Johnny Cage



"I make this look easy!"

- Johnny Cage's Mortal Kombat (2011) Battle Cry

John Carlton, better known as Johnny Cage, is an action movie martial artist in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. He is one of the most recurring characters and one of the few original characters, debuting in the first Mortal Kombat arcade game

About Johnny Cage
Johnny Cage is a Hollywood movie star. Originally entering the Mortal Kombat tournament to display his fighting skills and prove himself to skeptical movie critics and the movie-viewing public, who believed Cage was nothing more than an actor who relied too much on stunts and camera work and not a real proficient fighter. Eventually, Cage becomes one of the most important defenders of Earthrealm. Though he occasionally lapses into his former selfish and materialistic ways, he has always been a brave and loyal warrior for Earthrealm.

Appearance
Johnny Cage is depicted as the typical American action movie star; bare muscular build with karate pants and his trademark sunglasses. In his debut, his clothing was modeled directly after Jean-Claude Van Damme's character in Bloodsport, consisting of black shorts with a red Kung Fu belt and black shoes. From MKII to MK4, he is depicted with black pants with blue accents.

In Deadly Alliance onwards, his design becomes a fusion of his first and familiar appearances, regaining the black shorts, but with a Cage emblem and blue belt tied at his waist. He goes barefoot with bandage straps. Interestingly, he has dyed his hair to a blond color.

In MK 2011, he has a similar outfit from MKII but with slight changes: he keeps his sunglasses on all the time, his chest is tattooed with his own name, he has straps in his arms and hands, his pants' accents are white and his last name is on his belt.

Powers and abilities
Despite the behavior of a comedian, Johnny Cage is a strong and agile warrior, showing an excellent fighting technique during a battle. Due to the long period of training with many masters of martial arts, Cage mastered several fighting styles, like the famous Karate.

Although Johnny Cage is a human being, he has superhuman powers. Cage is able to propel himself forward and increase the strength of his blows. When using this power, he leaves green-colored afterimages behind. He can further increase these shadow attacks, which are represented by red afterimages, dealing more damage. Johnny also has the ability to throw green energy blasts.

Signature moves

 * Shadow Kick: Cage would slide across the floor with one foot at a steady speed connecting with a kick to the torso of his opponent with the other one. (MK)
 * Green Shadow Kick: Improving on the speed of his Shadow Kick, he would move faster, and leave a green trail. In MK 2011 the move is once again called Shadow Kick, however, he keeps the green trail. (MKII, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:SM, MK:DA, MK:A, MK 2011)
 * Red Shadow Kick: The fastest version of the move, which leaves a red trail. This is the enhanced version of the Shadow Kick in MK 2011 and is called Eclipse Kick, and has increased range and damage, and Johnny Cage is armoured while performing the kick. After the move is done, Johnny sometimes says You got Caged! (MKT, MK4, MKG, MK 2011)
 * Green Bolt: His original fireball traveled straight across the screen. (MK)
 * Plasmic Fireball: This fireball curved upwards, and would remain Cage's standard projectile. In Deadly Alliance the screen shakes if the projectile hit the opponent, while in Armageddon the screen will not shake. In MK 2011 this is called a Forceball and can have a high arc or low arc. (MKII, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:DA, MK:SM, MK:A, MK 2011)
 * The enhanced versions are Double Low ball and Double High ball. On either one of these, Johnny fires a second ball in a straight direction at his opponent.
 * High Green Orb: A higher version of the curved fireball. (MKII, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK 2011)
 * Triple Green Orb: Johnny shoots 3 low green orbs one after another. (MK:SM)
 * [[Image:Johnny_Cage's_nut_cracker.jpg|thumb|250px|Johnny Cage's Nut Breaker]]Nut Breaker: One of Cage's most memorable moves where he does the splits and punches the opponent in the groin. This only worked on male fighters. Available in both Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks and Mortal Kombat (2011), it can be performed on both male fighters and female fighters. In MK 2011 it is called Nut Punch. (MK, MKII, MK4, MKG, MK:SM, MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Nutcracker and turns Cage's fist green with energy.
 * Green Shadow Uppercut: Cage would leap into the air and deliver an uppercut with his elbow which launched his foe into the air, leaving a green trail. In MK 2011 Cage uses this move as his Breaker attack. (MKII, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK 2011)
 * Red Shadow Uppercut: A faster version of the move, which leaves a red trail. In MK 2011, this move is done after the Ultra Flipkick. (MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:SM, MK 2011).
 * Sliding Uppercut: A new move given to Cage had him do the split and rise up in the air delivering an uppercut to the opponent (this may resemble the "Shadow Uppercut" and the "Split Punch" combined). (MK:DA, MK:A)
 * Flipkick: Cage does a somersault kick that launches his foe into the air, leaving a green trail. (MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Ultra Flipkick and leaves red trail, as well as following up with a Red Shadow Uppercut.


