Kano

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

About Kano
Kano made his debut in the first Mortal Kombat game. In it Kano is one of the incarnations of evil. A portion of Kano's face is covered with a metal plate, with the plated eye being a glowing red orb capable of emitting laserlike 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 enemy of Lt. Sonya Blade.

Storyline
Kano is the leader of the Black Dragon organization, a criminal empire of cut-throat madmen. Making his first chronological appearance in Mortal Kombat:Special Forces, he freed fellow Black Dragon cohorts No Face, Tasia, Jarek and Tremor from a U.S. Special Forces security facility, under the pretense that they would reform the Black Dragon organization. In reality, he intended to use them as pawns to slow down any Special Forces agents who might pursue him. Annihilating an entire squad at the site of the prison break, he and his cohorts escaped.

With his Black Dragon associates given their assigned tasks, Kano headed to Outworld where he recovered the Eye of Shitian, an artifact through which he would acquire incredible power. Unfortunately for him, however, Major Jackson Briggs had defeated his accomplices and caught up to him. The two fought, and Kano was defeated. Jax used the eye to transport them back to Earthrealm, and proceeded to bring Kano into custody, though Kano escaped soon after.

He entered Shang Tsung's Mortal Kombat tournament after hearing rumors that Tsung's palace was filled with gold and other riches: Kano intended to steal them for the Black Dragon. At that time, the Black Dragon was the primary target of the U.S. Special Forces and would remain so for a number of years. He was pursued by Lt. Sonya Blade, who held a personal grudge against Kano because he had killed a former partner of Sonya's. While Kano was free to take part in the tournament of his own accord, Sonya and her unit were captured by Shang Tsung's minions. Tsung offered Sonya an ultimatum: compete in Mortal Kombat, or she and her unit would be executed. If she won, they would all be free to go. Sonya and Kano survived the tournament but many others died, including Sonya's men. After the final battle between Shang Tsung and Liu Kang, Kano teamed up with Sonya and Johnny Cage to fight Goro. During the battle, the island began to crumble because of Shang Tsung's defeat and before they knew it, Kano and Sonya found themselves in a forest in Outworld. They were found and captured by Shang Tsung. Eventually, both Kano and Sonya were rescued by Jax, but before Kano could be arrested, he escaped back to Outworld.

Although most Earthrealm warriors assumed Kano to be dead, he instead managed to save his own life by convincing Shao Kahn to accept him as a weapons instructor for his armies. As a man with a knowledge of Earthrealm weaponry, he was the most suitable candidate. Later, during the events of Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Sonya tossed Kano to his (surmised) death from the roof of a high building. He was found by Motaro, who healed and imprisoned him. In turn, Motaro was attacked and killed by Sheeva, who freed Kano from his prison. Although they originally hatched a plan to murder Shao Kahn, Kano turned on Sheeva in the decisive moments, with Sheeva's death as a result. Kano was then hastily promoted to general of Outworld's rapidly shrinking army.

Eventually Kahn's forces were defeated. Earthrealm was free, and so was Edenia. Shao Kahn's act of promoting Kano, however, proved to be a lucky shot, as Kano was a very competent general. Even in the face of overwhelming odds and the tactical mastership of Princess Kitana and her Edenian-Shokan army, Kano stood ground and eventually managed to repel the invading army. He returned to Shao Kahn's palace just in time to watch from the shadows as Shang Tsung and Quan Chi sprung their attack on the weakened emperor. As soon as the battle was finished, Kano declared his allegiance to the new rulers of Outworld, the Deadly Alliance. The two had Kano oversee the enslavement of a small village, who would construct a temple over Onaga's tomb to house the Soulnado. During its construction, Kano was personally assaulted by Li Mei, but Quan Chi intervened.

His intervention was due in no part for any particular affinity for the criminal, however. The Alliance had made a deal with the Red Dragon member Mavado; he would eliminate the swordsman Kenshi in exchange for the opportunity to fight and defeat Kano. Mavado attacked and left Kenshi for dead, earning his battle.

