Kano



"One dead Lin Kuei, in a tick!"

- Kano to Smoke in Mortal Kombat (2011)

Kano (加納) is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. He is one of the few original characters, debuting in the first Mortal Kombat arcade game.

About Kano
A portion of Kano's face is covered with a metal plate as a result of a disfiguring injury he sustained at the hands of Major Jackson Briggs prior to the events of the series, with the plated eye being a glowing red orb capable of emitting laser beams. Originally a mercenary and leader of the international crime cartel known as the Black Dragon he rises beyond the level of mere brutality and aggression by also being sly and cunning. It was through his resourcefulness that he convinced Shao Kahn to spare his life, and it was through ruthless ambition that he later ascended to position of general of Outworld's armies. Kano combines the features of a cowardly minion, a lone survivor, a crazed madman, and an intelligent commander. His actions have made him the archenemy of Lt. Sonya Blade.

Powers and abilities
Kano is extremely adept in combat. What differentiates him from other kombatants, however, is his dependence on weapons rather than special powers. He very often uses his Butterfly Knives in combat, whether he throws them at the opponent or uses them in hand-to-hand combat. In addition, his eye laser is used often, mostly as a finisher but sometimes as a special move.

Another of Kano's special moves is his ability to tuck into a cannonball and propel himself at his opponents. This has been a signature move of his since the first game. Also, several of his finishers involve him ripping vital organs (or sometimes entire skeletons) out of the opponent's body. Along with the elder Sub-Zero's Spine Rip fatality, Kano's Heart Rip helped Mortal Kombat garner significant controversy over its violence factor.

Signature moves

 * Kanoball: Kano curls into a ball and flies at his opponent. In MK 2011 this is known simply as Ball. (MK, MK3, UMK3, MKT, MK:DA, MK:SM, MK:A, MKvsDCU, MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Kano Ball. Kano will spin in the air momentarily before launching at the opponent, hitting them several times. This can be charged and it's unblockable if held for the full charge.
 * Down Ball: Kano performs a Ball from the air to the ground, hitting the opponent if on his way. (MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is Downward Ball and allows Kano to do an anti air grab before the opponent hits the ground.
 * Upwards Kanoball: Kano aims his Kanoball upwards to an aerial opponent. This moves is known simply as Up Ball in MK 2011. (UMK3, MKT, MKvsDCU, MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Uprise Ball. Kano will do an animation like Up Ball except he will roll downwards after getting to a certain height.
 * Psycho Kanoball: This version sees Kano flying all over the screen in random directions. (MKT)
 * Knife Throw: Kano throws a pair of knives at his opponent. In MK 2011, he only throws one knife. (MK, MK3, UMK3, MKT, MKvsDCU, MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Knife Toss and Kano throws two knives.
 * Blade Swipe: Kano slashes his opponents with his knife in an upward swing. (MK3, UMK3, MKT)
 * Kano's_blade_swing.pngBlade Spin: Kano spins both of his knives around his body, knocking the opponent up into the air if it connects. Only usable by MK Kano. (MKT)
 * Air Throw: While in the air, Kano uses his legs to push the opponent to the ground. (MK3, UMK3, MKT, MK 2011)
 * Chokehold: Kano would grab his opponent and lift them in the air by the throat and proceed to stab them in the chest. In MK 2011, this move changes to a ground based choke and is simply called Choke. (MK3, UMK3, MKT, MKvsDCU, MK 2011)
 * The enhanced version is called Kano Choke. Kano grounds the opponent and smashes their head on the ground and then rolls over them to the other side.
 * Eye Laser: Kano shoots a laser from his eye at the opponent. (MK:DA, MK:A, MKvsDCU)
 * Inner Rage: Kano concentrates for a short amount of time before covering his hands in red energy. Using this move increases the amount of damage dealt. (MK:A)
 * Fist of Power: Kano rapidly lunges forward and strikes the opponent with an energy covered fist. (MK:A)thumb|250px|right
 * X-Ray Move - Just the Tip: Kano plunges a knife into his opponent's right thigh, going through and snapping the femur. Before the opponent can react Kano proceeds to stab them in the left thigh, resulting in another broken femur. Then he delivers a devastating kick to the front of the skull, causing heavy fracture damage. (MK 2011)