 * thumb|250px|rightX-Ray Move - Ball Buster: Cage taunts his opponent. If, during this time, they attack him, he parries them and performs a triple Split Punch in the opponent's groin area. As they double up, he jumps and then slams his elbow on their back, dealing damage to their spine. There was a glitch that allowed him to do this over and over again without any energy in the super meter by staying crouched while holding down the block button, but the glitch has since been patched. (MK 2011)

Fatalities

 * Deadly Uppercut: Johnny Cage delivers a bloody and savage uppercut that tears his opponent's head off. A glitch allowed the fatality to be performed multiple times in MK. (MK, MKII, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:SM)
 * Torso Rip: Johnny Cage grabs his enemy around the torso and rips their torso off, and throws it to the ground. (MKII, MK4, MKG, MK:SM)
 * Triple Punch Decapitation: A bizarre fatality in which Cage performs his uppercut fatality, only instead of one head, Cage knocks off three. Most likely done in parody of a glitch discovered in the first Mortal Kombat game, where Johnny Cage could knock off multiple heads in his fatality. (MKII, MKT)
 * Torso Kick: Johnny Cage begins to smoke, right before he performs a Shadow Kick that tears the opponent's torso off. The severed head then falls on what remains of the enemy. (MKT)
 * Backbuster: Cage would lift his opponent over his head and then bend them over his shoulders causing the opponent to explode into pieces. Only available in the CD versions of the game. (MKT)
 * Brain Rip: Cage thrusts his hand through the enemy's head and pulls out their brain. (MK:DA)
 * Forceful Shadow Kick: Cage performs a Shadow Kick strong enough for his foot to penetrate the enemy's flesh. Only available in the SNES version of Mortal Kombat. (MK, MK:SM)
 * Nut Buster: Cage performs his groin strike move, only takes it a step further by continuing to assault his opponent's genitals with a series of punches until with one final blow, he punches the enemy in half. (MK:SM)
 * Heads Up: Cage uppercuts his opponent's head off, then he finishes by ripping off their torso and throwing it to the ground as the head bounces up then he catches the head. (MK 2011)
 * And The Winner Is...: Johnny Cage karate chops the opponent's head in half and takes out a trophy. He then says, "And the award goes to..." and plants the trophy in between the two chopped halves of the opponent's head. Then while the announcer says "Johnny Cage Wins." Johnny pushes the opponent, making them fall to the ground. For unknown reasons, Johnny does not plant the trophy in Kratos' head, as Kratos simply falls backwards when he gets his head split. (MK 2011)

Other finishers

 * Friendship: Autograph: Johnny Cage signs a photo of himself stating: "To My Greatest Fan! Cage" (MKII, MKT)
 * Animality: Hyper Kangaroo Kick: Cage turns into a kangaroo and kicks his opponent off screen. (MKT)
 * Babality: Johnny Cage takes a pencil and paper and draws on it. The wind then blows the paper, making it land on the screen with the paper having a picture of himself and a few words saying, "To My Best Fan! Johnny Cage." which is most likely an homage to his Friendship in earlier games, see above. (MK 2011)

Mortal Kombat
Johnny Cage was portrayed by Linden Ashby in the first Mortal Kombat movie. In the film, he is a famed martial arts movie star who, having been branded as a fake by the media, seeks to prove otherwise to the world. He is invited to compete in the Mortal Kombat tournament by his sensai, Master Boyd (a disguised Shang Tsung, posing as Boyd to lure Cage into the tournament). Cage is chosen along with Liu Kang and Sonya Blade as representatives of Earthrealm by Raiden. During the tournament he fought Scorpion and seemed inferior, but eventually won by using scattered weapons. Later he caused the death of Goro in a match on the cliffs, avenging the death of a fellow fighter named Art Lean, one of the few people who believed that Cage's abilities were real. Cage accompanies Liu Kang and Kitana to Shao Kahn's castle in the Wastelands of Outworld where they rescue Sonya, who had been captured by Shang Tsung and forced into final combat with him. Cage, Sonya and Kitana witness the climatic battle between Liu Kang and Shang Tsung, culminating in Liu Kang emerging triumphant and bringing peace back to Earthrealm, which was cut short by Shao Kahn himself who began his invasion of Earthrealm.

