Goro

Goro

“	I will grant you a warrior's death!	„
—Goro's battle cry from Mortal Kombat (2011 video game)

Goro is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. He was one of the original characters, debuting in the first Mortal Kombat arcade game as the sub-boss. He also served 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.

About Goro

Mortal Kombat

Art concept sketch of Prince Goro

Goro became Grand Champion of the Mortal Kombat tournament after defeating the Great Kung Lao. For 500 years, he remained undefeated and helped Shang Tsung grow ever closer to achieving Shao Kahn's goal of domination over Earthrealm. In his tenth title defense, however, he faced Liu Kang. Kang pushed him to his limits and finally defeated the mighty Shokan warrior. In the tournament's aftermath he went missing after a battle where he fought Kano, Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade. He was believed to be dead. It is thought that he retreated back to his kingdom while Shang Tsung faced execution for his defeat at the hands of Liu Kang and for Goro's apparent death.

Mortal Kombat 4

He would later resurface after Shao Kahn's defeat, during the events of Mortal Kombat 4/Mortal Kombat Gold. Despite having the intent to avenge his losses at the hands of Liu Kang, Goro began to take an interest in the matters of his own race and he joined his fellow Shokan in the war against the Centaurians. Kitana intervened and negotiated both races an uneasy truce and peace accord. Kung Lao interrupted the event because he wanted to kill Goro for vanquishing his ancestor. Kung Lao then slashed Goro's chest which left it scarred. Since it was a ceremonial blow, Kung Lao considered the score settled, the two shook hands. When Shinnok and his legion were defeated and Edenia was once again free, Goro and the Shokan race decided to ally with the Edenians. As a condition in their partnership, Goro signed a peace treaty with the Centaurians.

Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

Goro's vs in MKA

Years later, during the time of the Deadly Alliance, the united Edenians and Shokans marched on Shao Kahn's weakened army. Goro was exhausted from battle and was struck from behind by Noob Saibot. He was mortally wounded, apparently dying from the injury. So, Princess Kitana held a royal funeral for her former ally. However, Goro was able to survive, being saved from death by Shao Kahn himself, with the promise to return the Shokans to their former glory and the banishment of the Centaurians in exchange for his allegiance. Agreeing to these terms, Goro placed his royal seal on a nearby fallen disfigured Shokan (whom Kitana and the other Shokans found and mistook for him, successfully deceiving them while hiding his defection) and resumed his place at Shao Kahn's side.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon

Goro's war uniform and alternate costume

In the events of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Goro helped Shao Kahn to become the Emperor of Outworld again. It was revealed in the bios of Shang Tsung and Mileena that along with Shang Tsung, he aided Shao Kahn in reclaiming his stronghold, which was occupied by the edenian forces led by Mileena. The three crushed all who defended the stronghold, and with their combined might destroyed the reinforced door that guarded the throne room. Mileena then surrendered, and Shao Kahn became Emperor once more.

In Konquest Mode in Mortal Kombat:Armageddon, Goro is confronted by Taven in Shao Kahn's Fortress, as the latter wishes to kill Quan Chi but must get past Goro in order to do so. Taven eventually defeats Goro, who storms off.

In his Armageddon ending, Goro defeats Blaze and attains the powers of a god. Onaga, Shao Kahn, Quan Chi and Shang Tsung had formed an alliance to retrieve his powers. They confronted Goro in an attempt to get it, but Goro unleased an ancient Shokan warcry he roared and from beyond the pyramid came an army of Shokan warriors that killed the four attackers. The Shokan then ruled Outworld.

Biographies

Goro opens the Mortal Kombat Tournament

• Mortal Kombat: "A 2000 year old half-human dragon, Goro remains undefeated for the past 500 years. He won the title of Grand Champion by defeating Kung Lao, a Shaolin fighting monk. It was during this period that the tournament fell into Shang Tsung's hands and was corrupted. Goro possesses both massive strength and great agility: None who fought him have reported any weaknesses. In fact, none who have opposed him have survived!"

• Mortal Kombat 4: "The half human dragon stood as Shang Tsung's protector in the first tournament. Goro took the Mortal Kombat title from the original Kung Lao, only to have it won from him nine generations later by Lao's ancestor, Liu Kang. Seeking Revenge, The Shokan Prince has returned from the Outworld to crush Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat."

