Goro

Overview

Original Timeline

Alternative Timeline

Moveset

Fatality Theater

Gallery

Goro
General Information
Real Name	Goro
Gender	Male
Status	Alive
Origin	Outworld
Resides	Outworld
Species	Shokan (Draco Lineage)
In Mortal Kombat
Affiliations	Shao Kahn's Army Kitana's Army
Weapons	Dragon Fangs (MK:D, MK:A, MKX)
Fighting Styles	Shokan (fighting style) (MK:D, MK:A) Kuatan (fighting style) (MK:D)
Alignment	Evil
Games	Mortal Kombat (sub-boss) Mortal Kombat Trilogy (sub-boss) Mortal Kombat 4 (sub-boss) Mortal Kombat Gold (sub-boss) Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition (cameo) MK: Deception (GameCube exclusive) MK: Shaolin Monks (sub-boss) MK: Unchained MK: Armageddon (sub-boss) MK 2011 (sub-boss) Mortal Kombat X (playable by pre-order)
Portrayers	Kevin Michael Richardson (first film) Ken Lally (MK 2011) Vic Chao (MKX)

“	I will give you a warrior's death.	„
—Goro to Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat (2011)

Goro is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series, who made his debut in the first Mortal Kombat game as a sub-boss to Shang Tsung.

About Goro

Goro is one of the original characters debuting in the first Mortal Kombat arcade game as the sub-boss, and later appeared as the sub-boss of Mortal Kombat 4 (only available on home consoles). He first became playable in the Game Boy port of Mortal Kombat. He appeared as a four-armed Shokan warrior who had been the champion of the Mortal Kombat tournament for nine generations, remaining undefeated for 500 years. Goro is among Shao Kahn's favorite warriors and is well known for his power and brutality. Goro helped the emperor grow closer to dominating Earthrealm, but he lost at the tenth while fighting against Liu Kang, who later defeated the sorcerer Shang Tsung.

Combat Characteristics

Powers and abilities

Outside of Goro being able to win 9 consecutive Mortal Kombat tournaments, as well as defeating the Great Kung Lao in his first tournament - which Shang Tsung, in his younger form failed to do - not much is stated about his abilities in the plot. The only time there was an indication of his power in the storyline is during the opening of Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, where he easily defeats Johnny Cage, Sonya and Kung Lao.

Goro's fighting style always revolved around taking advantage of his brute strength and surprising agility. In the early games, Goro was an imbalanced character. All of his moves did far more damage than all of the other characters, and because of that he was notoriously difficult to defeat in the first game. In the 3D games, he was toned down to make him more balanced. His current depiction is being powerful, but slow. Goro is associated with the element of Fire. Like Kintaro, he could either project fireballs either from his mouth or his hands. In Shaolin Monks, he was able to shoot one fireball from each hand. He could also manipulate fire in his hands if he needed to attack using them.

Signature moves

• Fireball: Goro shoots a green fireball from his arm. This attack is stronger than most projectiles, just like his physical attacks. It also appeared in Mortal Kombat 4, but this time it was shot out of his mouth, similar to Kintaro. In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, the fireball is larger, redder, and does standard projectile damage. In Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, Goro can shoot one from each hand, four in a row. In MK 2011 Goro returns to shooting one fireball from his arm. (MK, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:SM, MK 2011)
• Leaping Stomp: Goro jumps off the screen and lands on the opponent much like Kintaro and Sheeva. However, in the original Mortal Kombat and in Mortal Kombat (2011), he does not jump all the way off the screen; he only jumps the height of a normal jump. This is also known simply as Stomp in MK 2011. (MK, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:D, MK:U, MK:SM, MK:A, MK 2011, MKX)
  • The Brutality version of this move, called Krush, has Goro completely crushing the opponent into gore upon his landing, while the head flies into the screen.
• Chest Pound: Grabbing his opponents with his lower arms, Goro then pounds them with his upper arms, shaving off a good portion of his opponent's life. In Shaolin Monks, a Test Your Might occurs against Goro when he uses this attack. (MK, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:SM)
• Goro Grab: Goro grabs the opponent in his bottom hands, then palms the opponents face in an upper hand, smashes them on the ground, and then flings them across the arena. This attack is also seen in the opening of Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, used on Johnny Cage. (MK 2011)
• Spinning Fists: Goro holds out his arms and spins around, smacking his opponent multiple times with his outstretched flaming fists. This is known as Arm Spin in MK 2011. (MKT, MK:D, MK:U, MK:A, MK 2011, MKX)
  • The Brutality version of this move, called Tail Spin, obliterates the torso of the opponent upon contact with the fists.
• Tremor Pound: Goro jumps at the ground or hits it with all his arms making an earthquake. In MK 2011, this is called Ground Pound and Goro only smashes the ground with his upper two fists. (MK4, MKG, MK:D, MK:U, MK:A, MK 2011, MKX)
• Taunt: Goro will flex his upper arms and taunt the opponent. This can be used as an opening to strike Goro, as it does nothing else. (MK, MKT, MK 2011)
• X-Ray Move - Crusher: Goro grabs and raises his opponent from the waist with his lower arms, then puts his upper hands to their head and presses hard until he eventually crushes their skull. He then throws them overhead and slams them into the floor, damaging their skull, ribs and spine. (MK 2011)
• X-Ray Move - Spine Adjustment: Goro punches his opponent hard enough to stun them. He then forcefully attempts to pull off their head with his upper arms, breaking the neck. He then uses his lower arms to grab their waist and attempts to tear them apart, completely shattering the spine and breaking several ribs. He punches them onto the ground to end it. (MKX)