Other moves

 * Free-Fall Super Move: Kano hits his opponent with a charged Kanoball, knocking them to the ground. (MKvsDCU)
 * Throw: Kano slashes his opponent in the stomach twice with a knife, then either headbutts them to the ground (Forward Throw), or turns around and throws them over his shoulder (Backwards Throw). (MK 2011)

Fatalities

 * Heart Rip: Kano's signature fatality has him ripping the heart out of his opponent's chest, then hoisting the still beating organ in the air in triumph. Variations of this fatality have also been used by other members of the Black Dragon: Jarek in MK4 and Kobra in MK:D. (MK, MKT, MK:SM)
 * Deadly Roundhouse: In the Game Boy version, Kano slides up on one foot and performs a roundhouse to his opponent, launching them straight up into the air, possibly snapping their neck when they drop to the ground. (MK)
 * Eye Laser: Kano fires a concentrated heat beam of energy towards the opponent to boil their body until it tears into pieces. (MK3, UMK3, MKT)
 * Skeleton Rip: Kano pulls out the victim's entire skeleton by grabbing the skull from their teeth and jerking it out, leaving the rest of the body to fall flat on the floor in a heap of skin. (MK3, UMK3, MKT)
 * Organ Donor: Kano pulls out his opponent's heart, liver and kidneys two at a time and kicks the opponent away. (MK:DA)
 * Knife Toss: Before executing this fatality, he slowly walks away from his opponent, as if he were giving up, then he throws both Butterfly Knives into the opponent abruptly. (MKvsDCU)
 * Flip Stomp: Kano grabs the opponent, flips backwards with them, then jumps into the air. He comes back down and stomps on them with full force. (MKvsDCU)
 * Heartbreak: A variation of his signature fatality, Kano turns the opponent around and punches the heart out through his victim´s back, holding it so they can see it. He then crushes the heart in his hands, pulls it back out and hoists it in the air while blood still pumps out. (MK 2011)
 * Eat Your Heart Out: Another variation of his signature fatality, Kano rips the heart out of his opponent's chest, then proceeds to rip off their head. He jams the opponent's head into the hole in their chest and kicks them away. (MK 2011)

Other finishers

 * Friendship: Kano blows a bubble from a piece of gum in his mouth and the bubble explodes in his face. (MK3, UMK3, MKT)
 * Animality: Kano turns into a tarantula and locks himself onto his opponent, crushing their guts while they spew out of the opponent. (MK3, UMK3, MKT)
 * Babality: Kano turns into a baby and gives the camera the sign of death, then falls due to the weight of his metal eye. (MK 2011)

Film
Kano appeared in the first Mortal Kombat movie, and was played by the late Trevor Goddard. He seems to have very bad table manners, as shown when Sonya, Liu Kang and Johnny Cage are spying on him, Goro, and Shang Tsung later in the film. In spite of their allegiance, Shang Tsung and Goro have little respect for him. Kano also appears to harbor an obsessive infatuation for Sonya regardless of her hatred for him. The film expanded upon Kano's rivalry with Sonya from the games; she now had a personal interest in seeking vengeance against Kano for killing her partner. Shang Tsung hires Kano to lure Sonya into the Mortal Kombat tournament and promises to grant Kano the reward he desires for his efforts after he faces off against Sonya in the tournament, demanding that Sonya is not to be harmed but merely humiliated, claiming that he has plans for her. During their match, Kano gleefully taunts Sonya about how he murdered her partner with his butterfly knife. After beating Sonya harshly, Kano is caught off guard by a leg lock from Sonya, and is soon trapped between her thighs and at her mercy. Shang Tsung betrays Kano and goads Sonya into finishing him off. Despite pleading for his life, Sonya proceeds to break Kano's neck.

