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|Enemies = [[One Being]]<br/>[[Army of Darkness]]<br/>[[Shinnok]]<br/>[[Onaga]]<br>[[Shao Kahn]]<br>[[Shang Tsung]]<br>[[Quan Chi]]<br>[[Havik]]<br>[[Kronika]]<br>[[Cetrion]]<br>[[The Brotherhood of Shadow]]<br>[[Shirai Ryu]]
 
|Enemies = [[One Being]]<br/>[[Army of Darkness]]<br/>[[Shinnok]]<br/>[[Onaga]]<br>[[Shao Kahn]]<br>[[Shang Tsung]]<br>[[Quan Chi]]<br>[[Havik]]<br>[[Kronika]]<br>[[Cetrion]]<br>[[The Brotherhood of Shadow]]<br>[[Shirai Ryu]]
 
|Objective = Maintain balance of the realms <br/> Prevent the return of the [[One Being]]}}
 
|Objective = Maintain balance of the realms <br/> Prevent the return of the [[One Being]]}}
{{Quote|The Elder Gods created the Mortal Kombat tournament to give Earthrealm a chance to defend itself. But if we lose this time, Shao Kahn will conquer all.|[[Raiden]] to [[Johnny Cage]] in [[Mortal Kombat (2011 video game)|Mortal Kombat (2011)]]}}
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{{Quote|You violate our will, Shao Kahn. You merge realms without victory in Mortal Kombat. Our penalty is clear.|[[Raiden]] and The Elder Gods to [[Shao Kahn]] in [[Mortal Kombat (2011 video game)|Mortal Kombat (2011)]]}}
 
The '''Elder Gods''' are deities in the ''[[Mortal Kombat (series)|Mortal Kombat]]'' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_game fighting game] series.
 
The '''Elder Gods''' are deities in the ''[[Mortal Kombat (series)|Mortal Kombat]]'' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_game fighting game] series.
   

Revision as of 01:24, 18 May 2020

 
 
You violate our will, Shao Kahn. You merge realms without victory in Mortal Kombat. Our penalty is clear.
 

 

Raiden and The Elder Gods to Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat (2011)

The Elder Gods are deities in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series.

About the Elder Gods

The Elder Gods are the supreme omnipotent deities of the universe. Where as other Gods only have jurisdiction over a single realm and typically represent an element, the Elder Gods are more ethereal and have power in all realms in the universe. The vague faces of the Elder Gods seen in Mortal Kombat 4, and the appearance of Shinnok in the same game, suggest that natural born Elder Gods have blue-gray skin and a humanoid appearance. Another different source of their form is found in Deception's Konquest Mode where an inverted dialogue states that, in their purest form, the Elder Gods resembles the Mortal Kombat Dragon logo.

Beings with this form can be seen in Onaga's unused ending picture found in Deception's Krypt, in Armageddon's Konquest, where Taven finds an inscription of his father talking to dragon-shaped figures, that he states to be the Elder Gods, and Captain Marvel's ending in Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe as well as at the end of Mortal Kombat (2011). Their true nature and extent of their powers remain a mystery but is believed to be omnipotent having existed long before the Mortal Kombat tournament and can foresee events. 

History

Original Timeline

Before the realms of Mortal Kombat came into existence, there was the One Being, which comprised all of known reality. The Elder Gods waged war and created the Kamidogu, powerful weapons used to shatter the One Being. The Elder Gods then created the realms from its body, with Earthrealm as the center of power.

Even though the One Being was shattered, its divided mind plotted through exceptionally powerful individuals. It acted through Onaga at first, and would later through Shao Kahn, both unaware of its manipulations. It also commands Onaga during Mortal Kombat: Deception to fuse the Kamidogus into one, and apparently only Ermac is able to notice its vague presence.

The Elder Gods' rule of non-interference in mortal affairs that do not threaten their own existence was evident when Shao Kahn, Emperor of Outworld, merged Earthrealm with Outworld to reclaim his wife Queen Sindel, in direct violation of the sacred rules of Mortal Kombat. Raiden begged the Elder Gods to stop Kahn, who was required by those rules to win ten consecutive Mortal Kombat tournaments before he could take Earthrealm, but the Elder Gods did nothing. Thus, the Elder Gods show no signs of being truly benevolent or malevolent towards the various threats posed to Earthrealm. They usually only intervene if the villain of the game poses a potential threat to them or defy their will.

Their non-intervention nearly caught them unaware when Shinnok escaped from the Netherrealm and attacked them directly but due to their status and Raiden's forces defeating Shinnok, this was prevented. Millennia earlier, rumors had it that they had cursed Shang Tsung to consume the souls of other mortals to maintain his existence, either not knowing or not caring that his need to devour mortal souls would lead to him learning the location of Shinnok's Sacred Amulet. Eventually that knowledge would reach Quan Chi, who used it to free Shinnok and take the amulet for himself. Shang Tsung's abilities, however, were taught to him from Shao Kahn centuries ago. Thanks to the intervention of Raiden, Fujin, and the champions of Earthrealm, Shinnok was stopped. For this, Raiden was rewarded by being made an Elder God himself and as a result promoted Fujin as the new Protector of Earthrealm to take his place.

