest mode in the realm of Outworld. In it, Blaze has lost his memory and asks the mode's protagonist, the player as Shujinko, to find and bring him a memory potion, allowing him to resume the quest that he had undertaken before being subdued. This is a foreshadowing of what is to come in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. His "quest" refers to the one Argus had sent him on. Blaze and Hornbuckle also appear in a secret area in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. If the player completes the first four Smoke missions, a portal to the Pit II is unlocked. Here, Hornbuckle and Blaze are seen fighting in the background.

Trivia

 * Blaze is one of the three most powerful beings in the Mortal Kombat universe alongside Onaga and Dark Kahn.
 * He is perhaps the most powerful being in the entire series as he carries the ultimate power within him that can be absorbed by any warrior who managed to defeat and destroy him. He is also able to single-handedly cause Armageddon by devouring existence itself.


 * Blaze was originally nicknamed "Torch" by fans before his actual name was revealed.


 * In his boss form, Blaze is the second tallest character in the Mortal Kombat series, after Moloch.


 * Blaze is the second character in the MK series to be hinted during several games and finally revealed as a big boss character. The first was Onaga.


 * In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, knocking Blaze off the Sky Temple will make him yell: "Oh my God! This is not happening to me!", the same thing that Jax says as he falls from the Sky Temple. However, Blaze speaks this in a more distorted voice.


 * In Armageddon, Blaze is the only character whom the player cannot perform a Fatality on. Instead, he simply combusts into flames and then explodes.
 * His death sequence in Armageddon is the same animation cycle used by Onaga in Deception.


 * Excluding Stage Fatalities and the Kreate-A-Fatality, Blaze is one of seven characters including Daegon, Mokap, Moloch, Chameleon, Khameleon and Onaga never to receive his own finishing move.


 * Blaze, along with Cyber Sub-Zero, Noob Saibot, D'Vorah, and Predator, is one of the only characters to have a very rare blood color. In his case, it is considered to be lava.


 * Along with Kenshi, Frost, Quan Chi, and Kitana, he is one of the few characters in Deadly Alliance to be seen performing a kata.


 * Blaze appears in Mortal Kombat Deception's Konquest mode, where he asks Shujinko to find a memory potion to remember "his quest."


 * In his Armageddon Bio Kard, he appears at first with his normal build form from Deadly Alliance/Unchained but in his description, his render was from his Boss form.
 * Blaze is the only character in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon who cannot be knocked into the Death Traps of the Bell Tower and Tekunin Prison stages.