• Mortal Kombat Deception: "Kitana's army allied with my Shokan warriors in an attempt to destroy my old master, Shao Kahn. It was rumored that he was weakening and that our victory was inevitable. During the last battle against Kano's militia, however, I was attacked from behind by a shadow warrior, Noob Saibot. I do not know for how long I lay dying on the battlefield, but when I regained consciousness, I was greeted by the last person I expected to see... Shao Kahn found me near death upon the battlefield. Though he was not wearing his armor, I recognized his voice it was truly him. He used what little power he had left to revive me. He asked me to join him once again and aid in destroying a rising power in Outworld. In return, he would give the Shokan favoured status and banish the Centaurs. I accepted this offer. I placed my royal seal on the disfigured corpse of a fallen Shokan warrior and together we fled into hiding to regain our strength for the coming battle."

Combat Characteristics

thumb|right|300px|Goro's bio card.

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 then 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 hands. In Shaolin Monks, he was able to shoot one fireball from each hand. He could also manipulate fire in his hands if he needs to attack using his shokan hands. Like the Spinning Slaps, he could spin and slap his opponent while his hands are on fire.

Special 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.(MK1, 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, he does not jump all the way off the screen; he only jumps the height of a normal jump.(MK1, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:D, MK:U, MK:SM, MK:A)

• Chest Pound: Grabbing his opponents with his lower arms, Goro then pounds them with his upper arms, shaving of a good portion of his opponent's life. In Shaolin Monks, a Test Your Might occurs against Goro when he uses this attack.(MK1, MKT, MK4, MKG, MK:SM)

• Spinning Slaps: Goro holds out his arms and spins around, smacking his opponent multiple times with his outstretched flaming fists.(MK:D, MK:U, MK:A)

• Tremor Pound: Goro jumps at the ground or hits it with all his arms making an earthquake,(MK4, MKG ,MK:D, MK:U, MK:A)thumb|right|230px

• X-Ray Move: Shokan Headache: Goro grabs his opponent in his lower arms, then puts his upper hands to their head and presses hard. This eventually crushes his opponent's skull. He then throws them overhead and slams them into the floor, damaging their skull even further. (MK 2011)

Fatalities

• Dragon Fangs: Goro Takes out his Dragon Fangs, slices the foe upward, stabs them into the foe's torso, followed 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, then 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)

Other Finishers

• Hara-Kiri: Self Impale: Goro impales himself with his Dragon Fangs. (MK:D)

Endings

• Deception: (Non-canonical) "Goro had regained control of his Shokan army and fought to cleanse Outworld of the Dragon King's Tarkatan Horde. Though the Tarkata are formidable adversaries, they were no match for an army of Shokan, inspired as they were by regaining Shao Kahn's favor. Baraka's troops were quickly defeated. Goro had proven himself a powerful ally of the emperor. But Shao Kahn had given the Shokan much in his return to power. Goro felt a gift of loyalty was in order. The Edenian military had been crushed and Kitana herself had been captured. Goro brought her before Shao Kahn and sacrificed her as an offering of fealty to the once and future emperor of Outworld."

Goro and his army slaughtering Baraka's troops.

• Armageddon: (Non-canonical) "Having defeated Blaze, Goro had attained the power of a god. But to the forces of Darkness, his power was not meant for a mere Shokan to wield. Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, Shao Kahn and Onaga all had anticipated victory, only to have it stolen from them. The four surrounded Goro in a vain attempt to wrest the power from him. Goro laughed, raised his arms and let forth an ancient Shokan battle cry. From out of nowhere an army of Shokan warriors stormed the pyramid and slaughtered the four attackers. The Shokan race will rule Outworld forever!"

Reception

Goro was awarded Hottest Gaming Hunk of 1993 by Electronic Gaming Monthly. UGO.com featured Goro on their "Top 11 Mortal Kombat Characters" list, with comments focused on his appearance due to the "twist" his first appearance gave since he was very different from the other characters. He appeared in the fourth spot on GamePro's "Excessively Limbed Villains We Love" list.^{[citation needed]} He also won a GameSpot award for one of the top ten boss fights due to how difficult was defeating Goro in Mortal Kombat. Additionally, they noted that despite the introductions of bosses similar to Goro in sequels, Goro still remained as the "grand champion." When it was announced the release of a third Mortal Kombat live-action film, Phil Pirrello and Jesse Schedeen from IGN listed him as a character they want to see fighting in the film, but unlike the one from the first film which was a man wearing a suit, they wanted him to be made with CG technology. IGN also listed him as a character they would like to see as downloadable content for Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, noting "Goro was the real challenge" of the first Mortal Kombat title although Shang Tsung was the final boss from such game. IGN also added that "MK is all about visceral thrills, and it doesn't get more visceral than bludgeoning your enemies to death with four giant, muscular arms". Goro was ranked 20th in a poll by GamePro ranking the 47 most diabolical video game villains.

