Cole Young is a character in the 2021 film Mortal Kombat.
Biography
Born on the South Side of Chicago and raised as an orphan unaware of his heritage Cole is a former MMA fighting champion born with a mysterious dragon shaped birthmark and afflicted with strange visions, who is struggling to provide for his wife Allison and daughter Emily by fighting in cage matches for money. After losing a match against a man named Ramirez and taking his family out for ice cream Cole is shocked when an otherworldly Cryomancer, Sub-Zero, appears to kill him under the orders of the Outworld sorcerer Shang Tsung.
Unknown to Cole, Shang Tsung, not wanting to risk his conquest of Earthrealm by potentially losing the last of the necessary 10 inter-dimensional death match tournaments called Mortal Kombat has sent assassins to kill off anyone bearing the dragon mark thus leaving Earthrealm without champions and forcing them to default on the last match. Before the assassin can finish the job though Jax Briggs, a Special Forces Major who Cole met earlier that day and who bears a similar dragon shaped mark arrives to rescue him. Fearing for the safety of his family Cole drives them to safety in Jax’s car while leaving Jax to hold off Sub-Zero per his orders. Although successful in buying them time though Jax is beaten and left for dead after Sub-Zero freezes and smashes Jax’s arms off. Meanwhile after dropping off his family Cole heads to an address in Gary Indiana to track down Jax’s partner Sonya Blade at her hideout where she is interrogating a captive mercenary named Kano who also bears a dragon mark.
After proving to her that Jax sent him by showing his birthmark, Sonya reveals that the mark is seemingly an invitation to the Mortal Kombat tournament and that she and Jax believed another match was imminent. She also reveals that Jax and her have been researching the tournament and trying to find other mark bearers ever since a mission 7 years prior in Brazil. During said mission Jax had acquired his own dragon mark after it transferred itself to him following his killing its original bearer, a wanted fugitive who had seemingly gained superhuman abilities from it. Just after revealing this the hideout is attacked by the inhuman assassin, Reptile, but Cole, Sonya, and a reluctant Kano defeat him, with Kano killing Reptile by tearing out his heart.
After then unexpectedly learning from Kano that he knows the way to the temple of Raiden that legends indicate is supposed to train Earthrealm’s champions, the group travels there meeting Earthrealm champion Liu Kang along the way before being brought to Raiden himself, who is critical of the newcomers. They are also joined by Jax, who has been fitted with a set of mechanical arms after Liu Kang found and rescued him. Shang Tsung then attacks the temple alongside Sub-Zero and Mileena, but the Earthrealm champion Kung Lao appears and assists his fellow fighters long enough for Raiden to arrive and erect an impenetrable shield with his dragon staff to stop the attackers.
Safe for the moment Sonya sets about training and encouraging Jax to fight despite his condition, while Cole and Kano train with Liu Kang and Kung Lao to unlock their "arcana", the special power unique to all dragon mark bearers. During an argument with Kung Lao, Kano awakens his arcana while Cole is unable to awaken his despite his persistence. Raiden then reveals that the source of Cole’s birthmark and the reason he was targeted was due to him inheriting it from the Shirai Ryu ninja Hanzo Hasashi who previously bore the mark and who Cole has unknowingly been seeing in his visions. Cole as it happens is a direct descendant of Hanzo’s infant daughter, the only survivor of a massacre that Sub-Zero, then known as Bi-Han, and his fellow Lin Kuei assassins had lead against their hated rivals the Shirai Ryu some 400 years ago. Raiden also reveals that he had subsequently found the infant girl after the massacre and had taken her to safety hoping that Hanzo’s blood would prove strong and produce a worthy champion for Earthrealm who could lead them to victory as per an ancient life prophecy he and Shang Tsung knew about. Given Cole’s disappointing lack of progress in unlocking his arcana though Raiden, believing Cole could be a liability to the other fighters, asks Cole to leave and be with his family something which Cole reluctantly agrees to do.
