Mortal Kombat Storyline

Genesis: The Sacred Origins of Mortal Kombat

The Elder Gods.

The Titans

Long ago at the beginning of time, there existed only three core immortal and divine beings in the entire universe; the Titans, the Elder Gods, and the One Being. The One Being gained his power by draining it from both the Elder Gods and the Titans, consuming them in the process. Eventually, the Elder Gods launched their attack on the One Being to save themselves. In the end, the Elder Gods created six weapons called the Kamidogu. When they used the weapons, the One Being split into many pieces, although its consciousness survived. The Kamidogu became lost in six different pieces of the One Being. Eventually, these pieces became realms, and life began to grow inside them. There were six main realms: Earthrealm, Netherrealm, Outworld, Orderrealm (Seido), Chaosrealm, and Edenia, each with a representative Kamidogu which held the essence of each realm. In addition to these, several other minor realms including the two subconscious realms were created such as Osh-Tekk, Arnyek, Tarkata, Zaterra, Vaeturnus, Hinpar, Xaa, Ilkan, the Dreamrealm and the Nightmarerealm. After the conflict, the Titans would disappear from history for eons following their own brand of disagreement over the fate of the realms and the mortals within them with the Elder Gods, until one of the Titans and the Keeper of Time, Kronika, remained, leaving the Elder Gods to oversee the realms and prepare to intervene if the merging of the realms is deemed illegally.

Over the course of time, the Elder Gods were aware of the fact that Outworld would one day be a serious threat to the realms, declared that as a defense mechanism for all the realms against a future Outworld threat and in order to keep the realms in check, they created and prepared at any given time to invoke a mystical sacred contest as a competition between those realms that would determine their fate held for once a generation per 5 centuries (500 years in total). There were also certain stipulations added by the Elder Gods; such as their realms' warriors would use their special abilities during the tournament, and once it had been declared, it cannot be refused, and would punish those who would attack the defending realms and their fighters, before, during, or after the tournament. They eventually decreed in addition, that the Grand prize for the winner of the tournament would be that the champion of the aforementioned realms would not age for 5 decades (50 years to be exact) until the next tournament and the merger can be allowed if the tournament was won 10 consecutive times, thus it was coined into what would be told as folktales throughout all the realms known as Mortal Kombat.

The Golden Peaceful Age of Onaga, The Dragon King

Onaga the Dragon King.

At some unknown point in history, long after the creation of the realms, there existed an ancient race of reptilian beings. This race was one of the first, and strongest races to be born yet called Dragons. They were perceived by many to be the children of the Elder Gods themselves, true to the fact that they exhibited traits that both species shared. High regard was held for Dragons, and soon allegiances were formed between them and their Gods; two of the best known dragons were the later guardians, the Gold Dragon, Orin, and the Red Dragon, Caro, of both of the future sons of the Edenian God, Argus.

In the realm of Outworld, however, a wind of change had arrived. Dragons once inhabited it, but left Outworld for some reasons unknown. One among them decided to stay and master his powers so he could rule the lands: Onaga the Dragon King, who became the first Emperor of Outworld. Onaga unified an otherwise divided realm. The Outworld before Onaga's time was divided into countless, squabbling kingdoms that lived in constant war with each other; the most notable kingdom that still exists is the Shokan Kingdom of Kuatan, whose inhabitants had recently overthrown the domain of the Korlovens and wiped out the latter's royal family. The endless war between the kingdoms of Outworld was mostly due to the scheming of the Kafallah Warlocks, who were the most powerful sorcerers of Outworld at the time. By influencing the kingdoms of Outworld and shaping the reigns of the kings and emperors, their true agenda came closer to realization: The Netherrealm's Conquest of Outworld. Eventually, their secret was revealed and the Kafallah Warlocks were wiped out, but the Netherrealm army had already arrived. In his campaign of unification, Onaga led Outworld in the fight against the Netherrealm and won. It is theorized that the Kafallah Warlocks' schemes with the Netherrealm were one of the primary reasons Onaga began to unite Outworld under one banner- to stop the Netherrealm from playing "Divide and Conquer" and from picking off the Outworld kingdoms one by one.

