Blaze

"For millennia I existed for one purpose... to monitor the strength of the world’s kombatants."

- Blaze's Mortal Kombat: Unchained Biography

Blaze is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. He first appeared 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 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 2, 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 premature due to Caro lossing 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 prematurly. It's not until Blaze gives the signal to wake both brothers does he learn that Daegon had already been freed. If the burning figure in Mortal Kombat II was truly Blaze that means Blaze had been imprissoned 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 a the time he was already guarding the egg.

Appearance
In his first appearance, Blaze appeared as a swap of Liu Kang with his torso ignited in flames. Following his return in Deadly Alliance, Blaze had the appearance of a male humanoid composed of blazing lava, only wearing 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.

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, captured Blaze using magic and bounded 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 previous 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 foreseen an event when the fighters' power would become a threat to all of existence itself. When this happened, it was 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 Netherrealm 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. Taven and Blaze battled, and Taven was victorious. However, Taven's victory had neither the effect of killing the kombatants or nullifying their power. Argus considered the quest a failure because it did nothing to prevent Armageddon. This effect perhaps occurred due to Blaze's corruption by the spells put on him at the hands of Onaga's holy men and the fact that the quest was not performed according to plan.

Biographies

 * Deadly Alliance: "The mysterious Outworld elemental known only as Blaze had been long on a quest throughout the realm. During his quest, he was ambushed on a bridge by an ancient sect of holy men still serving the long dead Dragon King. The holy men enslaved him through mystic incantations and forced him to protect the last known Great Dragon Egg. For many years he has remained submerged beneath the molten rock of the incubation chamber as 'Guardian Of The Egg'. 


 * Unchained: "For a millennia, I have existed for one purpose... to monitor the strength of the world's kombatants. My creator foresaw a time when warriors become too powerful and threaten all of existence. I was to sound the call to awaken her sons when the apex was drawing near. Their actions would determine the fate of these superior kombatants and ultimately prevent Armageddon. It seems, however, that one brother has been prematurely revived. During my quest, I was overpowered by holy men who served Onaga. For ages, I was bound by their sorcery and oblivious to the growing strength of Ki Chao warriors. Finally free, I have emerged to discover beings whose power and number exceed that which the realms can sustain. I have sounded the call. The sleeping brother will soon awaken."


 * thumb|250px|right|Blaze's Bio KardArmageddon Bio Kard: "Over the years, the firespawn Blaze has watched over the realms, keeping guard over the egg of the Dragon King. His new purpose was to awaken the sons of Argus so that they may begin their quest to save the realms from Armageddon."


 * Armageddon: "My initial quest was interrupted when I was forced to guard a dragon egg for many years. When I awoke from enslavement, I felt altered in some way. Though I understood the reason I was created, I sensed that something was fundamentally wrong. Casting my uncertainty aside, I returned to my given task. I searched the realms to find a concentration of warriors with the ability to tap into the forces that bind the realms. What I discovered alarmed me! The number of kombatants had grown since I last walked among them. I also learned that Onaga, the former ruler of Outworld, had somehow been resurrected. I could feel the strain upon the realms and concluded that the time had come: I would awaken the brothers and begin the second phase of the quest. In Earthrealm, atop the temple of Argus, I let loose a psychic scream, the signal to the dragons to awaken the sons of Edenia. Shortly thereafter I searched for the brothers to monitor their progress. It seems that Daegon was awakened centuries too early and is under the influence of some evil emanating from the Netherrealm. I must further assess this situation by traveling to that realm. It seems my task has been interrupted once again. I was not created to interfere, but the time may come when I will have to intercept the brothers to help insure my quest concludes as Argus and Delia planned."

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 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 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".

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 that is achieved when Taven defeats Blaze in Arcade mode reveals that Taven's victory actually had the unforeseen and unintended result of increasing the other kombatants powers due to the same corrupting effects of the spell Onaga's acolytes had earlier put on Blaze, thus rendering the quest a failure.

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-handily 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)

Endings

 * Deadly Alliance: "Having been enslaved through sorcery to guard the molten incubation chamber, Blaze was finally freed once the dragon egg had hatched. He then resumed the quest he had undertaken before being subdued by his captors."


 * Unchained: "Blaze had completed the first of his duties. Soon he will begin the second: to lure warriors to the Final Battle. There they will challenge him, hoping to attain godlike power from his defeat. The arrogance of these warriors will be their downfall, for only a son of Edenia can unleash the true purpose of Blaze."
 * Armageddon: (Non-canonical) "During his ages-long quest to monitor the realms, Blaze had been enslaved by Onaga's holy men and forced to guard the great dragon egg. The spell used to control him corrupted his original design. When his final objective atop the pyramid came to pass, he was unstoppable and defeated all who challenged him. As foreseen by the sorceress Delia, Armageddon began in the Edenian crater and spread throughout the realms, shattering reality until there was nothing."

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.

Character Relationships

 * Created by Delia to watch over the realms.
 * Enslaved by Onaga's holy men to guard the Dragon Egg.
 * Encountered Kitana and informed her to gather the Forces of Light for the epic final battle.
 * Had a mental link with Orin and Caro.
 * Destroyed by Taven in Armageddon.

Trivia

 * Blaze was originally nicknamed "Torch" by fans before his actual name was revealed.
 * Blaze is the only character to bleed blood of an orange coloring or lava.
 * In his boss form, Blaze is the tallest character in the Mortal Kombat series.
 * 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.
 * In Armageddon, Blaze is the only character whom the player cannot perform a Fatality on.
 * Excluding Stage Fatalities and the Kreate-A-Fatality, Blaze is one of five characters including Daegon, Mokap, Moloch, and Onaga never to receive his own finishing move.
 * Blaze, along with Cyber Sub-Zero, is one of the only two characters to have a very rare blood color. In his case, it is considered to be lava.