The Graveyard, also referred to as Cemetery, is an arena consisting of a massive graveyard, that made its first appearance in Mortal Kombat 3.
Overview
The Graveyard features a full moon and on some of the headstones, players can see some of the games' design team names, such as Ed Boon and John Tobias. The supposed date of death on the tombstones is the date on which Mortal Kombat 3 was released in arcades. In the Nintendo 64 version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy, the stage has more random names on the gravestones near the front. As well as the original Midway design team of MK3, names of the team at Williams Entertainment were added. The date of death on the stones was changed, from April 1, 1995 to September 30, 1996, MK Trilogy's release date.
The Graveyard was also seen in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. This new version allows players to be flung into markers and other decorations to facilitate combos, or sent down to a lower level via Free-Fall Kombat.
The Graveyard itself makes a reappearance in Mortal Kombat (2011), this time with the Soulnado in the background. The arena takes place at the end of the day as opposed to night. In MK 2011's Story Mode the Graveyard is also featured as a location in Earthrealm under the name St. Dominic's Cemetery.
Trivia
- There is a tombstone reading "CAGE" on the left corner of the original stage, confirming that Johnny Cage did in fact die during Shao Kahn's invasion of Earthrealm, by the hands of his extermination squads. It is probable that his grave and burial were made by his fellow Earth warriors in his honor. His tombstone reappears in the Graveyard stage of MK vs DCU on the lower level. Cage's tomb does not appear in the iPhone version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.
- Also in the MK 2011 iteration are headstones that read Omnia mors aequat, which is Latin for "Death equals all things." Other tombstones read Omnes vulnerant, ultima necat, Latin for "They all wound, and the last one kills," a phrase frequently found on Medieval clocks to remind people that their lives grow shorter with every second.
- The Graveyard is the only Mortal Kombat 3 arena that does not make it to the home console or handheld ports of the game, except for the Playstation version.
- In MK 2011, the clock face of the Bell Tower can be seen from the graveyard scene. It's in front of most of the buildings in the distance.
- It was initially believed for years that the Kombat Kode message "Rain can be found in the graveyard" was in reference to Rain. However, thanks to a sprite dump leak, this was in fact a reference to a scrapped visual gimmick added in UMK3 where literal rain was meant to appear where it would drizzle on Round 1 and become a shower in the next. This would have predated Mortal Kombat 4s Wind World as the first stage in the franchise to have a weather visual aesthetic.