With the aid of his close allies, one being the Z'ankarian Empire, Onaga began to conquer other realms. He merged them to add that realm's power to Outworld and expand his ever-growing empire. Onaga's secret to victory was his undefeatable and seemingly invincible army; Onaga's Heart gave him the ability to raise the dead, allowing him to revive his dead soldiers continuously. However, Onaga wished for immortality; using the last dragon egg, his followers cast a spell that would transfer his soul into the tiny dragon inside and with it be granted eternal life.

When the first dragons, the spawn of the Elder Gods, descended down into the realms, they still had immortality, immense sizes, and incomprehensible powers they had while in the heavens. However, over millions of years, as each generation of dragons were born, it soon became clear that dragons had begun to become part of the mortal realms and that realms became part of them. With each generation, their size shrank, their power weakened and their immortality faded. Onaga was a part of the latest generation of dragons who had not inherited the power of eternal life and the Elder God-like aspects that the eldest generations had. The dragon egg that was used contained the embryo of a dragon from the eldest generation. If the spell had been complete, Onaga would have been reborn in the body of an Elder Dragon.

It was at that point originally, that the Elder Gods, as they watched and governed over the realms with untold wisdom and preparing to intervene if treachery came, chose Onaga's former trusted advisor, Shao Kahn, to become the protector of Outworld as he once fought alongside Onaga during the Netherrealm invasion. Like the fallen Elder God, Shinnok, who, unbeknownst to the Elder Gods, was one of Kronika's children, making Cetrion his sister, siblings of Light and Darkness, came after him, he too fell into greed and the lust for power, and a coup d'état was in effect orchestrated by Kahn, who did not like sharing power. He then poisoned Onaga and took control of Outworld for himself. Unlike Onaga, he was unable to rule his domain as a united realm and the realm fell back into a patchwork of tiny kingdoms, and Outworld was in total disarray and anarchy once again.

For centuries even imprisoned in death after his treacherous betrayal by Shao Kahn, the Dragon King would learn of his former advisor's ambitions, his lust for power, including his own brand of conquest of the realms much to Onaga's fury; he, in time, would plan his retaliatory strike to one day revive his physical body and reclaim what was stolen from him secretly. Prior to the upcoming Mortal Kombat tournament to be held in Earthrealm however, he plans to do so by transferring his essence into an apparition as the course of time would pass. Onaga would eventually seize the opportunity, by appearing to Shujinko, a young and a very promising warrior who was set to be the chosen kombatant representing Earth in the aforementioned tournament, even by claiming to be an emissary of the Elder Gods named Damashi. His goal, would be to trick Shujinko into embarking on a quest to obtain the Kamidogu from the various realms and placing them in the Nexus, a special location created between the realms to ease the travel of the Champion of the Elder Gods and in turn, would give Shujinko a "gift" in which he can absorb the knowledge and fighting skills of not only Earthrealm kombatants, but kombatants from other realms themselves during his journey.

Prophecies, Predictions, and Revelations

The Edenian God Argus, and his mortal wife Delia.

At an unknown time after Onaga's death, Shao Kahn now commanded the armies of Outworld and carried the legacy in his own fashion of attacking other realms. The Edenian protector-God, Argus, and his second sorceress-wife, Delia, had two children: Taven and Daegon. Argus also had a third son due to an elicit affair from his first wife, a mortal woman named Amara, who many years later became the traitor and an arrogant fighting Prince of Edenia named Rain, making him, Taven, and Daegon, brothers. They fought alongside their father and the dragons, Orin and Caro, repelling an attempted invasion by Shao Kahn.