Goro VS Sub-Zero in Mortal Kombat (2011)

Eurogamer's Robert Purchse was also saddened with the fact that Goro was not playable character stating that he was his favorite character and hoping that he could become an unlockable character. Additionally Techtree.com stated that, "Although Goro wasn't the main boss, he is probably the hardest boss to kill." Jeff Gerstmann from GameSpot praised Goro's design and moves in Mortal Kombat 4 as in contrast to the game's boss, Shinnok, he harder to defeat. His addition to the GameCube port of Mortal Kombat: Deception received positive response by Greg Kasavin of the same site; he claimed he and Shao Khan fit well within Deception despite looking "anemic". GameSpy's Miguel Lopez described Goro as a "legendary villain" but at the same criticized his physical appearance from Deception as his "anatomical proportions seem a little off". Another editor from GameSpot, Alex Navarro, commented that the fight against Goro in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks was very easy to win in contrast to other bosses fights from the same game. In a 1994 article by Business Week, the film version of Goro was described as "the most advanced mechanical creature H[o]llywood has ever made."

Movie appearances

Goro in the Mortal Kombat movie

Goro appears in the first Mortal Kombat movie as Shang Tsung's most loyal servant as well as the reigning champion of Mortal Kombat, having granted Shang Tsung nine victories in a row. Goro thinks very unfavorably of humans. 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 is able to fend off Goro's assault before sending him careening to his death.

TV appearances

Goro appears in the animated film Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins. In the series Goro confronts his older brother Durak 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 Durak tries to help him up. Goro betrays his brother and knocks him into the pit.

Comic Books

Goro cameo in the Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe official comic

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 Clash") where he returned to Outworld to fight for Shao Kahn, settling a rivalry with Kintaro along the way.

Goro also made a short appearance in Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe comic book where he is vanished from existence by Dark Kahn's powers.

Trivia

In general:

• Goro has the shortest bio card 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. He also has a cameo in Deception's Konquest mode, where he appears in the Netherealm (albeit missing his two lower arms, a treatment that also was given to Kintaro) fighting Johnny Cage on an island amid a sea of lava.
• Ed Boon said there were actually two Goro models made and 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 as of now if he currently has it still. (since Goro's bio card like many other characters was recorded in 2004 the year Mortal Kombat: Deception was released)

Mortal Kombat:

• The sub-boss of the game.

Mortal Kombat Trilogy:

• One of the sub-bosses of the game.

Mortal Kombat 4:

• The sub-boss and an unlockable character of the game.
• In Kung Lao's ending, Goro mentions he has a son.

Mortal Kombat Deception:

• If Scorpion executes his Hellish Dismemberment fatality on Goro, he will rip off Goro's lower right arm.
• He is one of the characters that appear in the cells, although he is playable in the Gamecube version and Unchained so in these versions he does not appear in the cells.

Mortal Kombat Armageddon:

• One of the sub-bosses of the game.

Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks:

• One of the bosses of the game.
• The player could easily defeat him by staying far away from him and to continuously use a projectile as Goro only pounds the floor when at a distance.
• When you defeat Goro, your character doesn't actually finish him off. Johnny Cage comes in and kills Goro for the player.
• When you plays on Goro's Lair for multiplayer battles, he will be involved in the match, only attacking the player closest to him.

Character Relationships

• Defeated and killed the Great Kung Lao and won the title of the Mortal Kombat tournament.
• Helped Shang Tsung achieve Shao Kahn's goal of domination over Earthrealm.
• Defeated by Liu Kang in MK1.
• Fought Sonya, Johnny Cage, and Kano after MK1.
• Kung Lao wanted to fight him during MK4.
• Allied with Kitana's Edenian army after MK4.
• Nearly killed by Noob Saibot.
• Revived by Shao Kahn before Deception.
• Defeated by Taven in Armageddon's Konquest mode.
• It is unknown which side he joined, the Forces of Darkness or the Forces of Light, as he did not appear in the opening cutscene of Armageddon.