- This article is about the 12th main installment of Mortal Kombat. For other uses of the word "Mortal Kombat", see the disambiguation page named "Mortal Kombat".
Mortal Kombat 1 is both the 12th fighting game and 23rd installment in the Mortal Kombat series developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Games. The game was released for Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch on September 19, 2023, with the premium edition having released on September 14.
The game is a follow-up to Mortal Kombat 11 and serves as a soft reboot of the franchise, the second overall reboot of the series after Mortal Kombat (2011). In the game, set in a timeline created by Liu Kang after the events of Aftermath, it follows the Fire God assembling a group of Champions to participate in the latest Mortal Kombat Tournament while later kombating a rising conflict created by a mysterious adversary from another timeline that forever alters the course of Liu Kang's New Era.
In the follow-up expansion, Khaos Reigns, Liu Kang and allies from across the multiverse must kombat the chaotic Titan Havik, a Godly variant of Havik from another timeline seeking to turn the multiverse into his own anarchist utopia.
Khaos Reigns was released on September 24th, 2024, with a complete edition, titled Mortal Kombat 1: Definitive Edition being released on May 14th, 2025, which includes all content for the game.
Plot
- Main article: Mortal Kombat 1's Story Mode
After winning over control of the Hourglass, Liu Kang assumes his role as Keeper of Time, forging his New Era. After eons of peace between the realms, ideologies grow, bringing in mounting tensions between the realms. When a mysterious adversary arrives, Liu Kang soon realizes that not only are the realms in danger, but so is his new timeline and all of reality.
Kombatants
The game features variations of characters across the multiverse, including timelines in which characters' fate intersect with other characters, such as a Tarkatan Johnny Cage, a variant of Quan Chi with Geras' powers, and many more. The list below are the playable characters and Kameo Fighters in the game's Main and Kameo Roster;
Returning Characters
- Ashrah
- Baraka
- Geras
- Havik (Unlockable through completing the Story Mode, Final Boss in Khaos Reigns Expansion)
- Johnny Cage
- Kenshi Takahashi
- Kitana
- Kung Lao
- Li Mei
- Liu Kang
- Mileena
- Nitara
- Raiden
- Rain
- Reiko
- Reptile
- Scorpion (Kuai Liang)
- General Shao
- Sindel
- Smoke
- Sub-Zero (Bi-Han)
- Tanya
Kameo Fighters
- Klassic Cyrax
- Darrius
- Frost
- Goro
- Jax Briggs
- Kano
- Klassic Kung Lao
- Kurtis Stryker
- Motaro
- Sareena
- Klassic Scorpion (Hanzo Hasashi)
- Klassic Sektor
- Shujinko
- Sonya Blade
- Klassic Sub-Zero (Bi-Han)
New Characters
DLC Characters
Pre-Order Bonus
- Shang Tsung (Playable in Story Mode, Final Boss)
Kombat Pack
- Omni-Man
- Quan Chi (Unplayable in Story Mode, Kameo Boss)
- Peacemaker
- Ermac (Unplayable in Story Mode)
- Homelander
- Takeda Takahashi
Players also received a skin of Jean-Claude Van Damme for Johnny Cage, transforming the actor into the renowned martial artist and action icon.