At the time, there were endless revelations, premonitions, and prophecies of the future for all the realms in which Delia frequently had visions. One of these cataclysmic events was the Prophecy of Armageddon; the Judgement Day for all the Realms, where she predicted that the Mortal Kombat warriors would one day grow too powerful and numerous and, if left unchecked, their intensifying Kombat would bring forth the destruction of all the realms, and in turn, the Apocalypse. Another legendary prophecy unbeknownst to the Elder Gods that Delia did not foresee was the return of the One Being: it was decreed that if one were to obtain and fuse together all six Kamidogu and the Sacred Amulet, they would be granted ultimate power, and bring about the destruction of the realms even if Armageddon did not happen as well. Regardless, Kronika was unaware that even if she was orchestrating her "New Era", she would be more powerless if the One Being would return and not only consume the Elder Gods, but the Titans, including Kronika in retaliation for their treachery.

Kronika, observing the catastrophic event, knew that this could be the key to her ultimate agenda and then, in the course of time, use this as an opportunity to lay the foundations for her "New Era". In her diabolical, and sacrilegious plot to get rid of the Elder Gods, and crush the supposedly overpowered mortals so that the Titans would rule the realms and usher in the "New Era" once and for all. The Elder Gods however, demanded that a safeguard be put in place in order to prevent this from happening, one that would make use of the kombatants insatiable blood lust, so that they would be drawn there to battle like moths to a flame, and left the task to Argus and his wife. Delia also foresaw that the climax would take place at a crater within the Edenian Southlands; thus, Argus had a pyramid constructed underground at this crater, while Delia created a Fire-Spawn known as Blaze, who would contain the power needed to stop the Kombatants themselves.

Argus wanted all of the warriors destroyed, but Delia wished for a more merciful approach; stripping the warriors of their powers. Some were great heroes, undeserving of death. They decided that they would put their two children in competition, and whichever one defeated Blaze would be gifted with the power to become the new protector of Edenia. On their way to confronting Blaze, each brother would have to retrieve a sword and a suit of armor from one of their parents' temples both in Earthrealm respectively. One suit of armor would mean that all of the kombatants were destroyed, the other would mean that they were stripped of their power. In effect, this would be a "coin toss" between Argus and Delia, to decide which outcome would be achieved. What Argus or Delia didn't know, was that a third option was possible. If the "coin" lands on the edge, the kombatants would neither be destroyed nor stripped of power, but their powers would be enhanced. Unfortunately, what Delia did not foresee was that even if the Armageddon event did happen, it would create an unbalance in the timeline. That would later be a part of Kronika's hidden agenda that Armageddon could be the key to her ultimate vision of her "New Era" where Chaos will reign and Order will be wiped from history.

Argus initiated the plan to save the realms and have the two brothers be summoned to Argus' temple in Edenia, where they were ambushed and placed in stasis within the mountains somewhere in Earthrealm, with a Dragon to watch over them. The Golden Dragon, Orin, watched over Taven, whilst the Red Dragon Caro watched over Daegon. When Blaze gave the signal, the Dragons would wake their protegee from stasis to begin the quest, unaware that the real purpose of the quest was to test their sons' true nature, while Rain on the other hand would later serve in the resistance but be denied command and join forces with Shao Kahn.

The First Earthrealm War: Raiden vs Shinnok - The Fate of Earthrealm

The fallen Elder God, Shinnok, the cause of both of the Earthrealm Wars.

Meanwhile as the the Elder Gods were governing the realms and being vigilant of any treasonous actions that might come their way, Shinnok, like Shao Kahn in Outworld before him, gave into greed and the illusion of ultimate power, wanted Earthrealm for himself. Having profited from Blaze's enslaving by the holy men who remained faithful to Onaga, Shinnok masterfully tricked the dragon Caro into thinking the signal had been sounded and convinced the awoken Daegon that his parents were against him. Daegon killed both of his parents, weakening Edenia and leaving it in a state of anarchy, which allowed Shao Kahn to invade it without its Protector God opposing him. With the aid of others; those who were mind-controlled, and like-minded Elder Gods, such as his cousin, Malebolgia. For instance of the latter kind; dragons and other fallen celestial beings, Shinnok then turned his attention towards Earthrealm, whose Jinsei could grant him the power to become invincible. However, the Elder Gods had appointed the God of Thunder known as Raiden to protect Earth, secretly knowing that no matter what actions he might take, he would be needed to prevent Kronika's vision for the future she envisioned and end her plans for a so-called "New Era" from coming to fruition. Between the two of them, the First Earthrealm War began.

