Smoke

Smoke is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series.

About Smoke
Smoke debuted in Mortal Kombat II as a hidden character to fight against. He was often spotted in the Living Forest stage in which he (along with Jade) peeked out of the trees. Like Reptile when he made his appearance, he was simply a grey clad version of Scorpion who moved extremely fast, and puffs of smoke surrounded his body. He would appear randomly before matches, offering clues that would enable the player to fight him, as Reptile had in the original Mortal Kombat.

Smoke would not have his own storyline until he was featured in Mortal Kombat 3, where he was once again a hidden character, but accessible to players with the use of a code. In this appearance, he would be a tortured, human soul trapped in the body of a cyborg. His most defining feature is the fact that he constantly seems to emit a smoke or vapor. This, combined with his power to teleport and turn invisible, once made him one of the Lin Kuei's top assassins.

Storyline
Smoke started out as a ninja assassin of the Chinese Lin Kuei clan. He was a friend and ally of the younger Sub-Zero, and had gone with him to Outworld on his mission to kill Shang Tsung. They did not accomplish their mission. When Sub-Zero and Smoke returned to the Lin Kuei, they discovered that their clan had chosen to transform their best warriors into cyborgs, already performing the procedure on Sektor and Cyrax. Smoke and Sub-Zero turned on their clan and fled. Sub-Zero managed to escape, but Smoke was captured and converted into a cybernetic warrior, designated LK-7T2. Under the programming of the Lin Kuei, Smoke was forced to hunt his old friend.

During the events of Mortal Kombat Trilogy and Shao Kahn's invasion of Earth, Smoke's fortunes continued to fail him. Although he discovered, with Sub-Zero's help, that he still retained his soul and was in fact one of Raiden's Chosen warriors, he was captured by Kahn's forces. The inert Smoke was transported to Outworld as a trophy and was locked away in the bowels of one of Kahn's fortresses.

Nearly a decade later, however, he was discovered by Noob Saibot. He reactivated the cyborg, whose nanotechnology set about repairing and improving his systems. Reprogramming Smoke to obey only him, Saibot turned the cyber-ninja into both his ally and template for a future army of cyber-demons that was to rise from the Netherealm.



Possible future
Although he appeared to follow orders blindly from his new master, it has been hinted at that a part of his soul and good nature still remains, as evidenced by the game ending of Ashrah. This could be a hint that Smoke will fight for the forces of good once more. In his own (and Noob Saibot's) game ending, the duo of Noob-Smoke are seen murdering Sub-Zero. Considering the latter's popularity, this event is unlikely to become canon, however. In either case, Smoke's future will be revealed in the upcoming Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, where he is slated to appear.

Fatalities
(As Human Smoke)


 * Inviso-Possession: Smoke enters his opponent's body and bashes in their internal organs before exploding and ripping their body apart. (MKT)
 * Teleport Smash: Smoke teleport punches his opponent's head off. (MKT)
 * Uppercut From Hell: Smoke knocks off the opponent's head with a single uppercut. (UMK3)

(As Robot Smoke)


 * Smoke Bomb: Smoke shoves an explosive bomb in his opponent's mouth in which detonates and explodes, ripping his opponent's body apart in the process (MK3, UMK3, MKT).
 * Armageddon: A series of time bombs spews out of his stomach, which results in Earth's destruction at their (implied) explosion (MK3, UMK3, MKT).

(As either)


 * Smoke Death: His latest fatality involves him disappearing into thin air, after which he hits his enemy in the face. He then tears off their arms and head before becoming visible once more. (MK:D).

Other finishers
(As Human Smoke)
 * Friendship: A "No Smoking" sign appears and he and anyone else stop emitting smoke. (MKT)
 * Animality: Smoke turns into a porcupine and shoots quills into his opponent until they explode. (MKT)
 * Brutality: Smoke goes brutal on his opponent using his Axe, Roundhouses, and punches and finally using an uppercut to make his opponent explode.(MKT)

(As Robot Smoke)
 * Friendship: A huge horn comes out of the chest and sounds off like a loud siren. (MK3, UMK3, MKT)
 * Animality: After turning into a bull, he charges and rams his opponent off screen. (MK3, UMK3, MKT)
 * Brutality: Smoke goes brutal on his opponent using backhands and vise versa and uses an uppercut to make his opponent explode.(MKT)
 * Hara Kiri: In a move similar to Cyrax's Fatality in MK3, Smoke presses the self-destruct mechanism on his arm console and explodes.

