—Baraka in Mortal Kombat 1. |
Baraka is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. The former general of the Tarkatan Horde, he has served as an antagonist throughout the series, serving Outworld and its Empire while being loyal to the half-Tarkatan Mileena and her father Shao Kahn.
Baraka made his debut in Mortal Kombat II as the first playable Tarkatan of the series and has been a recurring antagonist since. Baraka returned in Mortal Kombat 11 as a playable character, this time serving as a supporting character in the game's Story Mode.
A new version of Baraka appears in Mortal Kombat 1 as a playable character while once again serving as a supporting character in the game's Story Mode.
About Baraka
Baraka was introduced in Mortal Kombat II as a mean, frightening, and unpredictable Outworld warrior in service of Emperor Shao Kahn. He belongs to a race of nomadic mutants, later revealed in Mortal Kombat: Deception to be called Tarkata, who populate the vast wastelands of Outworld. Originally, this race was said to be a crossbreed between Netherrealm demons and Outworlders. In the alternate timeline, this is retconned, in which the Tarkatans are now their own separate species within Outworld, originating from an unnamed realm that was conquered long ago by Shao Kahn. As with all Tarkatans, Baraka is cannabalistic and possesses long, retractable blades extending from his forearms, making him one of the deadliest fighters in the Mortal Kombat universe.
Although he has had many incursions with Earthrealm's warriors, he does not appear to have any particular rivalry or hatred towards Earth or its inhabitants. His main interest is in doing what is best for his own people. To this end, Baraka will side with anyone whose objectives would ensure the welfare of his race.
Baraka is the leader of the Tarkatan Army, being a General of the Horde under Shao Kahn's rule. The only Tarkatan superior to Baraka is the genetic hybrid Mileena, created by Shang Tsung for the emperor as a replacement daughter after he found Kitana inferior. In the new timeline, he is still the leader of the Tarkatans, however, the race is now deformed Outworlders and Edenians infected with the Tarkat disease and outcasted by the non-infected inhabitants of Outworld.
Character Development
While brainstorming possible character ideas for Mortal Kombat II, several designers visited a local costume shop and found a Nosferatu mask. They painted the mask to enhance its horrifying appearance and added false fingernails to appear as long fangs. This mask was worn by Richard Divizio, the actor who portrayed Baraka in the game. In a video interview, on the bonus DVD included with the special edition of Mortal Kombat: Deception, Divizio stated that the mask was a "skin-tight" fit, and throughout his motion capture filming, he was sweating profusely. "He was a pretty cool character," Divizio said to Electronic Gaming Monthly in 1994, "but I didn't like him too much".
Early Baraka concept art by character designer John Tobias portrayed him as a masked, bald human ninja armed with hook swords. The early design’s costume consisted of an entirely red, black, and yellow color scheme, with a large yellow circle on his stomach. Baraka’s hook swords were later used by Kabal — also played by Divizio — in Mortal Kombat 3.
Another Baraka concept portrayed him as a creature with extra-long, metal talon-studded, muscular arms, but it was felt this might create an unfair reach advantage and so was re-sketched with blades inspired by the X-Men's Wolverine, whose claws extend from his hands. The arm blades have changed throughout his appearances in the series, changing from looking metallic to looking white in color. Additionally, Baraka's arm blades looked like a singular elongated blade, but in MKX, they were given an arrowhead-like tip. These versions of his blades are also noticeably shorter, however in the mobile game, they are much longer. In MK11, Baraka's arm blades seem to look more bone-like and it appears he is able to break off and regrow his arm blades at will, as seen in his Fatal Blow and various new abilities. MK11 also allows Baraka to change the design of his blades, whether retaining the default appearance from the game or different colored variations of the same blades to his metallic blades from earlier games to various different blades sharped to different points.
The third and final attempt at a Baraka design included a full head of black hair tied up in a bun, and a large red dot on his belt to go along with his familiar red-and-white tunic and black pants. The red dot, added simply as a decoration, was axed because it was misinterpreted as symbolizing the red dot on the Japanese flag, and the hair was gone shortly thereafter, finalizing Baraka's bald look used throughout the MK series.