Kameo Fighters
- Tremor
- Khameleon (Kameo Fighter in Story Mode)
- Janet Cage (female variant of Johnny Cage)
- Mavado
- Ferra
Kombat Pack 2
Kameo Fighters
Non-Playable Characters
- Cassie Cage
- Daegon
- Erron Black
- Jacqui Briggs
- Kollector
- Kotal Kahn
- Kronika
- Kung Jin
- Nightwolf
- Onaga
- Shinnok
- Multiverse
- Goro × Shao Kahn
- Kung Lao × Raiden
- Sonya × Kano
- Quan Chi × Sub-Zero
- Tanya × Kitana
- Others
Story Mode Only (Unplayable) Characters
- Kalima
- Katara Vala
- Multiverse
- Normal Characters
- Shao Kahn
- LK-7T2 - Cyber Smoke
- Ninja Mime Johnny Cage
- Fusion Characters
- Barakion - Baraka × Scorpion
- Fire Cage - Johnny Cage × Liu Kang
- Firefly - Li Mei × Scorpion
- Frostbite - Nitara × Sub-Zero
- Guard of Thunder - Li Mei × Raiden
- Jawspell - Mileena × Quan Chi
- John Kahner - Johnny Cage × General Shao
- Johnny Savage - Johnny Cage × Baraka
- Kang Quan - Quan Chi × Liu Kang
- Kitana Kahn - Kitana × General Shao
- Klockodile - Geras × Reptile
- Lizard Queen - Sindel × Reptile
- Quan Li - Quan Chi × Li Mei
- Quantum-Chi - Quan Chi × Geras
- Red Dragon - Liu Kang × Kano
- Reiko Starr - Reiko × Johnny Cage
- Scorp Lao - Scorpion × Kung Lao
- Screen Demon - Johnny Cage × Ashrah
- Sento Storm - Kenshi × Rain
- Shao-Zero - General Shao × Sub-Zero
- Shock Priestess - Tanya × Raiden
- Stung Lao - Scorpion × Kung Lao
- Warlord - Reiko × Raiden
- Gender-swap Characters
- Ermac - Female version
- Reptile - Female version
- Scorpion - Female version
- Sub-Zero - Female version
- Janet Cage - Johnny Cage female version
- Normal Characters
- Tarkatans
- Tarkatan Klone
- Super Tarkatan
- Tarkatan Fighter
Kameo Fighters
- Adam
- Kalima
- Khameleon
- Main Roster Kombatants as Kameos
- Baraka
- Cyrax
- Ermac
- Havik
- Johnny Cage
- Kenshi
- Kitana
- Kung Lao
- Li Mei
- Liu Kang
- Mileena
- Nitara
- Quan Chi
- Raiden
- Rain
- Reiko
- Reptile
- Scorpion (Kuai Liang)
- Sektor
- Shang Tsung
- General Shao
- Sindel
- Smoke
- Sub-Zero (Bi-Han)
- Takeda
- Tanya
- Elementals
- Lightning
- Fire
- Ice
- Tarkatan Fighter
- Titan Havik Clone
Invasions Only Kameo Fighters
- Puggles
Stages
There are currently 24 stages in Mortal Kombat 1, 19 in the base game (1 of which must be unlocked by beating the Story Mode), 4 added in the Khaos Reigns DLC, and an additional stage, The Field, which was added alongside Conan's release and is unlocked by beating the secret fight against Floyd. For the first time since Mortal Kombat (2011), there are no stage interactables, meaning that every stage plays exactly the same.
Every stage, except for The Field, has different aesthetic variants that can be played, though this has no effect on gameplay. Variants marked in italics must be unlocked by leveling up the player's profile. Variants marked in bold were added via updates as either DLC or rewards in Invasions.
- The Tea House (Day, Night, Rain)
- Temple of Katara Vala (Movie Set, Work Set)
- Cage Mansion (Sunset, Night, Halloween)
- Wu Shi Academy (Day, Evening, Sunset)
- The Great Hall (Afternoon, Day, Damaged, Night)
- Hanging Gardens (Day, Night)
- Tarkatan Colony (Day, Night)
- Shang Tsung's Laboratory (Overcast, Dawn)
- The Flesh Pits (Experiments On, Experiments Off)
- Living Forest (Day, Storm)
- Corrupted Forest (Day, Night, Fog)
- Sun Do (Day, Night)
- The Fire Temple (Night, Early Dawn, Damaged)
- Ying Fortress (Dawn, Snow)
- Tomb of the Dragon Army (Dormant, Active)
- Treasure Chamber (Smelter On, Smelter Off)
- The Gateway (Night, Dusk, Winter Wonderland, Chaos)
- The Hourglass (Intact, Damaged)
- The Pyramid (Bottom, Middle, Top)
- Field (Sunset, Night)
DLC
- Havik's Citadel (Krimson, Bedlam)
- Khaoseum (Night, Main Event)
- The Maze (Night, Day)
- Night Market (Night, Day)
New to the Series
Kameo Fighters: Players will be able to choose from a separate roster of characters that can be called into the fight to assist the player. These fighters work in a similar fashion to assisted fighters in both Injustice 2 and Mortal Kombat 11, both in the Multiverse and Towers of Time, respectively, in which a physical fighter can appear on the fightline and perform a special attack or combo on the opponent while the player is still attacking the opponent or defending against them. Kameo Fighters can also perform their own Fatalities and Brutalities. Kameo Fighters replace interactables that were previously used in Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat 11.