As a homage to his Friendship in MKII, he left behind an autographed picture of himself after the explosion of Scorpion. The film also took a page from Malibu's 1994-1995 MK comic book adaptations by starting his love interest with Sonya.

Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
Chris Conrad played Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. He makes a brief appearance in the opening scene, in which he successfully saves Sonya Blade from certain death at the hands of Shao Kahn, only to be quickly slain by him instead.

Mortal Kombat: Rebirth
Matt Mullins plays Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat: Rebirth. Similar to his game counterpart, he is a movie star whose career goes dry. Then in the following events, he begins a career as a secret agent. He is then hired by Jax and Sonya Blade to get info on Baraka. After a brutal fight, Johnny is laying on the floor and Baraka decapitates him.

Mortal Kombat: Legacy


Matt Mullins reprises the role of Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat: Legacy. Appearing in the third episode of the series, Johnny Cage is an action star fallen in disgrace, who is dropped by his producers who, after refusing two of his proposals for a new television series, declare that audiences want to see more than what Johnny can offer. Moments later, Johnny finds out that the two are using his ideas for a show to launch an actress. Enraged, he violently beats one of the producers and some security agents. Leaving the studios, he is approached by Shang Tsung, who stops time, and proposes an opportunity to change his life forever.

Mortal Kombat (film)

 * "Where d'ya get these guys?! And the press says I don't know how to do this stuff?!"
 * "Do I look like your travel agent?"
 * "Y'know, when a woman looks at you like that...it usually means something."
 * "Come to a little tournament, he said. Be good for the career, he said. Yeah right..."
 * "This is our tournament, remember? Mortal Kombat. We fight it."
 * "Those were 500 dollar sunglasses, asshole."

Mortal Kombat: Legacy

 * "Well, no shit the fighting's fake. It's a fucking movie!"
 * "You're dropping me? After all the fucking money I made you?!"
 * "Does that look fucking fake to you?"

Mortal Kombat (2011)

 * "Hey beautiful, Johnny Cage."
 * What? 'Massive Strike?' 'Citizen Cage?' 'Ninja Mime?' None of those ring a bell?"
 * "Kano? Wasn't in that one."
 * "Heh, that old geezer's the final challenge? Might as well give me the belt right now. They do have belts right?"
 * "What? How did you...?"
 * "That's right, that's right. Who's it gonna be?"
 * "Nice Stunt! Who's your agent?"
 * "Alright, its show time!"
 * "He got caged!"
 * "That's it. Haha! Oh yeah, I'm so pretty."
 * "And I'm takin you down. I'm takin you down. I'm takin you out. I'm takin you out. And I'm takin you out...for dinner."
 * "Okay, nice makeup. But was it really necessary?"
 * "Woah!"
 * "Man I love those blades!"
 * "My producer has GOT to meet you. We're doing 'Tommy Scissorfists' and..."
 * "Finish him? Yeah right!"
 * "Woah, woah, woah, wait a second. I'm not gonna kill anyone."
 * "What that's it? Really?"
 * "Now where'd that hottie go?"
 * "Thanks, nice hat."
 * "Now look. I don't know what kind of role playing you guys are into, but count me out."
 * "What are you talking about?"
 * "Me? I've got a date with a blonde. Ciao!
 * "Look baby, I can't let you run loose without an escort!"
 * "Ha Haa! Not bad for a... girl"
 * "Fine, have it your way. I'll just leave you to your... problems"
 * "Step away from the lady!"
 * "Fans think my moves are all wirework and special effects. Truth is... I am the special effect!"
 * "Throw that on your... barby... shrimp!"
 * "So what are we gonna do now, instead of hanging around looking pretty?"
 * "MVP, baby!"
 * "He was busy hitting me in the face"
 * "Liu Kang! Close as a shadow!"
 * "What did you do!?"

Mortal Kombat: Legacy

 * Is a famous actor and martial artist.
 * His career goes dry.
 * Tried to regain his glory days by making a new television series, but is ignored by the producers.
 * Attacked one of the producers and several of his bodyguards after discovering that his ideas had been stolen.
 * Invited by Shang Tsung to participate in the Mortal Kombat tournament.

Movies

 * Trained and mentored by Master Boyd
 * Entered Shang Tsung's Mortal Kombat tournament.
 * Ally of Liu Kang, Sonya and Kitana.
 * Fought and defeated Scorpion in the first movie.
 * Outsmarted and killed Goro in the first movie.
 * Killed by Shao Kahn after saving Sonya in the second movie.