Movie appearance
In the movie Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Smoke appears in his cyborg form to find Liu Kang and to capture Princess Kitana, in order to keep her apart from Sindel. However, Smoke is stopped by Sub-Zero, who reveals that Smoke was originally after him before being reprogrammed by Shao Kahn. Sub-Zero does not state anything else of their past connections if they existed in the movie storyline.

Curiously, Smoke was basically a silver-colored version of Sektor in the film, as he was able to shoot missiles from his chest. Smoke's arsenal in the games included a three-pronged harpoon that shot from his chest, but no missiles.

TV appearance

 * In the animated series, Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, Smoke appeared in one episode (titled "Old Friends Never Die"), serving Shao Kahn and seeking Sub-Zero. He is briefly seen in human form in a flashback scene before becoming automated. In the end, Smoke's human soul was able to overpower his programming and he stood to the vow of friendship between him and Sub-Zero. Many fans consider it to be the best episode in the short-lived series.
 * Smoke makes a brief appearance in his human form during the ending of one Mortal Kombat: Conquest episode, following Sub-Zero's betrayal of the Lin Kuei. Smoke is called upon by the clan as the next warrior to be sent to hunt and kill the traitor, at which point he emerges from a mist as a faint, grey figure with glowing red eyes. However, his appearance was not further elaborated on in later episodes as the series was cancelled soon after.

Trivia

 * When Human Smoke was created for UMK3, he was simply a grey clone of Scorpion and shared his uppercut decapitation Fatality with Ermac. In Mortal Kombat Trilogy, he was given his own set of Fatalities.
 * In Mortal Kombat II, Smoke is excessively fast compared to the other characters. This opened him up for sudden attacks if the player was fast enough to stop him.
 * Smoke is probably one of the most well-liked characters by the Mortal Kombat fanbase.
 * Of the three cyborgs, he was the first that managed to regain his soul after his automation.
 * Smoke's destiny appears permanently tied to the two Sub-Zero brothers. He accompanies the younger to the Outworld in MKII, hunts for him in MK3, and is restored to life but bound to servitude by the elder Sub-Zero in Mortal Kombat: Deception.
 * His human form in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, unlockable by entering a code after selecting his cybernetic form, was initially an actual part of the storyline. His ending described that he was able to somehow escape his artificial body, and had entered training in preparation for Mortal Kombat 4. However, Mortal Kombat Trilogy retconned this, and his human form was then described as being a non-canon character; simply how he remembered himself.
 * In Mortal Kombat: Deception, his alternate costume shows his body as being fully composed of smoke (in effect, living up to his name). It sparked debate as to whether this outfit was actually Smoke in his human form, or a cybernetic demon form. Information provided on production art from Deception seems to suggest that it is human; both of Noob-Smoke's appearances are depicted, with the comment that both Ninja Smoke and Robot Smoke have a lot of fans.  From a storyline perspective however, it is more likely that this is Smoke's form as a cyber-demon; as Noob-Smoke's alternate bio described Smoke's body being 'reshaped' by his nano-technology.
 * Smoke was considered by many fans to be something of an unoriginal character. Unlike previous hidden characters who acquired their own unique special moves and combination attacks upon becoming part of the standard cast, Smoke continued to use techniques identical or similar to other characters through the MK3' series, in both his human and cyber forms. It was not until Mortal Kombat: Deception that Smoke arguably acquired his first original set of moves.
 * Both of Smoke's recent costumes have led to speculation on the part of his fans as to whether or not he will remain as a cyborg or return to humanity in the next Mortal Kombat game. Fans of each side enjoyed the respective displays in Deception, the cyber form being unique from previous designs, and the human/demon form being unlike anything having been seen before.  At the current time, this human/demon form, at the very least, seems to have been confirmed as appearing in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.
 * In Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, Smoke (still in his human form, the game having been intended to take place during the first two tournaments) challenges the player to complete 5 missions. Doing so will unlock Mortal Kombat II. (Ironically, much to the great ire of fans, this version of the game was the same as the one present in Midway Arcade Treasures 2, where due to a control mapping issue it was impossible to fight Smoke, as hitting Start would only pause the game.)
 * His appearance in Malibu Comics' non-canon Mortal Kombat series was something a source of amusement for fans, as he would randomly shout "Toasty!" while speaking, a reference to Mortal Kombat II's means to fight him.
 * Smoke has made two appearances in the cartoon, Robot Chicken: once, as a sparring partner to Joey Fatone, and another fighting Sub-Zero. Erroneously, Smoke was shown using fire as his main technique.  His fatality against Sub-Zero was to tear his heart out, kick his body away, set the organ on the ground, pull out a hockey stick, and smack the heart off screen, parodying Mortal Kombat's needlessly long and gory fatalities, specifically the ones that relate nothing to the character performing them.