In MKX, Baraka had two little spikes coming out on each of his upper cheeks on his face in order to make him more unique and easier to identify among other Tarkatans. Additionally, his face was altered to be much different than normal Tarkatans, allowing Baraka more freedom to show more emotion in his face during cutscenes. In MK11, Baraka's appearance was altered once again, this time removing the cheek spikes from MKX to return him to his more classic appearance. Despite this change, he is still given subtle changes to differentiate him from other Tarkatan warriors, most notably a bulkier build compared to the skinnier or leaner Tarkatans. Another change is that Baraka's arm-blades in the Story Mode are sharpened to a point and have a metallic appearance compared to his Arcade arm-blades which are bone-like, a change resembling his klassic arm-blades. Similar to the other Tarkatans are the shoulder spikes protruding from his shoulders, another noticeable change. Depending on the Kosmetic Outfit selected, Baraka can change from four different outfits that feature a look similar to his klassic MKII appearance or a topless variation of the same one, or two different outfits featuring different Tarkatan-based body paints and tattoos.
Throughout the franchise, Baraka has been depicted as a recurring antagonist, supporting many of the major antagonists of the series such as Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung, as well as the half-Tarkatan Mileena. This role changes with his depiction in Mortal Kombat 11. After the revelation of what happened to the Tarkata following the events of Mortal Kombat X, Baraka slowly abandons his allegiance to Shao Kahn and, later to Kronika, who had promised to completely restore the Tarkata upon the success of her New Era. Baraka later decides to aid Kitana and the others by a means of uniting Outworld that had been in a civil war between its people for the last 25 years. He makes amends with Kotal Kahn who was responsible for the Tarkatan's extinction in the alternate timeline and serves Kitana, who later becomes the Empress of Outworld.
Baraka's backstory is once again expanded upon in the current timeline, bringing more sympathy and humanity to the character never depicted before in the series. This version of Baraka is a former Edenian merchant plagued by the Tarkat disease, horribly disfiguring him and branding him an outcast among Outworld's people. As others succumb to the sickness, Baraka takes it upon himself to lead the infected inhabitants as the leader of the Tarkatans in the Tarkatan Colony to prevent their capture, detainment and execution by the Outworld army to prevent the spread of Tarkat. He proves helpful to Johnny Cage and Kenshi in their plans to stop Shang Tsung and even protects them from other hostile forces including his own mutant Tarkatans sent by Shang Tsung to kill them. He reveals to a wounded Kenshi that before succumbing to Tarkat, Baraka had a family, a wife and children, only to lose them to the disease. He feels the best thing is for death at the hands of the disease to see his family again, however his body was not affected the same way as his family. Despite longing for his own death, Baraka wishes to protect the other Tarkatans from their impending demise, whether this being from the Tarkat disease or from the hostilities of Outworld's people rejecting them.
Game Information
In the early stages of Mortal Kombat II, Baraka was going to be given a Fatality in which he would slice his opponent's stomach open and let their entrails spill to the ground. This was actually deemed too gory, even for Mortal Kombat by the development team and still has not been seen in game-form. This would eventually become Kabal's Fatality in Mortal Kombat 2011.
Baraka's biggest drawback in his first appearance was that he lacked a moving special attack and was thusly considered to be a low-tier character. Although only he and Jax (a high tier) shared this problem, Jax's other specials were considered much better than Baraka's. This, combined with a bug that allowed opponents to leg sweep Baraka far out of normal range during his Blade Spark (due to a forward-extended blade when firing it), ensured his place near the bottom. Baraka was given better special moves in later games to improve his repertoire, and the sweep bug was fixed.
In Mortal Kombat Gold, Baraka has a scar lined with large metal staples splitting his body straight down the middle. According to a render of Baraka and Mileena found in Deception's Krypt, this was the end result of Baraka's brush with Kung Lao's Hat Slice fatality during Mortal Kombat Trilogy (although this fatality is only usable in MK2 and Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks). Baraka survived the attack and the staples were implemented to hold his body together while he healed. However, an unused bio for Baraka had him dying from Kung Lao's attack and being revived by Shinnok. This bio was released in a few strategy guides for the game, sparking the misconception that he had actually died.