Comics

 * Once trained with an actress named Lynn Kway.
 * Has a bodyguard named Bo.
 * Is romantically involved with Sonya.

Trivia

 * The original name for Cage was going to be Michael Grimm. It was changed during preproduction of MK.
 * Cage's "real name" came from Midway game programmer John Carlton, who worked on the popular NBA Jam arcade series.
 * Brandon Lee was originally cast as Johnny Cage in the film, but he died before filming began.
 * Gray Daniels, Tom Cruise, Ryan Reynolds and Johnny Depp were among some of the actors considered for the role in the film.
 * The name John Carlton was briefly mentioned in Johnny Cage's song from the Mortal Kombat album by the techno group "The Immortals"
 * Cage's body can be seen in the introduction of Mortal Kombat Deception, located on the beginning of the stairway which leads to the Soulnado chamber, along with the other fallen Earthrealm warriors.
 * Cage was the last character in the original MK to be given a Fatality. Until a last-minute brainstorm by co-creator John Tobias that later evolved into the Head Punch Fatality, he was simply going to throw his opponent across the screen as a finishing move.
 * In the first game, Cage was modeled after the Belgian actor Jean-Claude Van Damme. The creators wanted Van Damme to be Johnny Cage in the first Mortal Kombat, but Van Damme was unable to due to his busy movie work. Johnny Cage's clothes in the first Mortal Kombat are almost identical to the clothes Van Damme wore in the last match in the 1988 movie Bloodsport and his split punch is taken directly from a move done by Van Damme in the movie.
 * The fictitious Johnny Cage film "Ninja Mime" is most likely inspired by the opening scenes from the action film "The Quest" which the hero, dressed like a mime, evades authorities using martial arts like moves. The film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme in the lead role, which whom Johnny Cage is based on.
 * Cage was the only character in the original MK who did not have a past history with any of the other characters.
 * In early arcade test versions of MKII, the word "Otomix" appeared on Cage's pants (they were worn by actor Daniel Pesina during filming), but was omitted in subsequent chip upgrades. Otomix is an established supplier of martial arts and athletic wear.
 * The Red Shadow Kick, and Red Shadow Uppercut special moves happened randomly in Mortal Kombat II. In Mortal Kombat 4, and Mortal Kombat Gold, selecting Player 2's outfit would cause the moves to have red shadow properties, rather than green. In MK 2011, the red shadow properties return as powered up versions of Cage's original green shadow attacks.
 * Johnny Cage was cut from the Game Boy version of MK due to memory constraints. He was also the only character from the first MK game who did not appear in Jeff Rovin's non-canon 1995 novel.
 * Cage was exclusively recreated for Mortal Kombat Trilogy because Daniel Pesina was fired by Midway after appearing in an ad for the arcade game BloodStorm dressed as Cage, and thus his MKII sprite wasn't used. He was replaced by Chris Alexander.
 * Also in the film, after Cage defeats Scorpion, a headshot photo signed 'To my greatest fan' lands in the debris, a nod to his Friendship finishing move in Mortal Kombat II.
 * Some think that Johnny had defeated Goro in the first Mortal Kombat tournament (most likely due to the movie). However in the videogame storyline it was Liu Kang who had defeated Goro in the tournament. In Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, there is another fight between Liu Kang, Kung Lao, and Goro, in which Johnny intervenes and finishes off Goro. This is a homage to the film.
 * According to some of the extras in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, his official biographies, the official comics, the officially-released "Johnny Cage: In Your Face" video, Mortal Kombat Rebirth, and Mortal Kombat Legacy Johnny Cage has starred in the following movies:
 * Ninja Mime (a box office flop in America, but a cult classic in France; Cyrax loathed this film)
 * Dragon Fist
 * Dragon Fist 2
 * Son of Dragon Fist
 * HWAAAAA!! (according to MK:DA, it won an Oscar)
 * Sudden Violence (Said to be award-winning)
 * Aquatic Assault
 * Exiting the Dragon of Death (opposite Hong Kong action star Channie Jack, a spoof of Jackie Chan)
 * 7 Poisons
 * Cage Match
 * The Gist of my Fist
 * 24 Karate Gold
 * Who's That?
 * Wu Shu (a TV series)
 * Mortal Kombat
 * Mortal Kombat II
 * Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
 * Mortal Kombat: The Death of Johnny Cage (cancelled)
 * Caged Rage
 * Every Dog Has Its Day
 * Massive Strike
 * Iron Claw
 * Time Smashers
 * Citizen Cage (a spoof of Citizen Kane)
 * Tommy Scissorfists (a spoof of Edward Scissorhands)
 * Fight Dirty