Goddard's Australian interpretation of Kano was so well received by fans that Kano was retconned as Australian from his original American-Japanese descent. In Mortal Kombat: Special Forces, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe and Mortal Kombat (2011), Kano is notably modeled after Goddard's look in the film and speaks with an Australian accent.

British actor and martial artist Darren Shahlavi portrayed Kano in Mortal Kombat: Legacy. In the series, he is the leader of the Black Dragon organization and plans an ambush for the Deacon City Police Department after taking Sonya hostage. A police squad led by Jax breaks into the Black Dragon warehouse and fights through Kano's thugs. Kano attempts to escape, but Jax soon catches up with him. Kano and Jax engage each other in combat, during which Kano describes his torturing of Sonya to taunt Jax. He is subsequently defeated, and an angry Jax punches Kano repeatedly in the face, the final blow dealt with so much force that it caves in his right eye socket. Sometime later, Kano is found by his gang and is given a cybernetic eye as a replacement. He also appears in Episode 9, which chronologically takes place before Episodes 1 and 2. He oversees his cybernetic project in fruitition, alongside with the Lin Kuei Grandmaster.

Kano is set to appear in the upcoming Disney film Wreck-It-Ralph as a cameo along with other video game villains.

Television
Kano appears in two episodes of the animated cartoon Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm. He is the main antagonist in Episode 6 (Familiar Red) and also reappears in Episode 11 (Amends). The cartoon explains Kano's past rivalry with Sonya, showing him in a flashback scene having killed Sonya's partner in a carefully rigged bomb (which almost killed Sonya as well). The flashback continues with a recreation of a scene in the first movie, where Kano loses to Sonya in the Mortal Kombat tournament. In Amends, they also touched Kano's relationship with Kabal, showing their past history as clan members in the Black Dragon clan.

Comic books
Kano appears in the Malibu Comics series keeping his personality and history faithful to the early games' portrayal. He also was protagonist of a 3-issues miniseries alongside Raiden entitled Rayden & Kano. During the Blood & Thunder series it is shown the origin of Sonya's vendetta against him, when he kills Sonya's partner (called Lance/Sparky in the comics) during a tournament battle by means of a heart rip. His motivations to loot the island are replaced by his discovery of the Tao Te Zan and the powers it grants. During the series' epilogue in the Tournament Edition issue, he's finally captured by Sonya and Jax and sent into custody.

He would later escape (as shown in the Breakout mini-story that came with the U.S. Special Forces issue 1°) and during the Battlewave series he would be disposed by his superiors in the Black Dragon due to his failure, only to be rescued by Raiden. Raiden would attempt to use Kano to eliminate Shao Kahn by means of a mystical sword that drew power from a bad guy turned to the side of good, but Kano betrays Raiden and joins Shao Kahn, remaining in his forces the following issues.

In the novel version of Mortal Kombat, Kano's eye implant has night vision capability.

Character development
In an early sketch of Kano by John Tobias, he had an eye patch instead of a metal face plate with a bionic eye, and 2 katanas. Another design of Kano had a large helmet with two red eyes. This concept was also dropped later on to be replaced by a metal plate over his right eye. In Kano's Deception Bio Card, Ed Boon mentions how Kano's bionic eye in the first MK (involving digitized actors) was created by cutting out a piece of a plastic mask and painting it a silver color, then gluing it to Richard Divizio's head.

Game information
Kano was left out of the Sega Game Gear and Sega Master System version of MK due to memory constraints.

In Deadly Alliance, Kano had a move with his Butterfly Knives called "ear to ear." This was based on a line in the first Mortal Kombat movie, where Kano mockingly claimed that he used his knife to slit the throat of Sonya's partner, from "ear to ear." He also had a fast tag combo with the same name in MK 2011.

