The Krypt

The Krypt is a special feature of the Mortal Kombat games series that made its debut in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. It also appears in Mortal Kombat: Deception, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, and Mortal Kombat (2011). It is where you use the Koins you collect as you play in order to purchase items such as concept art, videos, and even hidden Fatalities and new characters.

Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
In Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, the Krypt consisted of 676 Koffins arranged in a square format with each designated alphabetically by a two-letter designation (AA - ZZ). The Koffins were filled with a vast number of secrets and unlockables available only through that game. Each Koffin had a different designated price, listed in a number (anywhere from 12 up to the thousands) and color (Gold, Ruby, Sapphire, Jade, Onyx, and Platinum) of Koins that were needed to purchase the opening of the Koffin.

Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance Krypt Content
Krypts in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance included nine unlockable characters, eight unlockable arenas, and alternate costumes for each of the characters. Also included amongst the Koffins were various videos, images, concept sketches, entire comic books, and extras such as Feelings, DooDeez Adult Undergarments and Arctic Hold. Some Koffins contained Koins that could be used towards other Koffins, others contained hints as to where highly sought after items were located, and others were even empty.

Mortal Kombat: Deception
In Mortal Kombat: Deception, the Krypt was cut down significantly from 676 Koffins to 400 Koffins. The Koffins were still identified alphabetically, but the letter designation was altered to run from AA-TT. This was used in order to cut down both the content necessary to fill the Krypt as well as cut down the need for empty Koffins and hint Koffins that received a poor response from fans. The major new feature of the new Krypt was the inclusion of Krypts that could only be opened through the use of keys. These keys could be found in the Konquest mode, where they could be obtained through opening treasure chests, collecting items, and defeating characters throughout the realms. These keys also came with a built-in "homing" feature that allowed a player to click a button to be instantly directed to the Koffin for which (s)he had the key for. Many Mortal Kombat characters, even those not in Deception, could also been seen running around in the background for a brief period.

Mortal Kombat: Deception Krypt Content
Krypts in Mortal Kombat: Deception included 12 unlockable characters, over a dozen arenas, alternate costumes for all 24 characters, 48 biographies, multiple moves for the customizable character Shujinko, and much more, including an ending created for Onaga, the boss of the game who was never included as a playable character without the use of a cheat.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, the Krypt was further cut down from 400 Koffins to 280, with a completely new look resembling that of a catacomb rather than the traditional graveyard or tomb. In Armageddon, all the Koffins are clearly marked with what they contain, and are broken up into groups for Artwork, Gameplay, and Media, so the player will know exactly what (s)he is going to unlock before (s)he does, preventing the surprise factor of the past two Krypts. Also unlike past Krypts, a player can unlock the items in Armageddon's Krypt through different means, either by paying the requisite amount of Koins like before, or by unlocking them via the game's Konquest mode. By gathering all 60 Relics in Konquest mode, everything in the Krypt can be unlocked instantly, allowing the player to save his/her Koins for unlocking Kreate-a-Fighter mode items, (which also requires Koins to unlock).

Only one Koffin in the Krypt - a mysterious question mark box that asks for a six-key code to be inputted - remains locked afterwards; so far, this box seems to be similar to the "versus screen codes" from Mortal Kombat 3 and its updates, where inputting a certain code will unlock the other items in the Krypt (though there is some speculation that some codes will also unlock other secrets not available in the Krypt). Among the more popular rumors about the unlockables in this box are new items for the game's Kreate-a-Fighter mode, a video depicting what truly happens after the storyline Armageddon, and Khameleon (the only playable character from a past MK to not be included in the MKA roster until the Wii release of the game). There are five other Koffins that can only be opened by completing tasks in Konquest mode, however.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Krypt Content
Krypts in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon include four unlockable characters, almost two dozen arenas, alternate costumes for all but eight of the characters (Blaze, Onaga, Meat, Moloch, Chameleon, Khameleon, Mokap, and Daegon only have one costume), blooper and concept videos, and much more, though it is worthy of note that none of the items available in the Krypt this time around are 'joke' items (such as Cooking with Scorpion in Deadly Alliance), and are all meant to be directly related or used in the game.

Mortal Kombat (2011)
The Krypt returns in Mortal Kombat (2011) with a completely new look. Unlike earlier games, this Krypt is now broken up into four sections, the Deadlands, Bloodmarsh, Hollow of Infestation, and Meadow of Despair, as well as the Nekropolis, which is where unlocked art, music, and costumes can be viewed. There are not only graves, but torture devices, that when unlocked, activate and kill the victim. In one section, there are floating dead bodies that explode for different reasons, such as vultures picking at the enlarged stomach. As well as this, there are hanging bodies that when selected are fed a strange red substance, which also causes their stomach to explode. The largest section houses numerous graves marked by tombstones, along with occasional stone tombs.

Startlingly, at random times during one's visit to the Krypt, a random creature that most people call the Krypt Monster pops up on screen, screaming at the viewer before disappearing again. The whole thing happens in around one second. This parodies interflash pranks intending to scare the viewer.

A guide that shows all of the items found in the Krypt can be found here.