In Mortal Kombat: Deception, after the use of a special move, Baraka's blades which came out in the process of the move would slide back in without a sound. However, if the player executes a special move in the Blade style, the blades will never shoot back in. Baraka is also revealed to be "The Scourge of Outworld". This is the exact title given to Kintaro in the Malibu series of Mortal Kombat comics. Also, if Baraka is defeated in the first round, he will lift himself up using his blades and start the next round using his blades as his fighting style. He is the only character to switch to or remain in his weapon style after being defeated. All other characters revert to their first fighting style if using weapons or remain in the same style if not.
In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon and in Mortal Kombat: Deception, Baraka is playable in all the mini-games available, these include Chess Kombat, Puzzle Kombat, and Motor Kombat.
Appearance
Baraka's consistent appearance throughout the games is as a humanoid mutant-like creature featuring pointed ears, a bald head, a massive Glasgow-like lipless grin lined with large gnashing teeth and several steel spikes jutting from his forearms, two of which slide out into massive arm blades. His original appearance was made using a cheap Halloween Nosferatu mask and customizing it with fake teeth painted silver to complete his look, his facial features accentuated by hollow black eyes.
In Mortal Kombat Gold, he gains a new black and green outfit and large metal staples attached to his torso and head. According to Deadly Alliance, this was the result of being hit by Kung Lao's Hat Slice Fatality. He also now gains yellow cat-like eyes, which would become a permanent fixture of his design going forward.
In Mortal Kombat Deception, the staples are gone, and he has gained a new dark green and red cuirass featuring spine-like straps. His alternate outfit is an updated version of his classic MK2 attire with added shoulder pads and grieves. In some renders, his eyes are seen glowing.
Mortal Kombat (2011) features another version of his original outfit with added black details on his shirt. His alternate outfit features red and black spiky armor, which he was seen wearing during the Battle of Armageddon.
Mortal Kombat X's design was somewhat based on his appearance in Deception, though doing away with the spinal straps in favor of a more traditional armored appearance with several thin rope straps around his breastplate and two more tied around his biceps. In his Food for Thought Fatality, his pupils are seen dilating.
Mortal Kombat 11 features yet another revision of his classic outfit with new forearm cloth wrappings. His physical features have been slightly tweaked with the addition of several stud-like spikes growing from his shoulders.
Mortal Kombat 1's design slightly tweaks Baraka's design overall, making his physical features slightly more mutated with additional studs growing from his chest area and a slightly atrophied mouth due to no longer being natively Tarkatan. His outfit consists primarily of red with white details. His right arm features a large black tattoo.
Appearances in Other Media
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
Baraka (played by Dennis Keiffer) appeared in the second Mortal Kombat movie, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, along with another pair of his race. After a brief sword fight with Liu Kang, all three were killed. The shot of "Baraka's" body falling into the firepit surrounding the fighting ring is actually stock footage of Rain doing likewise earlier in the film.
Mortal Kombat: Rebirth
Lateef Crowder played Baraka in Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, where he was depicted as a former plastic surgeon named Dr. Alan Zane.
Zane is described as having accidentally killed a patient, and after that, the thought of being a failed surgeon drove him crazy, making him kill twenty-four more people after going insane. In the short movie, Baraka took his surgery knives, pierced his face, sharpened his teeth, and attached 10-inch blades to his arms. Baraka fought Johnny Cage and killed him.
Mortal Kombat: Legacy
Fraser Aitcheson plays Baraka in Mortal Kombat: Legacy.
Flashbacks in the fourth episode reveal that Baraka led the Tarkatan hordes in the conquest and merging of Edenia with Outworld, slaughtering many innocent Edenians with his blades. Baraka personally executes one of king Jerrod's decoys when he attempts to aid queen Sindel and the infant Kitana in escaping. Baraka executes the decoy using his Blade Lift Fatality. This was Baraka's only appearance in the series.
Comic Books
Baraka made several appearances in Malibu Comics' Mortal Kombat comic book series, making his first appearance on the first issue of Goro's miniseries, Prince of Pain. Baraka was portrayed as the classic brawn-over-brains type and had the distinction of speaking in pidgin English; in the 1993 Midway-created Mortal Kombat II comic book, his only line is "Baraka shows Johnny Cage pain!"