Character Abilities: Similar to the Character Trait in the Injustice Series, certain characters feature a unique ability that can drastically alter gameplay for the character once the requirement is met. This includes Johnny Cage's Hype, a feature that allows him to cancel attacks or taunt the opponent after certain attacks to build his Hype Meter. Once the Hype Meter is filled, Johnny's special attacks are all altered for some time. Some characters' Character Ability, such as General Shao and Shang Tsung, are not entirely like Johnny's as Johnny's Hype appears on screen. With Shao and Shang Tsung, their Ability is based off whether or not Shao has his ax, and if Shang Tsung is in his original form or Old Man Disguise, respectively. Both of this offer new basic attacks, combos, and special attacks.
Invasion: The game introduces Invasion mode, a board game style RPG with collectable loot and minigames. This mode replaces The Krypt as it is where you unlock several skins, in-game currency, concept art, and other rewards. Players deal with mutliversal anomalies from characters across the multiverse, as well as fighting a Titan variant of a character at the end of the Invasion Season for rewards. Each Season has its own storyline involving these alternate characters, with Liu Kang either aiding them or repelling their invading forces.
Replay Takeover: Introduced in Khaos Reigns, players can now go back and not only watch a Match Replay of a previous match they had with another player, but select a particular moment and play the scenario themselves. This feature is designed to help player go back and relearn scenarios they may be struggling with involving an opposing character and allows them to practice or "lab" the scenarios there rather than trying to recreate the moment in the Practice Mode.
Returning or Changed Features
Refined Fatal Blows: Fatal Blows return with different functionality. The attacks can still be triggered at 30% or less health only, but instead of the character performing their own, whichever Kameo Fighter is selected will also perform an attack alongside the selected character. Additionally, instead of high impact attacks to the opponent that causes blood splatter effects, X-Ray effects return when the significant attack is performed during the Fatal Blow, but the attack is still not considered an X-Ray attacks like in MK 2011 and MKX. All Fatal Blows deal a fixed damage of 35%, with Damage Boost returning from MK11 to either increase or decrease its damage based on either player pressing basic attack buttons to influence the damage, which can result in the attack dealing nearly 40% damage or just 30% damage.
Refined Damage Scaling: In past games, attacks used during combo start-ups or in the middle of a combo would result in significantly increased damage in combos, resulting in some being shorter and non-sensible. In MK1, jump-in basic attacks and well as uppercuts now deal significantly less damage as well as little to no extra damage when used together in a combo. While uppercuts still have this reduced damage scaling in a combo, jump-in basic attacks do not when used in a combo, due to the reintroduction of aerial combos.
Updated Blocking System: The blocking system received minor tweaks as well as a new addition to the game. Flawless Blocking returns with new functionality, with Flawless Block Attacks being removed in favor of returning Wake Up Attacks. Flawless Blocking now nullifies all Chip Damage rather than dealing a small fraction of the original damage. Additionally, Up Blocking is introduced, a new block mechanic for Jump-In Attacks, Airborne Attacks as well as Overheads. Up Blocking these attacks allows the blocking player to attack the opponent, regardless of the frame data of the attack performed. As a balancing mechanic, incorrectly Up Blocking and being struck by any Throw-like attack causes the blocking player to take significantly increased damage from the attack instead.
Return of Aerial Combos: The game reintroduces Aerial Combos to the franchise, allowing characters to not only perform grounded combos and combos on juggled opponents, character now have airborne special attacks in addition to airborne combos instead of just jumping basic attacks.
Return of Traditional Super Meter: The game reintroduces the Super Meter used in Mortal Kombat (2011) and Mortal Kombat X, although slightly modified. The Super Meter is strictly used for enhancing or canceling abilities as well as using a Combo Breaker. Additionally, Meter Generation has also been changed, where every attack that successfully lands, including those in a Fatal Blow, now generate a small portion of Super Meter in addition to using special attacks, striking a blocking opponent or getting attacked.
Return of Traditional Breaker: Combo Breakers return to the game, replacing the previously used Breakaway introduced in Mortal Kombat 11. This change was motivated by the overall negative reception the Breakaway had in MK11. Unlike in previous games, Breakers are now tied to Kameos and require three bars of Super Meter instead of two. If a Kameo Fighter is on the fightline or was previously attacked, their Kameo Icon will be greyed out meaning the Combo Breaker is disabled until the Kameo Icon becomes colored again.