Fatalities

• Dragon Fangs: Goro takes out his Dragon Fangs, slices the foe upward, stabs them into the foe's torso, then follows up by taking one and driving it into his/her throat. (MK:D)
• Limb Rip: Goro grabs his opponent with his four arms and begins to tear them before he throws them on the ground. (MK:D)
• Boss Fatality: Goro raises up the victim then drops them on his knee, breaking their spine. Then he grabs them by the head, slams them to the ground and then throws them far away. (MK:SM)
• Disconnect Four: Goro grabs the opponent's head and tears it off with two arms. He then grabs it with his two other arms and tears it into 4 quarters. (MK 2011)
• Torn Apart: Goro grabs the opponent with his upper hands and rips off the enemy's legs with his bottom hands. He flips them upside down and rips off their arms, and finally vertically rips the body in half. (MK 2011)
• Peek-A-Boo: Goro grabs the opponent with his lower arms and grabs the head with one upper arm. He then presses the head down the body. Afterwards he rips the skin from the stomach, revealing the head in the stomach. (MKX)
• Shokan Amputation: Goro jumps down on the opponent. He then grabs both arms and legs with his four arms and rips them all off at once, still standing on his opponent. (MKX)

Other finishers

• Hara-Kiri: Self Impale: Goro impales his gut with two of his Dragon Fangs, and impales his eyes with the other two. (MK:D)
• Babality: Goro starts clapping until he punches himself, making him cry. (MK 2011)

Movie appearances

Goro appears in the first Mortal Kombat movie as Shang Tsung's most loyal servant and protector as well as the reigning champion of Mortal Kombat, having granted Shang Tsung nine victories in a row. Goro thinks very unfavorably of humans, considering them weak. He is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson, with vocal effects by Frank Welker. In the entire movie, he is the only villain to have defeated a protagonist onscreen as with his fight against Art Lean, one of Johnny Cage's acquaintances. After Art is defeated and his soul absorbed by Shang Tsung, Johnny Cage challenges Goro directly to avenge him. Cage was fully aware of Goro's strength, however, and when confronting him, resorts to his patented split-punch. Having been taken by surprise, the enraged Goro chases after Cage. Cage lures Goro to the narrow ledge of a steep cliff. With limited room to maneuver, Cage manages to knock Goro off the cliff to his death.

Goro appears in the animated film Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins. In the film, Goro confronts his older brother Duroc for a jeweled egg in which the winner was to tribute to their father Gorbak. He ends up losing the fight after hanging from a cliff while Duroc tries to help him up. Goro betrays his brother and knocks him into the pit.

Comic Books

Comics Published by Malibu

Goro had a prominent role in Malibu's Mortal Kombat comic book adaptations and was the first character to have his own three-issue miniseries, entitled Goro: Prince of Pain. Goro's story did not differ greatly from his in-game profiles, being the Mortal Kombat champion and having previously bested the Great Kung Lao. He was also portrayed as an unstoppable force, easily dispatching the Earthrealm warriors alone, and only having a hard time against Raiden. He remained undefeated during the first three issues of the Blood & Thunder series, having lost for the first time in the second issue of Prince of Pain against Zaggot's creation, The Kombatant. In the following Battlewave series, he remained on Earth after his defeat, and, to appease for his failure, started hunting down the Earthrealm warriors; he injured Jax in battle but was unable to defeat Liu Kang. In the fourth issue, he had a mini-story at the end ("When Titans Klash") where he returned to Outworld to fight for Shao Kahn, settling a rivalry with Kintaro along the way.