Baraka was also featured in an eponymous one-shot issue by Malibu Comics in 1995. He was also one of the numerous characters who habitually referred to themselves in the third person throughout Malibu's entire MK series. Baraka's background is mostly kept in the comic, having him as the leader of the mutants that form part of Shao Kahn's armies. On the following Battlewave series, though, he changes sides when Shao Kahn starts replacing his mutants with Scorpion's army of undead soldiers. He ends up joining with Kitana, Kung Lao, and Sub-Zero in a rebel force set to defeat the emperor. Despite this, his violent nature often put him at odds with his former comrades.
Quotes
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
- "Sonya!"
- "Jax won't save you this time."
- "Kill her!" (to Quan Chi)
- "How can we defeat a foe such as this?" (to Shang Tsung)
- "This is Outworld?"
Mortal Kombat (2011)
- "They will taste your flesh!" (to Johnny Cage)
- "This fight is not over!" (to Cyrax)
- "My blades will find your heart!" (to Jax)
- "That is no toy! It belongs to Shang Tsung!" (to another Tarkatan who is fiddling around with a Spas-12 shotgun and cluelessly aiming it at him)
- "We are finished. Return to your post."
- "No one enters the Tower." (to Jade)
- "I do not take orders from you!" (to Jade)
- "Edenians have no loyalty." (after being beaten by Jade)
- "What are you talking about-- (Before Jade knocks him out)
- "Mileena is his heir. She should rule." (when arguing about Shao Kahn's successor)
Mortal Kombat X
- "Shao Kahn conquered my realm. I owe him my loyalty."
- "I honor his will." (to D'Vorah before she kills him)
- "We are ready." (to D'Vorah before leaving with his Tarkatans and prisoners)
- "Their wounds are not fatal." (to D'Vorah regarding the status of captured Shaolin Monks)
- "hak dohRAH!" (commanding his Tarkatans to attack Raiden, Kung Lao, and Liu Kang)
- "Empty threats, Raiden." (to Raiden)
- "You will not see the tournament!"
Mortal Kombat 11
- "Save me the eyes."
- "Fresh meat for the tribe!"
- "This fight is over!"
Story Mode
Part 1: Mortal Kombat 11
- "Stupid Osh-Tekk. Destroying your future, crossing Shao Kahn."
- "Impossible!" (to Kotal Kahn about the Tarkatan's demise)
- "Yes. Kotal has made his intentions plain."
- "Kotal Kahn threatens all Tarkatans. In the New Era, Shao Kahn will rule." (to Kitana)
- "Khut! Nar kombat trakka! (Hold! Cease your kombat!)"
- "Speak. You've earned the chance."
- "Kotal wants us dead. He said as much to my face."
- "No one's ever made Tarkatans such an offer. But these are your words, not his."
- "He offers less, I'll slit his throat."
- "We don't need charity. We will share in Outworld's rule." (to Kotal Kahn)
Part 2: Aftermath
- "Sheeva!"
- "Earthrealmers, Sheeva, and the coffin? What secret do you plan to bury here?"
- "We're equal partners, remember? The Kahn's business is my business."
- "You are not Shokan."
- "I know that scent. Smells like... Shang Tsung!"
- "Tarkarta blood is shed! You will atone, Sheeva."
Mortal Kombat 1
- "Simplier times."
- "This fight is over!"
- "You made this necessary."
- "We will be together again."
Story Mode
- "Let me go! You can't do this!"
- "I would've killed him, but for you!"
- "RAWR! You're one of his minions! You'll die in his place!"
- "I'll send you back to Shang Tsung a corpse." (After Kenshi lost to him in a round)
- "If not, why save him?" (Questions Kenshi)
- "Our kind do not shake hands."
- "Don't you know what we are?"
- "We are victims of Tarkat. The disease is not easily gotten, but you can't risk more close exposure. It disfigures, then debilitates. In time, it will turn us all into blood-thirsty monsters. Death is our only release." (About his disease)
- "I was once a rich merchant. But when I became ill, I was banished. Now I run this colony."