 * World's Most Wanted
 * Power Rangers (A T.V. series)
 * You Got Caged (2 pilots not picked up by the network)
 * Pirates of the Outworld Demons (a spoof of Pirates of the Caribbean)
 * Stryker: I Was Doing My Job as Kurtis Stryker (as of Stryker's MK 2011 ending) (cancelled by Stryker)
 * Brokenose Mountain (a spoof of Brokeback Mountain)
 * He also appeared on Celebrity SMASH TV (as a result, Smash TV and the Mortal Kombat series are both portrayed as occurring in the same fictional universe). He won the episode he was in, and donated his winnings to charity.
 * Cage is the comic relief character of Mortal Kombat (claimed in a bonus item in the Mortal Kombat: Deception double pack).
 * Though Mortal Kombat is notorious for replacing the letter "c" with "k", Cage is an exception. It's probably more than coincidence that Kage (影, pronounced "ka-ge") in japanese means shadow, and Johnny Cage is the master of many "shadow" move techniques.
 * In Unreal Championship 2, Raiden will occasionally taunt his opponent by stating that they "fight like Johnny Cage!".
 * His MKII ending showed him battling Shao Kahn on the big screen.
 * The movie poster seen during Cage's ending in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance featured both himself as the main character, standing in the forefront, and several other characters, including Sonya as his romantic interest, as well as Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, Scorpion, and Moloch as antagonists.
 * Reportedly, John Vogel did not like Cage's storyline in Mortal Kombat Trilogy and Mortal Kombat 4, and Cage's Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance bio can be viewed as retconning this, with Mortal Kombat: The Death of Johnny Cage explaining away - and mocking - his repeated death and revival during Trilogy and MK4. Fan reaction to this intent has been mixed; some like the loss of another "resurrection" storyline, but others feel the retcon destroys what was perceived as a refreshing change of pace for Cage's otherwise stilted storyline. Others do not view this as a retcon at all, as it would directly contradict his story screens in Trilogy and MK4 and therefore make them canonical. To these fans, the references to The Death of Johnny Cage movie therefore take on a more satirical aspect. This debate was put to rest in MK 2011, as one of the visions Raiden receives from his future self is Johnny being slain by Motaro, confirming the resurrection storyline as canon in the unchanged storyline.
 * A glitch in MK makes Johnny Cage's Uppercut, if performed quick enough, knock off a phantom head of the opponent, though this can be only done on Kano, Sub-Zero and Scorpion. In MKII this became an actual fatality, but this time Johnny Cage uppercuts three heads off.
 * Originally he used a variant of Mileena's X-Ray Move before it was changed to his infamous "Split Punch".
 * He is the character who has died and resurrected the most times in the series.
 * Cage is the first playable character in MK 2011´s story mode.
 * One of the only three known survivors of the Earthrealm fighters in MK 2011, the others being Sonya Blade and Raiden.
 * Cage is the only character in MK 2011 whose X-Ray move is a counter as opposed to be a direct damage attack like the rest of the characters.
 * MK 2011 is the first game to give an explanation for Johnny's shadow abilities, with him being descended from a Mediterranean cult who bred warriors for the gods with special abilities.
 * If Johnny Cage performs his And the Winner is... Fatality on Kratos, for some odd reason he will not get a trophy planted in his head. This may be because he is a guest character.
 * In a Top 10 list for the best Mortal Kombat characters hosted by Screwattack.com, Johnny Cage was listed at #10.
 * In a Top 10 list for best Mortal Kombat fatalities, also hosted by Screwattack.com, his Nut Buster fatality from Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks was placed at #3.
 * In a Top 10 list yet again hosted by Screwattack.com, Johnny Cage was placed at #9 of the P.A.B characters in the game histories, due to his nutpunch.
 * In MK 2011, His P2 color swap resembles his MKT attire.
 * Johnny Cage, along with Kintaro, Kratos, Reptile, Shang Tsung, Shao Kahn, and Skarlet, are the only characters in MK2011 who do not cry during their Babalities.
 * Johnny Cage, along with Jade, Nightwolf, Sindel, and Jax have the only X-Ray attacks that don't feature damage to the skull.
 * Johnny Cage can be witnessed being impaled by Motaro in Rain's MK 2011 ending, a nod to his death during the original timeline.
 * Implied by Raiden's visions, chronologically, Johnny Cage was the first kombatant to fight Reptile in the first tournament.

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