Movies

 * Killed Sonya's former partner before the first movie.
 * Allied with Shang Tsung and Goro in the first movie.
 * Defeated and killed by Sonya in the first movie.

Mortal Kombat Legacy

 * Leader of the Black Dragon.
 * Killed Sonya's partner.
 * Head of the "Cyber Initiation."
 * Prepared to ship stolen robotic weapons and armors to an unknown location.
 * Captured Sonya.
 * Planning an ambush against the Deacon City Police Department.
 * Fought Jax but lost.
 * Had his right eye irreparably damaged by Jax during their battle.
 * Rescued by his clan and subjected to eye surgery, where a cybernetic weapon known as the "Red Eye" is installed in his face along with metal plating to repair the damage to his skull, replacing the missing eye.

Mortal Kombat (film)

 * "Good boy. She's here, right on time. I love punctuality in a woman. Don't you... Mr. Shang Tsung?"
 * "Maybe me and Sonya should share a cabin. Have our own little honeymoon cruise."
 * "That's it, baby. Come to papa." (as Sonya boards the boat)
 * "What I wanna know, if this Shang Tsung guy's so great, how come he's got such a crummy looking boat, hm? Anyway, the guy gives me the creeps. "Treasure... these... moments"." (to Goro, mocking Shang Tsung)
 * "Yeah? Well, I'm kind of an underworld boss myself, y'know. Well, I mean, back home." (to Goro)
 * "Yeah, and I'd like to get back to my amassing as soon as possible if you don't mind. Now, when do I get paid?" (to Shang Tsung)
 * "Hello, baby. Did you miss me?" (to Sonya)
 * "Ooh, now look at this! This little baby brings back memories now, doesn't it?"
 * "Nah. It put a big smile on your partner though. Ear... to ear!"
 * "Give it up, baby! I've studied all your moves!"
 * "Does it hurt, baby?"
 * "No, Sonya, don't! Aww, gimme a break!" (Just before Sonya kills him)

Mortal Kombat: Legacy

 * "I know what it is! Work faster."
 * "Sonya Blade. I understand you've been looking for me. Well, here I am. Look at you...so excited to see me, you're quivering."
 * "Hey! Do not pester me or I will cut your heart out like I did to that bitch of a partner of yours!"
 * "Right on time. I'm gonna miss ya, baby."
 * "I've been waiting for this moment for a long time, Detective Briggs! I'm gonna enjoy this as much as I enjoyed torturing your sweet Sonya!"

Mortal Kombat (2011)

 * "My turn!/No charge." (doing his X-Ray)
 * "Good idea!" (To Johnny Cage)
 * "Now that he's softened you up, it's my turn!" (to Sonya)
 * "I don't do fair." (to Sonya)
 * "Oh, I've got a knack for survival. You, on the other hand, are gonna die here!" (To Sonya)
 * "Pretty boy ain't gonna save ya this time!" (challenging Sonya)
 * "With a whole army totin' these, no one in Outworld or Earthrealm could stand up to you." (selling Shang Tsung RPG launchers)
 * "I'll take care of him. No charge. One dead Lin Kuei in a tick." (confronting Smoke)
 * "Shang Tsung's power healed the rest of ya. But your lungs? Yeesh." (to Kabal)
 * "Yeah, you're all proper police now. The Black Dragon ain't the same without ya, mate. You should come back. We're in the money on this war."
 * "Guilty as charged."
 * "What are you on about, eh? You're here, ain't ya?"
 * "Not so keen on being dead now, are ya?" (after Kabal defeats him)
 * "Shao Kahn's the big boss 'round here, and soon, Earth's new master." (to Kabal)
 * "You're a right genius, you are!" (to Kabal)
 * "Don't care really, so long as I get paid." (to Cyber Sub-Zero)

Wreck-It Ralph

 * "You can't mess with the program Ralph." (to Wreck-It Ralph)