The conflict between Shinnok and Raiden was so fierce, however, that it brought Earth to the brink of destruction and plunged it into centuries of darkness. The Elder Gods were angered and aware of Shinnok's treacherous betrayal, only when Raiden discovered that Shinnok's power was linked to his mystical amulet, which allowed him to weaken the borders of a realm and therefore enter it without challenge and interference, keeping the Elder Gods at bay. Raiden, given the choice of whether to destroy the allied Saurian civilization or risk handing over Earthrealm to Shinnok, chose the former and stripped Shinnok of the amulet. With the aid of Elder Gods, Raiden banished the fallen Elder God to the Netherrealm, knowing that it would be a matter of time before their paths would cross once again.

In the aftermath of the war, the Saurian survivors received compensation from the Elder Gods. A new home in the free realm of Zaterra. However, some of the Saurians decided to take refuge in the Hollow Earth instead. The Saurian Race was divided: the Saurians who ventured to Zaterra would rebuild their civilization until they too became a target to Shao Kahn's Empire, while the surviving Saurians of the Hollow Earth endured underground without interference. Raiden had created a massive temple deep within the mountains of Asia, currently known as the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal, to house the amulet, and appointed four guardians to serve as protectors of the amulet in order to prevent the unforeseen return of the One Being, should the prophecy come true. Each of these guardians represented one of the elements of which the realm was comprised, with one of them being the God of Wind, Fujin, and the remaining elemental gods of Earth, Water, and Fire. As long as the amulet remained on Earth in safe hands, Shinnok would remain trapped in the Netherrealm.

The exact date of the first devastating war on Earthrealm is unknown, but several theories and interpretations vary from around 65 million years ago, the end of the Cretaceous period, the most likely date, coinciding with the K-T event, which is when the dinosaurs became extinct; to around 8,000 years BC, coinciding with the Flood Myths in Mesopotamian, Babylonian, Christian, Hindu, and many more civilizations' myths and also coinciding with the date of the Edenian War, 10,000 years ago as well as, potentially, the destruction of Atlantis, Lemuria, Mu and Hyperborea and the end of the Antediluvian Age of Earthrealm as a whole. In addition, whether it's known as Hell, Tartarus, Hades, Gehenna, or Pluto, the date of origin of Netherrealm too is unknown as it also existed since the beginning of time. Although it has many names, it always held the same purpose: to act as the final home for those who have done wrong.

When Shinnok awoke in the Netherealm, he found himself under excruciating pain and insufferable misery inflicted by Lucifer, the "leader" of the fiery realm. He used the souls of those banished there by Shinnok himself to torture the Elder God in retaliation. Shinnok was quickly beaten and found himself in the depths of Hell for eternity. Shinnok's torture lasted for an untold amount of years until he stumbled across a mysterious sorcerer by the name of Quan Chi. He was once an Oni from the Netherrealm, transforming his appearance upon learning sorcery, even gaining the power to travel through the planes of reality without suspicion and detection from any of the Elder Gods or the Titans. Quan Chi told Shinnok that he would help him escape from his prison and defeat Lucifer, only if Shinnok accepted his proposal; he would obtain power and the right to rule at Shinnok's side. There was one question that Shinnok had wondered; Why did Quan Chi decide to help Shinnok in the first place.

When it was first created many years ago by the Elder Gods, the Netherrealm, which was made of ten layers or "circles", was endlessly divided between countless lords and ladies of Hell, at war with each other. They were easily contained by Lucifer. However, his fatal flaw was an overdeveloped sense of pride that led to his downfall and rulership of the Netherrealm, as its rulers oftentimes used that to their advantage. Although its rulers and their subjects were too separate to be united as one, there were a few occasions when a hell lord or lady was powerful enough to unite most of the Netherrealm under their rule. Alas, such rare unities didn't last as some of the most notable Hell lords who had been able to unite the Netherrealm became its kings and queens before Shinnok: Bael, Paimon, Beleth, Purson, Asmodeus, Vine, Balam, Zagan and Belial. It became crystal clear that none of them were powerful enough to unite and maintain their hold on all of the Netherrealm and its subordinates. That was the eventual truth Quan Chi saw when he decided to aid Shinnok: a Fallen Elder God like him was the most powerful being, strong enough to unite the Netherrealm as one and to put the endlessly warring, treacherous, and conspiring Lords and ladies back in line so that real progress and change can be made.

