Cyrax

Cyrax is a fictional character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series.

About Cyrax
Making his debut in Mortal Kombat 3, Cyrax was the second of three cybernetic ninjas. An African-American fighter, he was assigned to hunt Sub-Zero for the Lin Kuei clan as designated unit LK-4D4. Of the three cyborgs, he has become the second to recover his humanity. This is due to the efforts of Sonya Blade and Jax. He has currently allied with them as a token of his appreciation.

Storyline
In Mortal Kombat 3, Cyrax was working for the Lin Kuei. He appeared alongside his partners Sektor and Smoke on the order to track down and kill a renegade member of the Lin Kuei clan, the younger Sub-Zero. This Sub-Zero had disagreed with the decision to convert all its members into cyborgs and left the clan. He was thus marked for death by the grandmasters.

During the invasion of Earthrealm by Shao Kahn and his minions, Sub-Zero defeated Cyrax and reprogrammed him with orders to destroy Shao Kahn. However, Kahn was defeated by the other Earthrealm warriors before Cyrax had a chance to do so. As a result of his reprogramming, he awaited new orders. When these never came, he malfunctioned and wandered until becoming mired in the middle of a vast desert. In Mortal Kombat Gold, Cyrax was recovered and repaired by the Lin Kuei. However, he appeared somehow different than when first constructed. The short-handed clan again sent Cyrax into battle with his fellow cyborg Sektor assigned to monitor him.

After Shinnok's defeat, it became apparent that Cyrax had begun to experience flashbacks of his former life. Special agents Sonya Blade and Jax Briggs brought him to the Outer World Investigation Agency (OIA) headquarters and used its technology to restore his humanity. Grateful for their help, Cyrax joined the OIA as a scout in the realm of Outworld.

During the events of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Cyrax was ambushed by the Oni Moloch and Drahmin. After driving the two demons off, he became stranded in Outworld. His arm console, which allowed him to return to Earthrealm, was damaged in a surprise attack by Reptile orchestrated by the vampire Nitara. He managed to drive off Reptile as well with his Slice and Dice buzzsaw attack. A short time later, he encountered Nitara. She offered to help him return home in exchange for his aid in recovering a lost artifact. They traveled to the underground chamber that housed the egg of the Dragon King. There, Cyrax submerged himself in the lake of molten lava and discovered the orb that would separate her world from Outworld. With it now in her possession, she honored her promise to Cyrax. She used her mystical necklace to open a portal and send him back to Earthrealm.

In Cyrax's Armageddon ending, he defeats Blaze and is filled with elemental power that shatters his robot form and makes him human once again. Siding with Sub-Zero, he defeats Sektor and Smoke. Sektor and Smoke are reprogrammed by the Lin Kuei and are held until they too regain their human forms.

Signature moves

 * Energy Net: Cyrax fires a green net from his chest which ensnares the opponent temporarily. (MK3, UMK3, MKT, MKG)
 * Detonator: Cyrax drops a bomb from his chest compartment in front of him, which explodes after a couple of seconds. He can shoot the bomb either far or near. (MK3, UMK3, MKT, MKG, MK:DA, MK:A)
 * Exploding Teleport: Cyrax vanishes and reappears behind the opponent. In Mortal Kombat Gold, Cyrax can follow up with a special throw after teleporting. (MK3, UMK3, MKT, MKG, MK:A)
 * Air Throw: Cyrax can throw his opponent into the air. In Mortal Kombat Gold, Cyrax can perform this move while in the air. (MK3, UMK3, MKT, MKG)
 * Funky Spin Kicks: Cyrax performs a spin kick while balancing on one of his legs. (MK:DA, MK:A)
 * Slice And Dice: Cyrax opens his chest compartment and a giant sawblade emerges. (MK:DA, MK:A)

Recurring fatalities

 * Self-Destruct: Cyrax uses his arm console to activate a timed self-destruct mechanism. He detonates, killing his opponent. This move was used as Smoke's hara-kiri in Deception. (MK3, UMK3, MKT, MKG)

Film
Cyrax briefly appears in the movie Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. The storyline involving his connection to the Lin Kuei was eschewed in favor of being sent by Shao Kahn, the emperor of Outworld, to kill Sonya Blade. In battle with her and Jax, Cyrax self-destructs after Sonya defeats him with a variation of her "Kiss of Death" fatality. In the film, he displays the ability to shoot tiny, spike-studded grenades and a corrosive, green plasma net. His name is not mentioned; he is just referred to as "the robot" by Sonya in a later part of the film.

