Blaze

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

About Blaze
First introduced in the series as a non-playable character seen in a stage background, Blaze is depicted as an elemental being from Outworld shrouded in flames. As a playable character, he first appeared Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. He would later become the final boss of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. As his name and appearance suggest, he has control over fire. He is also the tallest character in the Mortal Kombat universe, standing nearly 11'5" tall.

Storyline
Blaze made his first chronological appearance in Mortal Kombat II, visible only as a burning figure in the Pit II background, fighting a character fans have since named Hornbuckle. Details behind his story were not known until he returned as a secret playable fighter in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, where his in-game biography screen reveals that he is an elemental that had been pursuing a quest until he had been attacked by an ancient sect. The group of holy men, described as still serving the dead Dragon King, capture Blaze using magic and bound him to the task of protecting the last Great Dragon egg. After the egg hatched (An event shown in Reptile's Deadly Alliance ending), Blaze was able to resume his past mission.

The purpose of this quest, which had previously been left unexplained, was finally divulged in the subsequent releases of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon and Mortal Kombat: Unchained. It is said that Blaze had been created to oversee the strength of all of the fighters in the realms. His creator (shown to be Taven and Daegon's mother Delia in Armageddon's Konquest mode) had prophesized that there would be a time when the fighters' power would become a threat to all of existence itself. When this happened, it was thus Blaze's role to call out and awaken Taven and Daegon from their suspension. However, upon being freed from the egg incubation chamber, Blaze discovered that, in his absence, the power and numbers of these fighters had become too great and that Daegon had already been revived. He sounded the call to awaken Taven. He then enacted the plan to bring all the fighters together into one final battle, where the actions of the two brothers would end up determining their fates and prevent Armageddon. Sensing that something evil from the Netherealm was influencing Daegon, Blaze decided to travel there in order to find its source.

In Armageddon ' s Konquest mode, Blaze appears confronting both Taven and Daegon after the former had defeated Scorpion. He informs the two that the quest was not going as planned, and they were not following the guidelines as they were set by his creator. He transports them to Edenia, where the final battle is set to occur and where one of the brothers is destined to defeat Blaze. However, Taven first defeats Daegon, who had become corrupted due to his premature awakening. Blaze then informs Taven that the future of all the realms would then depend on the remaining brother, who needed to defeat him in Mortal Kombat to determine the fate of the rest of the fighters. The Pyramid of Argus then forms in the nearby crater with Blaze waiting atop it for Taven to destroy him.

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.

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, 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 else's ending 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 Shinnok, Daegon, Taven, Moloch, Quan Chi, Meat, Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Kenshi, Kobra, Kai, Darrius, and Kira) this benefit is not without its consequences.

The official Armageddon ending achieved through Konquest mode was Taven's self-told ending, which revealed that his defeating Blaze did not disempower or destroy the kombatants, thus doing nothing to stop Armageddon. The version told by Argus, achieved when Taven defeats Blaze in Arcade mode, reveals that Taven's victory actually made all the other kombatants stronger thanks to the same corrupting effects of the spell Onaga's acolytes had earlier put on Blaze, thus rendering the quest a failure.

Noticeably, it was Mokap's ending would've had the effect Argus intended all along, 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 and Mokap himself turned into a constellation.

Signature moves

 * Flame Ball: Blaze shoots a flaming projectile at the opponent. (MK:DA, MK:U)
 * Flame Uppercut: Blaze performs an uppercut on the opponent. (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,this will break the opponent block. (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 melts into the ground, rising on the other side of 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 Outworld realm. 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. 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.