In a surprising act of desperation, Shinnok agreed and named Quan Chi Arch-Sorcerer. The two waged war in the Netherrealm that lasted for centuries, until they eventually defeated his former slave-master Lucifer, overthrowing him and took control of the Netherrealm. Shinnok was now the ruler of the dead realm, but he wasn't content with his conquest: as the Netherealm is nothing more than fire and brimstone, and he only rules over the grotesque demons and the aforementioned rulers that once inhabited the realm. Shinnok wanted more, and Quan Chi would make some arrangements as per Shinnok's desires to gain retribution and set the events in stone.

The Imperial Age of Shao Kahn and the Reign of Terror

Shao Kahn, usurper to the throne of Outworld, and the cause of Outword's reign of terror on the realms.

Like Onaga before him, Shao Kahn sought to expand his power and create his own empire through conquests of other realms. When he took over the throne, his first priority was to eliminate those loyal to Onaga: promising "peace", he lured the high council of the Z'ankarian Empire, one of the key allies to Onaga, in a false sense of security to a meeting at Dragon Mountain, and from there, he killed them all.

After deposing of those loyal to Onaga and his order, he then began to attack and conquer many smaller realms, slowly building up power over thousands of years. Eventually, he built up enough strength to conquer every realm equal to Outworld's size and gain even greater power beyond any mortal imagination. The known realms that he conquered were: Zaterra, Arnyek, Tarkata, Hinpar, Vaeternus, and Osh-Tekk. He laid eyes upon the two most important realms, satiating his hunger and power in his bid for imperial domination.

One of these realms, was the lush and fertile realm of Edenia. Taven and his brothers Daegon and Rain, fought alongside their father and the dragons Orin and Caro, repelling an attempted invasion by Shao Kahn in the realm of Edenia many years ago. However, after the battle, Taven and his brother Daegon were put to sleep by their father Argus, who intended to send his sons in a quest to save the realms from Armageddon were sent to Earthrealm, encased in stone to protect them from harm and assigned two guardians by the name of Orin and Caro. Shortly afterwards, Daegon was mistakenly awoken prematurely by Blaze as Shinnok took advantage of his jealousy towards his brother by making him kill his parents, Delia and Argus, with the god-slaying weapons that were meant for Taven and Daegon during their quest to use against Blaze. Shao Kahn's armies were set to invade Edenia, but in order to merge the realm, Shao Kahn had to do so sacredly in Mortal Kombat. If he succeeded, he would merge the two realms. Despite the Edenian warriors' best efforts, and with the Protector God Argus dead and Taven and the dragons in Earthrealm, Outworld won 10 consecutive tournaments and Edenia's blue skies were ripped apart as the portals began to open allowing his army to invade the defenseless realm without opposition.

Shao Kahn then proceeded to annihilate the ruler of Edenia, King Jerrod, take his wife Sindel as his queen, and adopt her daughter Kitana as his own. After Sindel convinced Shao Kahn of her daughter's worth, Kitana was trained to join his personal guard, and as an assassin. However, seeing the effects of Shao Kahn's reign on the Edenians, and knowing that Earthrealm would one day be next, Sindel chose to commit suicide. But Shao Kahn, not willing to let his beloved queen go so easily, held her soul in Outworld, thus stopping her transition to the afterlife. After Edenia and the aforementioned realms added to the newly-established Outworld empire, Shao Kahn turned his attention and prepared to do what Shinnok failed; to conquer the one realm, in which many considered to be a jewel and Edenia's ally for so many years; the conquest of Earthrealm. With Edenia and Earthrealm under Shao Kahn's command, his conquest of the realms would be completed and final. As before, Shao Kahn would only be allowed to take Earthrealm if he and his warriors won ten of these tournaments in a row. Also, the wisest men from the Far-East, received the visions of Shao Kahn's invasion of Earth, appealed to the Elder Gods, knowing that it was imminent, that Chaos will be unleashed and the unstable forces and Furies will be unbalanced. The Elder Gods agreed to the appeal of the wisest men, and so, the tournament was officially declared. Thus, begins the Age of Mortal Kombat.