Additional Content
Pre-ordering the game grants the following bonus content for the game;
Standard Edition
- Base Game
- Shang Tsung bonus character - A redesigned version of Shang Tsung, born in Outworld with originally a meaningless life
- Beta Access
Premium Edition
- Includes all content in the Standard Edition
- 5 day early access to full game
- Klassic MK Characters
- Kombat Pack consisting of 6 playable characters;
- Omni-Man - A Viltrumite anti-hero from the Invincible comic and animated adult television show.
- Quan Chi - A redesigned version of Quan Chi, born in Outworld with originally a meaningless life before turning into a deadly sorcerer.
- Peacemaker - A anti-villain from The Suicide Squad and television show of the same name.
- Ermac - A redesigned version of Ermac created by Quan Chi's dark magic.
- Homelander - The supervillain from the The Boys comics and television adaptation.
- Takeda - A redesigned version of Takeda, serving as a vigilante trying to bring down the criminal underworld in Earthrealm.
- 5 additional Kameo Fighters
- Tremor - Black Dragon enforcer and Earth Elemental, able to shape his body into different stones, metals, and crystals.
- Khameleon - Shapeshifting Saurian with the abilities of Jade, Kitana and Mileena.
- Janet Cage - Female variant of Johnny Cage from another timeline.
- Mavado - Red Dragon enforcer with extensive ambush capabilities.
- Ferra - Unidentified Outworld fighter from Mortal Kombat X, lacking her companion Torr.
- 1 week early access to all Kombat Pack characters
- Jean-Claude Van Damme Skin and voice for Johnny Cage, replacing Johnny with the renowned martial artist icon
- 1250 Dragon Krystals (In-Game Store Currency)
Kollector's Edition
- Includes all content in both Standard and Premium Edition
- Real-life Fire God Liu Kang sculpture designed by COARSE, featuring glow-in-the-dark details, standing 16.5 inches in height
- COARSE art prints inspired by the game
- Exclusive Steel Book
- Exclusive Liu Kang Skin inspired by COARSE Figurine
Khaos Reigns
Similar to Mortal Kombat 11, the game features an expansion for the game's Story Mode with new characters, a new storyline, protagonists and antagonist. The expansion includes the following content;
- Story Mode expansion with a Titan variant of Havik serving as the main antagonist
- Additional character skins, both new and klassic
- 5 New Stages
- Kombat Pack 2 consisting of 6 playable characters. MK characters are available at launch, guests were made available at future dates;
- Cyrax - Female Variant from the current timeline.
- Sektor - Female Variant from the current timeline.
- Noob Saibot - The current version of Bi-Han, transformed into a being of chaos by Titan Havik.
- Ghostface - Slasher character persona and main antagonist of the Scream franchise.
- Conan the Barbarian - Cimmerian sword and sorcery warrior and protagonist of the Conan franchise.
- The T-1000 - Cybernetic organism comprised of liquid metal and recurring antagonist from the Terminator franchise.
- Madam Bo Kameo Fighter - NPC character introduced in the Story Mode as the martial arts teacher of Raiden and Kung Lao
- Animalities return free with the update released with the DLC.
- Floyd Secret Boss Fight
Definitive Edition
- Contains all previously released content for the game, except preorder content from the Premium or Kollector's Editions.
Development
After ceasing support for Mortal Kombat 11, NetherRealm Studios disclosed that it was working on a new project on July 21, 2021, with speculation as to whether the game was a new Mortal Kombat title or a sequel to another NetherRealm Studios game in the Injustice series. Andrew Bowen, the voice actor for Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat 11 indicated that the unnamed project was the 12th installment for the series on Twitter before deleting the Tweet.
During a conference call in late February, Warner Bros. Discovery president and CEO David Zaslav stated that the next title was in fact a Mortal Kombat title, referring to such as Mortal Kombat 12 with a release date later in the year in addition to other Warner Bros. game projects coming later in the year. After this conference call was leaked and posted on Twitter, Ed Boon would confirm the leaked project was in fact a new Mortal Kombat game.