However, Raiden soon shed himself of this status when the Deadly Alliance arose as a threat to Earthrealm. Divesting himself of Elder Godhood to lead his mortal friends into direct combat, this time Raiden's efforts were thwarted, with all of his allies either killed or disabled. The threat posed by the Deadly Alliance was rendered moot, however, when The Dragon King appeared at the scene where Raiden had just been defeated by the two sorcerers. For millennia, Onaga had lain in wait from beyond death to be resurrected and complete his conquest of the realms. Raiden, Shang Tsung, and Quan Chi were unable to stop him. As a last effort, Raiden released his godly essence, causing a massive explosion, yet Onaga was unharmed. Soon, all of Raiden's energies reformed in Earthrealm, but were corrupted by Onaga´s very essence. This drove Raiden to believe that he could neither trust the Elder Gods nor his mortal comrades. Most of all, Raiden was furious with the mortal Shujinko for being duped into aiding the Dragon King's return.

Ironically, this time the Elder Gods did interfere. Now aware of a possible threat to them and the realms, because Onaga had acquired all the Kamidogu and the Amulet, the Elder Gods summoned Scorpion to act as their champion and destroy Onaga. In exchange for his services, they agreed to resurrect his clan. However, after Onaga's defeat, the Elder Gods - for unknown reasons - resurrected Scorpion's clan as the undead, rather than as fully restored humans. Scorpion perceived this as an act of betrayal on the Elder Gods' part and turned against them.

In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, it is revealed that the Elder Gods foresaw that one day the Mortal Kombat tournament would be corrupted, and that the participating warriors would become too powerful and too numerous, jeopardizing the safety and existence of the realms. They demanded a safeguard be put in place to prevent Armageddon. Argus, the protector God of Edenia, and his wife Delia, helped constructed a hidden pyramid and created an elemental warrior known as Blaze to watch over the Mortal Kombat competitions and judge when its participants became too dangerous. When the time came, Blaze would call out, awakening Argus's two sons, Taven and Daegon, who would challenge Blaze on top of the pyramid. Whichever son won the battle would become the new god of Edenia, and be given the power to decide the fate of every other warrior. Should one brother be victorious, the kombatants would be stripped of their power. Should the other be the victor against Blaze, the kombatants would be stripped of their lives.

In Captain Marvel's ending of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, upon defeating Dark Kahn, in order to regain control of his power, Marvel was guided by the wizard Shazam through a focusing ritual. At the end, Marvel has entered and encountered a strange, ethereal world, and found himself face-to-face with the Elder Gods themselves. He found that he was able to tap himself into their powers, and Marvel began to discover he had gained new abilities that he soon began to master.

Current Timeline

Before the Elder Gods came into existence, the cosmos was ruled by a group of deities called the Titans. Kronika was one of them, the Titan of Space and Time.

The Elder Gods also appeared in both Raiden's vignette and the Story Mode of Mortal Kombat (2011). Raiden comes to them, hoping they would intervene when Shao Kahn invades Earth. They decline, however, as, even though he did break the rules, they care more about the jeopardy of the realms as a whole than one realm. However, when Shao Kahn finally does step into the Earthrealm and begins to merge the two realms, the gods intervened, seeing Shao Kahn as a threat and saving Raiden, who was about to face the same fate as his future self. The gods possessed Raiden's body and used him to defeat Shao Kahn and destroy him for his insolence.

When Shinnok escaped from the Netherrealm and renewed his war against the Elder Gods, he attempted to absorb Earthrealm's lifeforce, the Jinsei, and use Raiden's portal to the heavens to allow his hordes of demons access to the Elder Gods. His plans were thwarted by Earthrealm's warriors, and when Shinnok was sealed inside his own amulet, Raiden brought the relic to the Elder Gods, bidding them to destroy it. Explaining to Raiden that destroying the amulet would only free Shinnok once again, they instead banished the amulet into a dark dimension using the Kamidogu bound in Raiden's blood.

The amulet would be freed by the chaos cleric Havik many years later, and Shinnok freed some time after that. Shinnok nearly succeeded in staging his coup against his former brethren but was defeated once again.

After the former Elder God Shinnok was beheaded by Raiden, Kronika began to enact her plans to restart the timeline. Various past versions of Kombatants were summoned, including a past Raiden who went to consult the Elder Gods about the discourse. They said that even their immense power was useless against Kronika due to her status as a Titan, and that Raiden must take control of her Hourglass in order to stop the reset. After Raiden returns to consult them again, all the Elder Gods had been vanquished by Kronika's time effect. Cetrion, Elder God and daughter of Kronika, ends up betraying the other Elder Gods as Shinnok did, siding with her mother in order to properly revive her brother. Cetrion is later willingly to be absorbed by Kronika in order for her to complete her plan.

In Liu Kang's ladder ending in Mortal Kombat 11, Liu Kang shared Kronika's power with Bo' Rai Cho, Kitana, Raiden, and Kung Lao. Together with the closest people that he trusts the most, they replaced the Elder Gods to guard the realms.