The Age of Mortal Kombat - The Mortal Kombat Tournament and the Outworld Invasion

Shang Tsung defeated by the Great Kung Lao.

Before the events of Mortal Kombat itself, Shao Kahn had sent Shang Tsung to establish the tournament between his forces and Earthrealm's. Long ago, Shang Tsung was once chosen to represent Earthrealm, but due to his own treachery and betrayal of the realm, instead joined forces with Shao Kahn as the emperor taught him the dark arts, such as the ability to steal the souls of the other warriors. Realizing that the Tournament Masters caught him for treason, the Elder Gods cursed him with an old age reduction spell, stripping him of his youth. The sorcerer knew that the only way to regain his youth and immortality is by stealing souls in an attempt to regain his favor with the emperor.

As time passed, Raiden rallied the best fighters of Earth into the secretive White Lotus Society, an established group consisting of Earthrealm's finest martial artists whose sole purpose was to hone their fighting skills, discerning a champion once every decade as preparation in order to defend Earth in the tournament. At the time, Shang Tsung had once again became the Grand Champion after amassing a few victories, only to lose the title to the Great Kung Lao, one of those warriors chosen to defeat Shang Tsung and become the Grand Champion, but out of mercy he spared the sorcerer. Knowing that this mistake would be his undoing, it became clear to the Elder Gods that Kung Lao only kept the title for one generation and after facing the Temple Master's students and the Temple Master himself, Shang Tsung officially became the Tournament Master and by doing so, corrupting the tournament, thus setting up Kung Lao's downfall to his then-new secret weapon, a Shokan prince named Goro, who quickly dispatched and killed Kung Lao allowing the sorcerer to consume his soul and Goro claimed the title, winning that, while continuing the 8 tournaments giving the Outworld warriors nine consecutive victories, prompting Raiden to one day guide the future chosen warriors trained in order to win the tournament and save Earthrealm from conquest, as this would be Earthrealm's last hope for freedom.

Prior to the tenth tournament, Shang Tsung unknowingly made a deal with Quan Chi on Shinnok's behalf: the deal was that if Quan Chi can help Shang Tsung's Shadow Priests in the proposed resurrection of Sindel if Shao Kahn's plan to merge Earthrealm with Outworld through the tournament has failed, Shang Tsung in return could give the sorcerer the information on where Shinnok's Amulet is located. In order for Shinnok's plans to come to fruition, as per what Shinnok needs back in the Netherrealm, Quan Chi had set up the feud between the two rival clans: the Lin Kuei and the Shirai Ryu, by recruiting their respective clans' representatives, Sub-Zero the Elder (Bi-Han) and Scorpion (Hanzo Hasashi), as an insurance policy in case Sub-Zero failed, to kill each other while he brought the rest of the Lin Kuei to destroy the whole Shirai Ryu itself, and then gave him the map which contains the Temple of Elements from the Shaolin Temples. Sub Zero, after succeeding his mission, proceeded to venture through the temple of Elements, defeating the four elemental gods, including Fujin, but as he was about to obtain the amulet, Quan Chi out of nowhere, snatched it first and explained its true purpose as an act of "congratulations" leaving Sub-Zero fully dejected and deceived after Quan Chi returned to the Netherrealm later to give the fake amulet to Shinnok, whilst he kept the original for himself.

