The Kove is a stage in the Mortal Kombat series. It debuted in Mortal Kombat X.
Overview
The Kove is a pier and shipping dock featured in Outworld. A large cavern with a skull-like face emerging from its jutting surface can be seen in the background, along with various ships, some in working condition, others destroyed. Barrels from around the pier can be thrown as projectiles, and bodies floating in the water can be used in a same fashion. Kombatants can wall run up the side of the ships docked on either corner, allowing them to escape the corner in a fight.
In the Story Mode of Mortal Kombat X, this stage is the site where D'Vorah's true allegiance was shown, and of Takeda's fights against Erron Black, Reptile, and Ermac in his Chapter, as well as Raiden's battles against D'Vorah and Baraka in the past alongside the (at the time) human Kung Lao and Liu Kang in his Chapter.
Interactions
The Kove features seven arena interactions. From farthest left to right they are:
- A ship wall that can be run up to escape the corner.
- A small barrel that can be thrown at the opponent.
- A section of the pier that can jumped off of on both sides of the stage.
- Periodically, corpses wash up from the waves into reach of the combatants, where they can be grabbed and thrown at the opponent.
- A small crate that can be thrown at the opponent.
- A hook and crane connected the right wall that can be grabbed in mid jump and used to swing at the opponent in a connecting kick.
Stage Brutalities
- Tossing one of the corpses that washes up on the pier while holding Forward will cause the opponent to explode on impact with the corpse. This can only be performed after using two other interactions on the arena.
- In a nod to Klassic and Stage Fatalities in the series, performing an uppercut while holding Stance Swap will send the opponent into the water, where their corpse briefly washes up like the Stage Interaction before washing away forever.
Stage Fatality
- The opponent is uppercutted into the air, where a giant tentacle grabs them while airborne and slams them violently into the pier several times before being taken into the water. The creature constricts the opponent as they struggle to free themselves, before crushing them and severing their head and arms from their body as they are dragged into the watery abyss.
Trivia
- "The Cove" was originally the name of this stage.
- The Kove ties with the Outworld Marketplace with having the most Stage Brutalities, with a total of two.
- However, the Outworld Marketplace Brutalities are simply alternates of the same one, which merely depends on player action.
- With the release of Mortal Kombat XL, it is one of 3 stages given a Stage Fatality. The other two being the Refugee Kamp and the Pit.
- When knocking the opponent into the water, they will scream as the creatures tentacle constricts them. Interestingly, female fighters use Sonya Blade's screaming voice, while male fighters use Sub-Zero's screaming voice, with the exception of D'Vorah, Takeda, Reptile, Predator, and The Xenomorph while underwater.
- Since Jason Voorhees makes no noises whatsoever, he does not have any audio while drowning and being constricted.
- The Kove appears in the animated film Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge.
- Takeda's Animality in Mortal Kombat 1 features him transforming into a giant octopus and dragging his opponent underwater before devouring them, bearing a strong resemblance to the stage fatality of the Kove.