- "I am Baraka."
- "I don't know. But he comes here each month to harvest it."
- "Let them go." (Request the Tarkatans to release the Earthrealmers)
- "His laboratory is near. I'll take you."
- "No. I've never been inside."
- "If you could see, you'd know why."
- "I was doing well, trading goods up and down the Fartakh coast. My family was comfortable, happy. (dejected sigh) Then Tarkat came. It took my wife, then my children. Cruelly it lets me live for now. I think it enjoys ravaging my body more slowly."
- "But you may just regret it."
- "This is Shang Tsung's real laboratory."
- "Our jailor."
- "You're vile to be part of this."
- "Why did he pick you?"
- "You're Zaterran. Your race can shape shift?"
- "Time for what, sorcerer?"
- "You don't have to do this."
- "There is nothing more foul." (After defeating the Tarkatan Klones)
- "You're an unwelcome glimpse of my future." (After defeating the Super Tarkatan in a round)
- "I will not die today." (After losing to the Super Tarkatan in a round)
- "Enough distractions."
- "I'm sorry you may suffer. But you won't make us victims!" (After losing to Reptile in a round)
- "We are leaving." (After defeating Reptile)
- "No. I won't murder you."
- "You were protecting your family. I would've done the same."
- "We're going, sorcerer."
- "Stand aside." (About to break the door)
- "Hurry!"
- "I can take you only the city's gate. Tarkatans are forbidden inside."
- "This is the Living Forest."
- "No others have trees that house the souls of the dead."
- "Good ones, not evil."
- "Some distant relatives."
- "Wait! We're not—"
- "Stop this. Killing me won't absolve your sins." (After defeating Ashrah in a round)
- "Whoever you are, we are not demons." (After defeating Ashrah)
- "He's Zaterran. I am Edenian. Or I was before my Tarkat affliction."
- "Why steal souls, Ashrah?"
- "Your Liu Kang is right. Shang Tsung's a danger that must be dealt with."
- "I will aid you."
- "That is a powerful weapon."
- "Millions will die."
Dark Baraka
- "I smell weakness!" (After Liu Kang lost to him in a round)
Armageddon Baraka
- "My teeth and claws will shred you."
- "It won't be long before you bleed."
- "Soon you will taste my blades."
- "Death is in the air."
- "It's a fatal error, fighting a Tarkatan."
- "Thank you, Kitana." (Thanking Titan Kitana)
- "The tribe will feast on this praise. It's time to end this."
- "What's happening?!"
Khaos Baraka
- "Once he breaks the cryomancer, you will be next."
Mortal Kombat Mobile (Feats of Strength)
- "I will flay you!"
- "So hungrrrry…"
- "Ha ha!"
- "Tarkata!"
Trivia
General
- His name means "bless" in Arabic and "blessing" in Swahili.
- Since MK1 (2023) Baraka is one of the few characters to fight with bare feet. Others include Reptile, Sheeva, Goro, Kintaro, Drahmin, Moloch, Kobra, Meat, and Blaze.
- Baraka is one of three playable Tarkatans in the series, the other two being Mileena and the Alien in MKX.
- Baraka is the only one of the three that is a pure bred Tarkatan that is playable in the series, while the latter are a genetic experiment and a hybrid, both with Tarkatan genes in them.
- Additionally, Baraka and Mileena are the only playable Tarkatans that are canon, while the Alien's guest appearance in MKX is non-canon.
- Baraka is the only one of the three that is a pure bred Tarkatan that is playable in the series, while the latter are a genetic experiment and a hybrid, both with Tarkatan genes in them.
- Baraka is the first character to swear in the comic book series and the franchise overall. He interrogated a monk while searching for Kung Lao and tells him: "Well, have a wild fucking guess!" when the monk seems unresponsive.
- His MKII design is carried over into Deception and Armageddon as an alternate costume.
- His outfit for the game returns in Mortal Kombat 11, his primary outfit for the game seen in the Story Mode and Arcade being a modified version, while his klassic outfit is unlockable through the Kustomization.
- He was rumored to be playable in MK3 and UMK3 via a Shang Tsung transformation, with a look similar to Kano's, but with a white stripe. This rumor was proven false by tests and experiments on both games.