Trivia

 * Kano was the first Black Dragon clan member to appear in the series.
 * Kano roughly resembles a Terminator from the Terminator series of films. In an episode of Icons/Gamemakers, hosted by G4, Ed Boon stated that the eye implant was directly based on Terminator 2: Judgment Day in which the T-800's face right side of his face begins to peel off from damage, revealing his mechanical visage.
 * The metal plate on Kano's face was eventually revealed to be the result of facial damage he suffered during an encounter with Jax, during the Konquest mode of MK:DA.
 * Kano was rumored to be in MKII through Shang Tsung's morphs, but this was later proven false.
 * Kano and Sonya were the first characters to be confirmed for MK3.
 * Although originally American-Japanese, Kano became Australian following Trevor Goddard's portrayal in the first Mortal Kombat movie.
 * In Deadly Alliance, Kano hung Sonya Blade's hair around his neck as a symbol of their rivalry, which he tore from her head during their battle atop the skyscraper in MK3.
 * Kano and Sonya were chosen together for one of the four Premium Edition covers of MK: Armageddon because of their rivalry.
 * Kano and Reptile are the only characters from the first Mortal Kombat who do not appear in the animated movie, Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins, although he is referenced by Sonya and Shang Tsung.
 * Kano is the only human fighter shown to have any body hair, specifically chest hair, starting with Deadly Alliance into MK 2011. Outworlders Motaro and Kintaro also have hair and fur coats respectively.
 * Kano is one of only eight fighters in the series with facial hair along with Shang Tsung, Jax Briggs, Kai, Jarek, Hsu Hao, Bo Rai Cho and Human Sektor as of MK 2011.
 * Kan-Os.jpg the Krypt of Deadly Alliance, the koffin CO contains a comedic ad for "Kan-Os", a breakfast cereal with a cartoonish image of Kano on the box.
 * In Deadly Alliance, if Kenshi's Telekenetic Contortion Fatality is performed on Kano, only his real eye pops out.
 * Kano is the fourth character to swear in the entire series, preceded by Scorpion, Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage.
 * Kano appears as a hidden boss in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, in which he attempts to take Sonya as his prize and fights Liu Kang, Kung Lao, and Jax all at once before being defeated and killed.
 * All the Black Dragon Mercenaries resemble Kano in this game.
 * In Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Kano's ending shows him turning into the Mortal Kombat equivalent of the Joker as the kombat rage drives him insane.
 * Kano has been playable in every odd-numbered Mortal Kombat game along with the non-canon MKvsDCU. He is absent only from MKII, MK4 and Deception.
 * In each game he is absent he either makes a cameo imprisoned or a substitute fighter from the Black Dragon borrows his techniques. A combination occurs in Deception where Kano can be seen imprisoned and the new Black Dragon Kira borrows his techniques.
 * He lived longer than any other playable fighter from the original MK, confirming his self-proclaimed "knack for survival" in the original timeline.
 * In MK 2011 Kano, along with Jax, has an X-Ray that deals 41% damage - the most damaging of all of the playable characters.
 * Their X-Ray Moves are two of three that cannot be blocked, along with Sheeva's X-Ray move.
 * Richard Divizio once stated that Kano's favorite food is White Castle hamburgers. However, this likely just means that they are Richard Divizio's favorite food as well.
 * While Kano has a metal face plate in MK 2011, it is invisible when attacked with X-Ray Moves.
 * In MK 2011, when Kano's Vs. image is on the right side of the screen, his metal plate is on the left side of his head.
 * In MK 2011, along with Noob Saibot in his human form, is the only character that has his mouth from damage looking like a "big smile".
 * In the cinematic trailer from MK 2011, Scorpion kills Sub-Zero with Kano's Eat Your Heart Out Fatality.
 * He appears as an enemy in Batman Arkham City Lockdown, another game developed by NetherRealm Studios, during the Gotham Steel Mill challenge.