Television
Cyrax, along with fellow cyborg Sektor, were shown in non-canon human form in an episode of the cartoon, Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm. In the first episode, "Kombat Begins Again", Sektor and Cyrax led an attack on Earthrealm that was thwarted by Earth's warriors and Sub-Zero.

Cyrax and Sektor were both shown in human form in this episode: Cyrax as a Caucasian man and, ironically, Sektor as an African-American man with dreadlocks. These looks have since been contradicted by official renders and outfits in the main games, as their human forms are the complete opposite. Sektor's human face is never shown but Cyrax is a male African-American sans dreadlocks.

Character development
He and his robotic counter-parts, Sektor and Smoke, began as palette-swapped characters to work around technical limitations to increase the number of playable characters. Since their appearances in the MK3 series, each character's appearance has evolved independently. Of late, they have only appeared in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon together. While Sektor and Cyrax were playable in Mortal Kombat Gold, only Cyrax was playable in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, while Sektor appeared in Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition. Smoke was playable as part of a tag-team with Noob Saibot in Mortal Kombat: Deception. However, they all have returned for Mortal Kombat: Armageddon as individual characters.

Initially, fans speculated that Cyrax was a robotic Scorpion because of the latter's absence from MK3, their similar color schemes, and similar moves that involved hauling an opponent towards them for a free hit.

In the development stage of Mortal Kombat 3, Cyrax and Sektor were referred to as "Mustard and Ketchup" before their names were finalized. Cyrax has separate combos in the Sambo style in Deadly Alliance named Ketchup and Mustard, a reference to this.

Cyrax's face was first seen ingame during Mortal Kombat Gold, stating for the first time that he is of Black/African descent. His alternate costume depicted him in the same outfit, but lacking the front of his mask. Although he stated he was human again after the process Jax and Sonya performed on him, he is clearly still a cyborg in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, giving a plausible explanation as to why he still bleeds oil or "black blood" in the game. While Cyrax's normal outfit in Deadly Alliance shows him more robotic than human, his alternate costume shows him to be almost completely human with cybernetic parts in his body.

Game information
In most Mortal Kombat games, Cyrax bleeds a black oil (except during fatalities), a contrast to other characters whose blood is red or green.

Cyrax's Mortal Kombat Gold storyline – being recovered from the desert by the Lin Kuei and sent once more to kill Sub-Zero – was contradicted by Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance's Konquest Mode, which stated that he was "recovered by Special Forces agents Sonya Blade and Jackson Briggs." It is interesting to note that this seems to acknowledge an unused bio for him that appeared in Prima's official strategy guide for Gold, which does state he was rescued by Special Forces and reprogrammed to fight on the side of good against Shinnok. Cyrax is seen trapped in the sand in the background of Jade's Desert in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, despite also being a playable character. This foreshadows his ending in that particular game.

Cyrax's self-destruct fatality, initiated via his arm console, closely resembles that of another fictional character, the titular antagonist from the Arnold Schwarzenegger' film Predator . Certain elements of both characters' armor, such as the faceplate, dreadlocks, and net weapon are also similar. Fans have widely considered Cyrax, along with the other cyborgs, to be some sort of homage to the character.

In Deadly Alliance, Cyrax’s Pulse Blade weapon had a blue coloured blade. In Armageddon, the blade was changed to green.

Trivia

 * According to his Deadly Alliance Konquest text box, Cyrax loathes Johnny Cage's films and "felt especially robbed of his eight bucks when he saw Johnny's film, Ninja Mime".