On May 18, 2023, NetherRealm Studios announced the next game as Mortal Kombat 1 with a release date of September 19, 2023. Mortal Kombat 1 would be set in a new timeline after Liu Kang became a God and the new Keeper of Time in the Mortal Kombat 11 Story Mode and its Aftermath expansion. The game is expected to be a soft reboot of the series, following Liu Kang's newly created timeline while reimaging many of the iconic characters in the franchise. NetherRealm Studios also announced that those who pre-order any version of the game for the PS5 and Xbox Series will also receive access to a beta scheduled in August. The game will also feature crossplay, a feature that has been in extensive testing in Mortal Kombat 11, allowing PlayStation and Xbox players to fight each other, however only in 1v1 fights or in crossplay rooms that again only allow 1v1 fights. Cross progression between systems will also be featured, a first in the series, allowing players to retain any progress in their saved games changing between consoles.
On June 8th, 2023, at the Summer Game Fest 2023, gameplay for the title was revealed, showing off and teasing new gameplay elements, in addition to showing off many of the announced characters in addition to Kenshi, returning to the franchise since his last appearance in Mortal Kombat X 8 years prior. The trailer also confirms the reimagined characters, showcasing revamped storylines and origins for many of the revealed characters.
During the weekend of June 23rd to June 26th, players were able to play a stress test for the game, allowing them to test Sub-Zero, Kenshi, Kitana and Liu Kang, with Kameo fighters Sonya, Jax, and Kano.
On July 21st, after rumors of supposed leaks, the game's Kombat Pack characters were revealed, with Quan Chi, Ermac, and Takeda all returning them their last appearance in Mortal Kombat X. The guest characters were revealed as Omni-Man from the Image Universe comics and the Invincible animated adult superhero series, Peacemaker, the DC Comics anti-hero of the same name, with John Cena reprising his role from DC Extended Universe entries The Suicide Squad and the television series of the same name, with the final character being Homelander from The Boys comic book series and television series, with Antony Starr also reprising his role from the television series.
Post Launch
On July 26th, 2024 at San Diego Comic Con, Kombat Pack 2 characters are revealed, with Bi-Han's return as Noob Saibot, and the female versions of Sektor and Cyrax will be released at the same day as the game's next storyline titled Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns and the free update featuring the return universal Animality finisher mechanic from Mortal Kombat 3 and its updates on September 24, 2024, while the guest characters Ghostface from Scream franchise, Conan the Barbarian (based on Arnold Schwarzenegger's portrayal in 1982 film) and T-1000 from Terminator 2: Judgement Day will be released on later dates.
On May 14th, 2025 a complete edition to the game, titled Mortal Kombat 1: Definitive Edition was announced alongside the release of movie skins to promote Mortal Kombat II. On May 22nd, 2025 during the initial pools for Combo Breaker 2025, it was announced that the game would no longer receive any DLC or additional Story Mode content, however NetherRealm Studios would keep updating, balancing and fixing bugs in the game for the foreseeable future.
Canceled Content
Dataminers and modders had uncovered unreleased content within the game files that suggested that Mortal Kombat 1 was to receive a second Story Mode expansion as well as a third Kombat Pack, however this was removed by developers. The Story Mode was reportedly supposed to follow characters dealing with General Shao's rebellion in Outworld. Additionally, a third Kombat Pack consisting of 6 new fighters as well as 8 new Kameo Fighters was slated for the game, with the Pack consisting of the main roster returns of new versions of Cassie Cage, Jade, Kung Jin as well as a female variant of Nightwolf, an unnamed Mortal Kombat character and a new guest character. The Kameo Fighters were never identified but it was confirmed that 8 new roster slots were available. This content was quietly removed by developers due to the negative reception of Khaos Reigns as well as it failing to meet sales expectations, with a former developer on the game confirming on Reddit that all future DLC for the game was scrapped due to the poor sales of Khaos Reigns. NetherRealm Studios had unintentionally confirmed this by specifically stating on X about no future "Story Mode chapters" would come to the game.