Meanwhile, Shang Tsung gathers Sub-Zero, Mileena, Reiko, Nitara, Goro, and Kabal for another assault against the champions. Learning that Kano is among Raiden's champions and recognizing him from past dealings he’s had with him, Kabal convinces Kano to defect and destroy the staff powering the shield, allowing the Outworlders to attack the temple. During the resulting battle, Kung Lao manages to kill Nitara by cutting her in half however the other Earthrealm fighters struggle to fight their opponents with Sonya nearly being crushed underneath a rockslide caused by Kano until Jax manages to tap into his arcana and rescue her, upgrading his arms in the process. Concurrently, the Youngs are attacked by Goro at their home, but Cole awakens his arcana and kills Goro before using a portal provided by Raiden to return to the temple to help repel the attack. Following this Shang Tsung and Sub-Zero are infuriated when Raiden discloses Cole's bloodline shortly before he begins to teleport Earthrealm’s fighters to the Void, a safe space between realms. However before the teleportation is complete Sub-Zero manages to stop Cole from escaping forcing Kung Lao to sacrifice himself to save Cole at the cost of Shang Tsung taking his soul.
After mourning Kung Lao's death, Cole realizes their opponents are too strong as a group to fight and instead proposes a plan to force Outworld's champions into single combat with Earthrealm's champions before then neutralizing Sub-Zero together, effectively staging the very tournament Shang Tsung tried to prevent. Agreeing with this, Raiden gives Cole Hasashi's kunai before transporting him and his allies to their respective targets. Liu Kang and Jax slay Kabal and Reiko while Sonya kills Kano and acquires his dragon mark and her own arcana, which she uses to help Cole kill Mileena. However, Sub-Zero appears, having abducted Cole's family to lure him into a one-on-one fight. Initially overpowered, Cole's blood ends up on the kunai, releasing Hasashi from the Netherrealm as the vengeful specter Scorpion. Recognizing Cole as his descendant, Scorpion helps him overpower Sub-Zero and free Cole's family before burning Sub-Zero to death with hellfire.
Thanking Cole for freeing him from his torment and requesting that he look after the Hasashi bloodline, Scorpion departs as Raiden and the other champions arrive. Shang Tsung also arrives, vowing revenge as he sends his dead champions' bodies back to Outworld before Raiden banishes him. Raiden then declares he is creating a new list of warriors in preparation for the next tournament and assigns his champions to recruit them. With this information, Cole departs for Los Angeles in search of Hollywood superstar Johnny Cage.
Combat Characteristics
Befitting his upbringing as an orphan on the rough South Side of Chicago Cole’s initial fighting style manifested as an extremely aggressive and furious style of Mixed Martial Arts that focused on him pounding his opponents into submission. Early on in his fighting career this style served him especially well and allowed him to defeat former MMA champion Eddy Tobias and claim his title. Over the years however Cole’s style began to become less and less effective as newer opponents began to take advantage of his form’s weaknesses like its lack of defense and poor battlefield control ability. After training at Raiden’s temple and realizing the fuel to his arcana is in fact his desire to not simply win but to protect others though Cole’s style shifts to incorporate more dodging and blocking. This transition in fighting style is aided by his arcana, which manifests as a kind of extremely durable metal skin which can absorb and the kinetic energy of his opponent’s strikes to empower his own blows and which can also generate weapons in the form of both normal and bladed tonfas from his arms.
Character Development
TBA
Trivia
- Screenwriter Greg Russo, in publicity material for the Mortal Kombat film stated that Cole Young's storyline came in part from his own life. As he began working on the project, he and his spouse were about to have their first child. He incorporated his own questions about what it meant to be a father and if he would be a good dad into the character.[1]
- Cole was originally invisioned akin to a Shujinko-like character arc (an oft-used narrative tool of introducing a "newcomer"), facilitating the role of (re-)introducing the story via existing characters, providing the audience a new protagonist experience.
Gallery
References
- ↑ Mortal Kombat (2021) Press Kit Revelations. Retrieved on April 16, 2021.
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