Appearances in other media

Movie appearance

In Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, they are represented by ethereal beings of fire, air, water, and aether. They live in an ancient arena-like structure called the Eternal Palace, which is their place of worship, called the Temple of the Elder Gods. Their brother, Shinnok, who also appears to be the Elder God of Wind, is the father of Raiden and Shao Kahn, according to Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. And he wishes nothing less for power not only over all realms, but over the gods as well. This is non-canon in the games.

He favors Shao Kahn, considering Raiden too weak and caring to be his son. Shinnok orders Shao Kahn to kill his brother, while guiding him in his path to merging the parallel universes of Earth and Outworld.

Shinnok is later stopped by two of his fellow Elder Gods, who appeared in their human forms, while still possessing and representing the elemental powers of fire and water, since they finally learned of Shinnok's plot to rule the universe. After Liu Kang and his friends won the fight against Shao Kahn and his warriors, the Elder Gods later imprisoned Shinnok forever and restored all the realms back to their natural form. They later resurrected Raiden and offered him Shinnok's position in their ranks.

Trivia

  • Statues of the Elder Gods depicting their mortal forms can be seen in both the opening of Mortal Kombat X and on Raiden's Sky Temple. Three are seen: a woman in robes, a robed archer, and a cloaked figure.
  • Elder God characters can be created or promoted from a prior status, but the necessary parts must be unlocked in the Konquest mode. If all the necessary parts are collected, then your character's appearance would resemble a man or woman in golden armor.
  • The Elder Gods are mentioned many times by Raiden during his in-game dialogues in his appearance as a guest character in Injustice 2.
    • The Elder Gods also make a cameo appearance in Raiden's ending in the game, there they are seen destroying Brainiac, similiarly as they did to Shao Kahn in MK 2011.

Gallery

Principal Games
Mortal Kombat | Mortal Kombat II | Mortal Kombat 3 | Mortal Kombat 4 | Deadly Alliance | Deception | Armageddon | MK vs. DCU | Mortal Kombat (2011) | Mortal Kombat X | Mortal Kombat 11 | Mortal Kombat 1
Updates and Ports
Advance | Gold | Mobile | Tournament Edition | Trilogy | Ultimate | Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 | Unchained
Spin-Offs
Konquest | Mythologies: Sub-Zero | Onslaught | Shaolin Monks | Special Forces
Factions
Army of Darkness | Black Dragon | Dragon King's Army | Edenian Resistance | Elder Gods | Forces of Darkness | Forces of Light | Kahn Guard | Lin Kuei | Order of Light | Outer World Investigation Agency | Red Dragon | Seidan Guard | Seidan Resistance | Shirai Ryu | Shaolin Monks | Special Forces | Tekunin | The Brotherhood of Shadow | The Deadly Alliance | Titans | Umgadi | White Lotus Society | Wu Shi Academy
Main Characters
Ashrah | Baraka | Blaze | Bo' Rai Cho | Cassie Cage | Cetrion | Chameleon | Cyrax | Daegon | Dairou | Darrius | Drahmin | D'Vorah | Ermac | Erron Black | Ferra & Torr | Frost | Fujin | Geras | Goro | Havik | Hotaru | Hsu Hao | Jade | Jarek | Jax Briggs | Jacqui Briggs | Johnny Cage | Kabal | Kai | Kano | Kenshi | Khameleon | Kintaro | Kira | Kitana | Kobra | Kollector | Kotal Kahn | Kronika | Kung Jin | Kung Lao | Li Mei | Liu Kang | Mavado | Meat | Mileena | Mokap | Moloch | Motaro | Noob Saibot | Nightwolf | Nitara | Onaga | Quan Chi | Raiden | Rain | Reiko | Reptile | Sareena | Scorpion | Sektor | Shang Tsung | Shao Kahn | Sheeva | Shinnok | Shujinko | Sindel | Skarlet | Smoke | Sonya Blade | Stryker | Sub-Zero | Takeda | Tanya | Taven | Tremor | Triborg
Guest Characters
Alien | Batman | Captain Marvel | Catwoman | Dark Kahn | Darkseid | Deathstroke | The Flash | Freddy Krueger | Green Lantern | Homelander | Jason Voorhees | John Rambo | The Joker | Kratos | Leatherface | Lex Luthor | Omni-Man | Peacemaker | Predator | RoboCop | Spawn | Superman | The Terminator | Wonder Woman
Information
Arenas | Artifacts | DC Storyline | Fatalities | Glossary | Main Storyline | Minor Characters | Realms | Secret Characters | Species | Unplayable Characters | Weapons
Films and Television
Annihilation | Conquest | Defenders of the Realm | Legacy | Legends: Battle of the Realms | Legends: Cage Match | Legends: Scorpion's Revenge | Legends: Snow Blind | Mortal Kombat (1995) | Mortal Kombat (2021) | Mortal Kombat 2 | Rebirth | The Journey Begins
Other
Actors | Card Game | Comics | Tour
MKlogo

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Elder Gods (Mortal Kombat). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with the Mortal Kombat Wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.