Cast
- Ike Amadi - General Shao
- Steve Blum - Baraka, Markon
- Cherise Boothe - Tanya
- Andrew Bowen - Johnny Cage
- John Cena - Peacemaker
- Vic Chao - Kenshi, Goro
- Chris Cox - Conan
- Jacob Craner - Havik, Katara Vala
- Noshir Dalal - Rain
- Susan Eisenberg - Ashrah
- Megan Fox - Nitara
- Jake Green - Homelander
- Jennifer Hale - "Damashi"
- Kelly Hu - Li Mei, Madam Bo
- Erika Ishii - Sektor (female)
- Roger Jackson - Ghostface
- Mara Junot - Sindel, Sareena, Cris
- Matt Yang King - Liu Kang, Akiro the Wizard
- Sean T. Krishnan - Quan Chi
- Phil LaMarr - Geras, Steven
- Alan Lee - Shang Tsung, Floyd
- Yuri Lowenthal - Smoke, Adam
- Sunil Malhotra - Kung Lao
- Mary Elizabeth McGlynn - Female Scorpion
- Andrew Morgado - Reptile (Syzoth), Director (Johnny Cage Animality)
- Enuka Okuma - Cyrax
- Stephen Oyoung
- Robert Patrick - T-1000
- Derek Phillips - Reiko
- Jamieson Price - Announcer, Ermac, Jerrod, Khaos Preacher
- Vincent Rodriguez, III - Raiden
- Stephanie Sheh - Harumi Shirai
- Parry Shen - Takeda
- JK Simmons - Omni-Man
- Kaiji Tang - Sub-Zero/Noob Saibot (Bi-Han)
- Courtenay Taylor - Kalima, Janet Cage, Khameleon, Orin
- Daisuke Tsuji - Scorpion (Kuai Liang)
- Jean-Claude Van Damme - Johnny Cage (DLC skin)
- Cristina Vee - Nitara (battle efforts)
- Kari Wahlgren - Kitana, Mileena
- Travis Willingham - Alternate Timeline Raidens
Archive voice lines (uncredited)
- Troy Baker - Erron Black
- JB Blanc - Kano
- Ed Boon - Scorpion ("Get Over Here!" and "Come Here!" voice clips), Jax ("Gotcha!" voice clips)
- Sara Cravens - Frost
- Daniel Luján - Nightwolf
- Dave B. Mitchell - Sektor (male)
- Ronda Rousey - Sonya Blade
- William C. Stephens - Jax
- Tara Strong - Ferra
- Fred Tatasciore - Tremor
Reception
The game received positive reviews from critics, who praised the graphics, performances, Story Mode and new gameplay, with criticism from fans and critics directed at the microtransactions, the performance of Megan Fox as Nitara as well as the creative liberties taken with the characterization of many of the popular characters on the roster.
The Nintendo Switch version of the game was panned on release for its poor graphic quality, performance issues, and bugs.
Post-Launch Reception
The game developed a negative reception from fans due to the plethora of bugs that have plagued the game since launch, with many claiming the game was rushed or unfinished. The unbalancing of the game's two rosters, as well as NetherRealm Studios' lack of communication with fans also caused massive ire, as fans believed they were being ignored and their desires for better changes to the game were being pushed to the side for other unnecessary changes to the game.
The game's Kombat Pack, though initially receiving a warm response, had been negatively received over time, as players were growing tiresome of the increased number of guest characters, lack of female characters and the unbalanced nature between both the main Kombat Pack kombatants and their Kameo counterparts, as well as guest characters being far stronger than the normal roster. Homelander has been negatively received for his oppressiveness as a character and NetherRealm Studios' lack of balancing him.
Khaos Reigns
The Khaos Reigns Story Mode expansion was met with a mixed-to-negative reception, with praise directed at Titan Havik, who reviewers welcomed becoming a major antagonist as well as being a better villain than Titan Shang Tsung, the improvements to gameplay that came with the expansion that included balancing and changes to many characters, including Havik himself, while being heavily criticized for the story, the length of the expansion's Story Mode, and writing, particularly the relationship between the new versions of Bi-Han and Sektor. Many also criticized the $60 price of the DLC as a whole as well as not being able to purchase characters within the DLC separately, something that was available in past titles.
Dominic Cianciolo, the head writer for the previous four titles, received extreme harassment on social media for Khaos Reigns, with petitions being made calling for his firing as well as death threats for his writing of the Story Mode.
The inclusions of guest characters Ghostface, Conan and The T-1000 also drew a negative response from fans. Criticism focused on Conan and the T-1000, characters that fans have little to no knowledge of as well as the lack of more returning Mortal Kombat characters. Ghostface received a much warmer reception due to the character's popularity, however fans felt the character was out of place in the game, with the constant criticism being that the character had no supernatural abilities, thus being a generic person within the Mortal Kombat universe. Both Ghostface and Conan received better responses due to their gameplay while the T-1000 gained ire from fans for its oppressiveness and strong gameplay performance compared to other characters on the roster.