It would seem that Mavado won the fight, as in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Kano is found by Taven to have been held prisoner by the Red Dragon Clan for quite some time. Before escaping their facilities, Kano explains to Taven that the Red Dragon had been experimenting on him, as well as their own clan members, in an effort to create real-life genetically engineered Dragons and Human-Dragon Hybrids, Kano mentions that they were trying "something new" on him, although he leaves before he elaborates on what that "something" is.

In his Mortal Kombat: Armageddon ending, when Kano defeats Blaze, the transformation completes and he becomes a reptilian black dragon.

Signature moves

 * Cannonball: Kano would crunch into a ball and fly at his opponent. (MK, MK3, UMK3, MKT, MK:DA, MK:SM, MK:A)
 * Upwards Cannonball: Kano would aim his Cannonball upwards to an aerial opponent. (UMK3, MKT)
 * Psycho Cannonball: This version saw Kano flying all over the screen. (MKT)
 * Knife Throw: Kano would throw a pair of knives into his opponent's torso. (MK, MK3, UMK3, MKT)
 * Blade Swipe: Kano slashes his opponents with his knife in an upward swing. (MK3, UMK3, MKT)
 * Blade Spin (MK1 Kano only): Kano spins both of his knives around his body, knocking the opponent up into the air if it connects. (MKT)
 * Air Throw: While in the air Kano would use his legs to push the opponent to the ground. (MK3, UMK3, MKT)
 * Chokehold: Kano would grab his opponent and lift them in the air by the throat and proceed to shake them. (MK3, UMK3, MKT)
 * Eye Laser: Kano shoots a laser from his eye at the opponent. (MK:DA, MK:A)
 * 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)

Recurring fatalities

 * Open Heart Surgery: Kano's signature fatality has him ripping the heart out of his opponent's chest, then hoisting it in the air in triumph. In MK3 and its updates, Kano pulled out the victim's entire skeleton, and in Deadly Alliance, he pulled out four organs, two at a time. Variations of this fatality have also been used by other members of the Black Dragon. (MK, MK3, UMK3, MKT, MK:DA, MK:SM)

Film
In the first Mortal Kombat movie, Kano was played by the late British actor Trevor Goddard. The movie expanded upon Kano's rivalry with Sonya from the games; she now had a professional interest in seeking vengeance against Kano for killing her partner. Kano fought Sonya as her only on-screen tournament match, and died after she broke his neck with her legs. (In the movie's novelization, she spares him.) The movie, however, has him being hired by Shang Tsung to compete rather than voluntarily. He is also portrayed as being less cunning and more brutally savage, which leads to a falling out between himself and Goro.

Goddard's Australian interpretation of Kano was well-received enough that Kano was retconned as Australian (from his original American-Japanese) in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, as well as Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks and Deception's Konquest mode.

Television
Kano appears in two episodes of the animated cartoon Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm. He's the main enemy in Episode 6 (Familiar Red) and also reappears in Episode 11 (Amends). The cartoon explain's 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 on 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 Thao The 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.

Character development
Kano originally had a large helmet with 2 red eyes. The concept was dropped later on to be replaced by a metal piece 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 glueing 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 said he used his knife to slit the throat of Sonya's partner, "from ear to ear".

Trivia

 * 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.
 * In 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.
 * Kano and Reptile are the only characters from the first MK game who do not appear in the animated movie Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins, although he is referenced by Sonya.
 * Kano and Sonya were the first MK3 characters to be confirmed.
 * Kano and Sonya were two of six chosen characters to be together for the Premium Edition special cover of Armageddon. (Also available were Johnny Cage with Goro, and Sindel with Shao Kahn, and a cover that only had the Dragon logo).
 * Kano was the first Black Dragon clan member to appear in the series of games.
 * In Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks all the Black Dragon Mercenaries resemble Kano.