Comics Published by Midway

Goro also made a short appearance in the Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe comic book where he, along with Johnny Cage, Robin and Aquaman, is vanished from existence by Dark Kahn's powers.

Movies

• The reigning champion of Mortal Kombat in the first movie.
• Ally of Shang Tsung and Kano in the first movie.
• Fought and defeated a large number of Earthrealm fighters during the Mortal Kombat tournament.
• Defeated and killed Art Lean, a friend of Johnny Cage.
• Challenged and killed by Johnny Cage.

Trivia

General

• In the original Mortal Kombat, as well as Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Goro's name was never announced after he won a fight. He is the only character to apply to the latter case, with the exception of Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat II, 3, Ultimate MK3 and Trilogy.
• Though Goro is a playable character in the Game Boy version of MK, the game itself is very slow, which renders Goro's gameplay very sloppy, with some of its moves being hard to pull off. Nonetheless, Goro is a very powerful character, able to deplete an opponent's health with minimum hits.
• Goro has the shortest Bio Kard video out of all the characters.
• Goro's Kuatan fighting style in Deception and Unchained is borrowed by Sheeva in Armageddon.
• In his profile on the official Mortal Kombat comic and instruction manual for the first game, Goro is stated to be a polygamist, having seven wives. Sheeva has often been theorized to be one of them, but this has not been proven. To date, Sheeva has never been seen interacting with Goro in any capacity.
• Goro is sometimes portrayed with two sets of pectoral muscles stacked on top of each other matching his arms. This was most notable with his design in Deception and Armageddon, but is typically the result of artistic liberty.
• Goro has a cameo in Deception's Konquest mode, where he appears in the Netherrealm, missing his two lower arms. He is shown fighting Johnny Cage on an island amid a sea of lava.
• Ed Boon said there were actually two Goro models made, one of which they kept changing over and over so it fell apart over time. He also said he had one stashed at his home; it is unknown if he still has it as of today (since Goro's Bio Kard, like many other characters, was recorded in 2004, the year Mortal Kombat: Deception was released).
  • In April 2013, Ed Boon found the original stop motion models for Goro, Kintaro and Sheeva after a flood hit the Chicago suburbs. They will be added to the MK collection in Netherrealm studios.
• In the movie, Goro's head and upper arms were an animatronic, while the bottom arms and walking movement were provided by an actor.
• In a Top 10 list hosted by Screwattack.com, Goro was placed at #3 of the Best Mortal Kombat characters in the Mortal Kombat Series.
• Unused sprites of Goro were recently discovered by a user named FLY. Among these sprites were of Goro falling to his knees and suddenly turned to stone with half of his body blasted off, which may have reinforced the idea that Goro was supposed to have been killed by Raiden.
• According to John Tobias, his early name was Gongoro, but the team decided to shorten the name.
• In the Super NES version of Mortal Kombat, if the player performs Raiden's Fatality on the last opponent on the third Endurance round, Goro will appear in a glitchy silver form.
• In Kung Lao's ending for MK Gold, Goro mentions that he has a son.
• Although he is playable in the Gamecube and PSP ports of Deception, he still appears in the background of the Dark Prison.
• Goro's storyline in Deception carried over from MK Gold and MK Tournament Edition, two updates of their original games.
• Goro is killed by Johnny Cage upon his defeat in Shaolin Monks.
• In Mortal Kombat (2011), he is playable in the 150th mission of the Challenge Tower, called "Gor-owned".
• Goro's throw attack in MK 2011 is near identical to how he throws Johnny Cage in the intro of Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, where it was also his Fatality.
• Goro is the only boss character whom the player can actually perform both a Fatality and a Babality on. This is done during the 59th mission of the Challenge Tower.
• Goro is the first character in Mortal Kombat history to be a downloadable pre-order bonus.

Mortal Kombat 4

• In Mortal Kombat 4/Gold, if Goro loses in Arcade mode and the player does not continue, he will fall to his death, but on his head instead of being impaled. His upper body clips through the floor down to his waist.
• In the Nintendo 64 version of the game, Goro's name is not announced when he wins a match. It was added in the Playstation version released later however.
• Should Goro be selected as a playable character, the stage reel will permanently be frozen and will only load Goro's Lair until the game is reset or turned off.

Mortal Kombat: Deception

• Strangely, Goro is seen using 3 different weapons in Deception: he uses his Dragon Fangs as a weapon style, he uses a set of sais during his first Fatality (even though they are referred to as his Dragon Fangs, they are clearly sais), and during Shao Kahn's ending, he uses a quartet of swords.