Post Khaos Reigns Reception
Due to the inclusion of the secret character Floyd, the hunt for the character become somewhat of a phenomenon with players scrambling to find him and unlock The Field Stage that was given for defeating him. The inclusion, as well as changes to some characters, more content with the release of Conan, including Conan himself, had improved the reception for the game.
The increased reception would drastically change with the announcement of the Definitive Edition after the T-1000's release, causing backlash from the community, perceiving the announcement to be the end of the game's life cycle. This stems from many interviews with developers, staff at NetherRealm Studios and Ed Boon himself saying that Mortal Kombat 1 would have "years of content" as well as "much more to come". Less than two weeks later during Combo Breaker 2025, NetherRealm Studios had posted on social media that they were aware of the growing concern from players about the game's future, but still ultimately decided the game would no longer receive content-related updates for the Story Mode or new characters, as the staff had wanted to shift their focus onto their next project. This again received an overwhelmingly negative response, as fans believed they were lied to about the game's promotion of having a long life cycle.
Trivia
- Despite speculation on the game being named Mortal Kombat 12, the game was revealed to be titled Mortal Kombat 1.
- The game features the returns of many fighters that have been absent from the franchise as playable characters for nearly 20 years, featuring the playable returns of Ashrah, Nitara, Li Mei, Reiko, Havik, Motaro, Sareena, Khameleon, Darrius, Mavado and Shujinko.
- Shang Tsung becomes the third pre-order bonus character in the franchise's history.
- He becomes one of the three repeated DLC fighters in the series after Rain, with Tremor joining after.
- Rain was part of the Season Pass for Mortal Kombat (2011) before returning as a playable DLC character in Mortal Kombat 11's second Kombat Pack.
- Shang is the first back-to-back DLC character, being a part of Mortal Kombat 11's original Kombat Pack.
- Tremor is the only repeated DLC character to have been a main roster fighter and a Kameo Fighter.
- He becomes one of the three repeated DLC fighters in the series after Rain, with Tremor joining after.
- All DLC characters excluding guest characters are involved in the Story Mode one way or another, making this the second game in which DLC characters were either involved or added to the DLC Story Mode expansion.
- Takeda was originally the only exception to this, as he appeared in a cameo in the final Chapter of the game. A variant of Takeda from Titan Havik's timeline became a secondary antagonist in Khaos Reigns, thus giving Takeda a role in the game's Story Modes.
- Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat 11 is the exception to the original note, as he was a pre-order bonus character before revealing his involvement as the secondary antagonist in the original Story Mode.
- Renowned Belgian actor and martial artist Jean-Claude Van Damme, who served as inspiration for Johnny Cage, appears in the game as a skin for Johnny Cage in the first Kombat Pack. The skin is modeled after Johnny Cage's design in the original Mortal Kombat, which was in turn inspired by Van Damme's appearance in the 1988 film Bloodsport. Van Damme also provides new voice recordings for when the skin is equipped.
- This is the first Mortal Kombat game developed by NetherRealm Studios in which Scorpion is not in the main cover of the game, being replaced by Liu Kang.
- He would appear on the official cover art for the Definitive Edition alongside Liu Kang, Sub-Zero and all the guests for the game.
- Like the previous titles, the guest characters in the game feature characters of a specific genre or type, this being comic book characters. In Mortal Kombat X, all guests were horror movie characters, while Mortal Kombat 11 featured predominantly 80s action characters.
- This would change with the game's second Kombat Pack, featuring guests with traits across the last three titles;
- Ghostface is a slasher/horror character, which MKX's guests were primarily from that genre.
- Conan, although originating from stories written in 1932, is an 80s action icon, much like a majority of guests in MK11.
- The T-1000, though a 90s science-fiction action icon, is part of the Terminator franchise which involves time travel and alternate realities, which has been the plot of the last two Mortal Kombat titles. This is also a main reason for The Terminator's inclusion in MK11.
- This would change with the game's second Kombat Pack, featuring guests with traits across the last three titles;
- The guests in this game all feature unique traits;
- Omni-Man is the second character to originate from Image Comics after Spawn.