- Before Deception, many fans believed Baraka was dead due to a cutscene recording his death in Mortal Kombat Gold that could be unlocked in the Krypt of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. The other Gold endings were unlocked as a montage while Baraka's ending was a stand-alone unlockable, furthering this belief.
- Baraka's death in the original timeline mirrors that of his encounter with Kung Lao in MKII, and subsequent reappearance in Mortal Kombat Gold, where he was on the receiving end of Kung Lao's Body Slice Fatality.
- Baraka's Mutant Dissection Fatality is seen briefly during the movie 40 Year Old Virgin, followed by one of Sub-Zero's Fatalities. However, there is no way for two whole matches to be completed in the short amount of time that passes.
- They are also seen using Nintendo 64 controllers, despite the fact that they are playing Deception on the Xbox. This is done intentionally for comedic effect.
- Baraka is one of few pure Outworlders to curse on-screen. This comes from an interaction with Kano where Baraka says "Fuck you and Kronika!", however Baraka curses in his native tongue.
- The only other known Outworlder to openly curse on-screen was Bo' Rai Cho in Mortal Kombat X during an interaction with the Predator, where Bo' Rai Cho calls him "One ugly motherfucker.".
Mortal Kombat Gold
- In Mortal Kombat Gold, Baraka's design from the waist-down is recycled from Reptile's Mortal Kombat 4 design, though recolored.
- In Mortal Kombat Gold, if Meat is selected using Baraka, or Quan Chi uses Baraka's Blade Lift Fatality using his Steal Fatality Fatality, Baraka's entire forearms will replace either characters' forearms to accommodate the use of Tarkatan Blades.
Mortal Kombat: Deception
- In Deception, he used the Hung Gar fighting style that Reptile had in Deadly Alliance. Drahmin then used the same fighting style in Armageddon.
- In Konquest mode of Deception, while learning his blade style, an unusual glitch causes his blade to flash purple when he congratulates the player for completing a task.
- Baraka is seen in the opening scene of Armageddon fighting Kung Lao and is later seen being hit by Shao Kahn's hammer atop the pyramid. In MK 2011, he is seen with his head split in half with Kung Lao's hat in between his halved head, while his left arm is missing but later shown in the spine of Sub-Zero, leading many to believe Baraka killed Sub-Zero but was then killed by Kung Lao.
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
- In the game, Baraka’s DC counterpart is Deathstroke.
- In his ending in MK vs DCU, Baraka and the Tarkata become the MK counterpart of the DC Comics' alien race, The Dominators.
Mortal Kombat (2011)
- His alternate costume in MK 2011 is similar to his armor from MK vs DCU and Armageddon.
- In MK 2011, if Baraka performs a Stage Fatality on the PS3 Exclusive Chamber of the Flame, his Tarkatan Blade will pierce through the opponent as he holds them over the three Fatality choices.
- Along with Nightwolf, Sonya, Kabal, and Quan Chi, Baraka never appears in Mortal Kombat (2011)'s Story Mode in his alternate costume (with the exception of the intro).
- Baraka's MK 2011 Ladder Ending is the only one in which Shao Kahn is not physically killed.
Mortal Kombat X
- Baraka appears as a non-playable, fightable NPC in the game's Story Mode alongside Rain and Sindel. Baraka, along with the latter two, lack X-Ray attacks.
- Baraka, Sindel, Rain, and Shinnok's Corrupted Form all have a chance to appear as Invasion Bosses.
- In the reveal trailer for the Kombat Pack 2 DLC, in an alternate, non-canon scene from the Story Mode, an Alien is shown erupting from his chest just before he is supposed to be executed by D'Vorah.
Mortal Kombat Mobile
- Baraka is playable in MK Mobile, using his character model from the MKX Story Mode. Despite lacking an X-Ray attack like the other NPCs in the Story Mode, Baraka uses an updated version of his X-Ray attack from Mortal Kombat (2011).
- Despite using his Killer Croc-themed skin for his Lizard Card, Baraka's Lizard Card uses his default arm-blades from the MK11 Arcade.