However, Raiden confronted the Lin Kuei warrior and revealed to him his mistake by allowing Quan Chi to possess the amulet knowing full well of the consequences of Earthrealm's destruction due to the Lin Kuei's ignorance and greed. Reluctantly, Sub-Zero then proceeded to enter the portal to the Netherrealm and retrieve the amulet from Shinnok; he was successful in his mission and preserved the peace of all reality for the time being unaware that he had stolen the duplicate amulet. Somehow, that daring task caught Shang Tsung's attention as he was invited to compete in the upcoming tenth tournament, with secret orders from the Lin Kuei Grandmaster, which was to assassinate Shang Tsung and win.

The Shaolin monk Liu Kang whose victory and foretold rivalry with Shang Tsung is the Key The Elder Gods needed to stop Kronika's vision.

Two years later, Earth rallied some of its best fighters in order to win the tournament and save Earthrealm; among those chosen warriors were: the Shaolin Monk, Liu Kang, Special Forces agent, Sonya Blade, and Hollywood Star, Johnny Cage. Those three fighters with the help of Raiden, despite the other two's own motivations, such as Sonya avenging her partner's death at the hands of the diabolical mercenary group the Black Dragon and their nefarious leader, Kano, and Johnny Cage fighting for his Hollywood pride, Liu Kang's was the most noble one, since Goro had defeated his ancestor during Shang Tsung's corruption within the tournament itself years ago. Fortunately for the Elder Gods, the long-unforgettable rivalry between Liu Kang and Shang Tsung during the tournament would also be necessarily needed in shaping their own destiny for Earthrealm; as all it took in the foreseeable future was cunning, treachery and teamwork with Raiden, to prevent Kronika's vision for the future she envisioned and end her plans for a so-called "New Era" from coming to fruition as well.

In the end of what was such a grueling but a spectacle of a tournament, the Earthrealm warriors succeeded in the defense of Earthrealm as Liu Kang became the new champion of Mortal Kombat, dethroning the Shokan prince, and defeating the Sorcerer to claim the title as well, thus resetting Outworld's counter to 0 officially ending their streak in the Tournament once again, yet their victory would be short-lived. In the aftermath of the tournament, both Scorpion and Sub-Zero fought each other again, and in somewhat of a grudge match between the two, Scorpion slew Sub-Zero in retribution for his own death by the other's hands, sending his soul into the the Netherrealm and turned him into Noob Saibot for Sub-Zero's defiance of his ill-fated and inescapable offer to join him and The Brotherhood of Shadow in the process. At the same time, Sonya, Johnny Cage, and Kano battled Goro, only for Raiden to save Johnny Cage from his demise, leaving Sonya and Kano to be captured by Shao Kahn's forces as bargaining chips to prepare for the Outworld Tournament.

Shang Tsung's failure.

Despite Shang Tsung being unable to deal with his failure on Earthrealm in the tournament, Shao Kahn ordered the Tarkatan horde led by their fiercest, savage, bloodthirsty, and brutal leader, Baraka to attack the Wu Shi Academy; the horde raided and killed most of Liu Kang's fellow monks, including his Shaolin Masters, sending a direct message to Raiden and the Earthrealm warriors whether they accepted or refused the offer for a new tournament to be held in Outworld. This massacre enraged Liu Kang so much that it became very personal alongside Kung Lao, the Great Kung Lao's descendant who bore his namesake, Johnny Cage and Major Jackson Briggs, who was in search of his missing subordinate, Sonya, as well as the newcomers like, Kuai Liang, Bi-Han's younger brother who took on the mantle of Sub-Zero after his brother's death at Scorpion's hands, along with his Lin Kuei comrade, Smoke, the ninja specter himself whom he learned of his "reappearance" entered the fray just to keep watch on him, followed them into Outworld.

During the false tournament, Scorpion realized that this Sub-Zero is a merciful warrior as well as the younger brother, vowed to atone for his misdeeds by being a vigilante to protect him. Around that time, Kitana learned of her true past and heritage and the fact that Mileena, was cloned from Shang Tsung's insidious flesh-pits, without her consent. Kitana slew her "sister", but was charged with treason and later escaped. In rescuing Sonya, Shao Kahn's scheme was thwarted and the Earthrealm warriors prevailed, with Liu Kang defeating Shang Tsung, Goro's supposed Shokan "successor", Kintaro, and the emperor Shao Kahn himself. Unbeknownst to Raiden and the Earthrealm warriors, the tournament in Outworld was a diversionary trap set by the emperor in an attempt to break the rules set forth by the Elder Gods themselves as Kitana had forewarned. Despite his frustration with the failed attempts at taking the realm through the tournament however, Shao Kahn retaliated by resurrecting Queen Sindel on Earth and stepping across the dimensional portal gates to claim her, thus successfully merging it with Outworld, and commencing its invasion of Earthrealm.