- Peacemaker became the second DC character after The Joker to be a playable guests and the first DC guest character that did not appear in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe or the Injustice series.
- Homelander is the first guest from Dynamite Comics.
- Ghostface's inclusion ended a 9 year drought of slasher or horror guests in the series, the last being in Mortal Kombat X.
- Conan becomes the second guest portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger after the The Terminator. Chris Cox would once again take over voicing the character for Schwarzenegger.
- The T-1000 is the second guest character from the Terminator franchise.
- The inclusion of Conan and the T-1000 marks the third and fourth guest characters to originate from a franchise that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. Other guests included The Predator and the Terminator.
- Ghostface became the second guest to originate from a Wes Craven film franchise, the first being Freddy Krueger.
- All guest from the original Kombat Pack were used as promotional material for their home media for their appearance in the game.
- Although originally not used as promotional material, two years after his release, Peacemaker was used to promote the second season of the Peacemaker TV show, which was promoted by NetherRealm Studios.[1]
- This is the second game in the series, after Mortal Kombat 11 in which fighters do not have a set or base health of 100%, with this being unique to the game based on the selected fighter and their Kameo;
- All fighters have health stats of 600, 700, or 800, with Kameo Fighters filling in the remaining health to boost them to the default health levels of 900, 1000 or 1100, with some Kameos boosting these stats to 950, 1000, 1050, 1100, 1150, or the maximum of 1200.
- Some Kameos will also reduce health by 50, setting some health levels to the lowest of 850, to 900, 950, 1000, and the maximum of reduced health at 1050.
- Nitara and Quan Chi have the lowest base health at 900.
- General Shao, Havik and Conan have the highest health at a base of 1100.
- Shao's health level was unchanged from his appearance in Mortal Kombat 11. During testing, Shao did have a base health of 1000 before being increased to 1100.
- Additionally, Conan is the second guest character with more than 100% health, the first was RoboCop who appeared in Mortal Kombat 11.
- The T-1000 is the only guest character in the game with reduced health, its health being set to 950. This was done as a balancing mechanic due to the character being deemed very powerful. This change was similar to The Joker in Mortal Kombat 11.
- After receiving extensive nerfing due to his oppressiveness, Peacemaker had his health reduced to 950. It was reverted back to 1000 nearly a year later due to being played less and the previosuly mentioned nerfs being considered too harsh.
- Reiko is the only character with 1050 health.
- When Mavado was released, he reduced his ally's health by 100, the most for a Kameo Fighter. This was changed in a later update as the developers thought this decrease in health was too negative to some fighters, as it reduced some to 900, 850 or the lowest at 800 health.
- When Ferra was released, she increased her ally's health by 150, the highest increase from a Kameo. This allowed some characters such as Shao and Havik to have 1250 health or 125% health. This initial increase was due to the Pain and Gain bonus that would reduce health on use, however the developers reduced the bonus health she granted to 50 due to her overuse by the community, her very easy gameplay mechanics and to reduce her oppressiveness in competitive tournaments.
- In the Story Mode and Arcade, Titan Shang Tsung will have a normal health level of 1000, however Titan Havik, during his Boss Fight, will have 1500 health.
- Floyd has a base health of 1337 for his secret fight.
- With Ashrah, Frost, Li Mei, Nitara, Sareena, and Tanya all returning in some capacity in this game, Kira is the only female character introduced in the 3D era to not appear directly in the game, however, she appears as part of Ghostface's movements, alongside Kobra.
- Thus far, all female characters from the 3D era are present in this game from one or other way.
- Jade and Sheeva are the only female characters from the Midway era who are absent in this game, although Sheeva is mentioned in the Story Mode, while Jade is mentioned in the Arcade, respectively.
- This is the first game in the series in which all Arcade endings, excluding guest characters, are canon to the game's Story Mode, serving as epilogues to the events of the Story Mode.
- With the Khaos Reigns announcement, Mortal Kombat 1 marks the return of Animality, which haven't be seen since Mortal Kombat Trilogy, released 30 years prior the update.
- Noah Fleder, who played Kenshi in Mortal Kombat 1, reprised his role in a short film titled Kenshi V Kitana: Battle of the Realms. His co-star was Emily Mei who portrayed Kitana in the film.
- This is the first game since Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance in 2002 to not feature Fujin in any capacity, be it as a playable fighter or merely a cameo. He also receives no mention in the game at all.