- Interestingly, despite the card using his appearance in MK11, he still uses his fighting stance from MK 2011 and his X-Ray for the game rather than his Fatal Blow from MK11.
- Baraka is the only character to receive a card from MK11 that was not an MK11 Class card.
- Baraka's Scourge Card was the first card to apply a status condition to the opponent off his Combo-Ender.
- Baraka's Lizard Card is the only Outworld Card to grant an increase in Critical Chance to all affiliated Outworld Class Cards rather than a Sub-Class.
Mortal Kombat 11
- Steven Blum voices Baraka in MK11. This comes from him having a minor role in voicing Baraka's Feats of Strength in MK Mobile.
- When Baraka made his first gameplay appearance for MK11, it was noticed he sounded extremely similar to Reptile in MKX, which drew ire from fans as a result of Steve Blum's vocal performance being almost unchanged from his performance as Reptile in the former.
- During Jade's gameplay reveal trailer, Baraka's voice was altered to be slightly deeper, this being perceived as the studio changing his vocal audio due to the previous reception, which received a better reception.
- During the Cassie Cage and Kano Kombat Kast streams, Baraka's voice was once again changed, being significantly deeper and more guttural now.
- As a result, Baraka is currently the only character revealed for MK11 to go through three different voices.
- Baraka, along with Kitana, Noob Saibot and Geras were all given DC-inspired Kosmetics and Outfits with the release of the Joker.
- Johnny Cage and Cassie Cage were given Joker-inspired attires as well, with Johnny receiving a suit colored to match the Joker, while Cassie was given an entire outfit resembling his sidekick/lover, Harley Quinn. However, these outfits were released before the Joker's official release. Baraka was given the Killer Kroc garb.
- Despite Spawn obviously being a Hellspawn, Baraka is the only character that refers to him as a human.
Mortal Kombat 1
- Baraka's virtue is presented as "Preservation".
- Baraka returns with a revamped backstory, now being a Edenian merchant that was transformed into his current Tarkatan appearance.
- Interactions with General Shao reveals that Baraka was once an Outworld soldier, although this is never mentioned in the Story Mode.
- Interactions with Conan the Barbarian reveals that Baraka's face used to look like him before the Tarkat disease took him.
Errors
Mortal Kombat X
- When performing an X-Ray on Baraka, it will show he has a human skull. This is seen if Baraka is an Invasion Boss.
- This error is also present in MK Mobile with X-Ray attacks and Krushing Blows.
Mortal Kombat 11
- Baraka's arm blades vanish when a Brutality or Fatality is performed on him.
- When Baraka performs his Outworld Bash Krushing Blow, his retracted arm blade clips through his hand that faces the camera when shattering the top of the opponent's skull.
- If Baraka is equipped with a helmet that also covers the back of his head, during gameplay, the helmet clips through his neck and surrounding area.
- When performing his Sparkler Brutality, Baraka can amplify Blade Spark, resulting in a second spark passing through the opponent with no effect to them. This error is present with many characters with specials and combos that result in Brutalities, with the second half of each doing nothing to the opponent.
- A noticeable error like this is Sub-Zero's Slicing Meat Brutality as he can perform the kicks of his Final Draw combo despite them doing nothing.
- Baraka's arm blades are not actually connected to his arms, meaning they do not move with Baraka's arms when he does specific actions. This results in the arm blades actually moving on their own, in addition to them clipping through Baraka's forearms when already extended when he does certain actions with them.
- In the Story Mode after Fire God Liu Kang assaults Kronika's Keep with a massive explosion, Baraka and the other fighters are seen storming the front gates of the Keep. If one looks at Baraka as he runs besides Sheeva, Kung Lao and Jade, his arm-blades are completely inverted as he runs, sticking out of his hands and pointing towards Baraka's body.
- It is possible for Baraka to perform his Stuck Brutality even if his War Banner is not planted.
- If Baraka performs War Banner Charge and it is parried by Johnny Cage's Mime Time special, Baraka will retain the armor bonus even though he is no longer performing War Banner Charge. After some time, the armor bonus goes away. Additionally, if Baraka is struck by an armor breaking ability, the glitch ends and can activate abilities that benefit from breaking armor.