At one point, prior to the invasion, Shao Kahn attempted to merge Outworld with the Netherrealm to solidify their newfound alliance, but the biggest problem for the emperor was that the former "demon" and member of the Brotherhood, Ashrah, had slain most of his allies in an effort to purify herself of the corruption within the Netherrealm, which allowed Scorpion to escape the insidious hellhole and roam the Earth. Scorpion would also initially work for Shao Kahn for a short while, but realizing that Sub-Zero was among the chosen warriors, he turned his back on the emperor and joined the battle. In secret retaliation, Shinnok had sent Noob Saibot under secret orders prior to the conflict originally was sent to monitor the tournament battle in Outworld, but then to join the conflict by working first with the emperor, and then bide his time to strike. In addition to Noob Saibot, Shinnok also resurrected Mileena in an attempt to keep watch on Kitana in an attempt to bide her time to strike once again in Shao Kahn's service.

In another conundrum, after Sub-Zero and Smoke returned empty-handed following the Outworld tournament, the Lin Kuei Grandmaster furiously attempted to convert them as he did to the others in Sektor and Cyrax into subservient, ruthless, soulless and emotionless killing machines, as part of the Lin Kuei's Cyber Initiative program for their failure. Sub-Zero and Smoke however, refused to take part, and despite Smoke's recapture and transformation by force, Sub-Zero was marked for death by abandoning his clan, but during the battle, he and Smoke would join forces once again and defeat both Sektor and Cyrax. In addition, others such as riot-control officer Kurtis Stryker, the only survivor of a once-populated city conquered by Shao Kahn, was told by the Matoka Shaman Nightwolf after receiving Raiden's vision to join him and the other defenders after learning the true meaning of his ignorant survival, and Kabal, enraged by a scarred face, relying on his respirators after his betrayal by his fellow Black Dragon members, vowing ultimate retribution also joined the conflict.

Shao Kahn immediately prepared for the invasion by sending out his extermination squads, his fellow warriors like Ermac, as well as Kano, who attempted to train his forces by using Earthrealm's own weapons against them, Sindel's protector and Shokan, Sheeva and Rain, as well as his favored race, the Shokan's hated rivals, the Centaurs, led by their head-centaur and general, Motaro to eliminate the remaining surviving resistance, and sent Kitana's childhood friend, Jade and the Saurian ninja warrior, Reptile to apprehend her, even if it meant executing her, only for Jade to turn on Reptile and they, along with Rain, joined the Earthrealm warriors, unbeknownst to them, with mysterious allies like Noob Saibot and Scorpion, but with others like Kitana, Jade, and Rain, rallied themselves for the first time in a fierce battle where tensions are mounting and pressure is building, as their fate, and the fate of Earthrealm rests upon their hands.

The conflict between Earth and Outworld however, gave Kitana and Jade the opportunity to reach out to Sindel in turning her against Shao Kahn, and in a decisive battle between Liu Kang and Shao Kahn for the second time, the threat to Earthrealm came to an abrupt end as the emperor was severely wounded, weakened, and defeated, had retreated into Outworld, but not before he captured his consolation prize, and that was Smoke himself. Most importantly upon Shao Kahn's defeat after the conflict, Edenia was freed from Outworld's grasp and returned to a whole independent realm for the first time since Kahn conquered Edenia so many years ago. Shao Kahn's final attempt to conquer Earthrealm has failed once again, the tournament and the battle was over, as the Earthrealm warriors were finally victorious...for now.

The Second Earthrealm War: The Netherrealm's Offensive Invasion

Shinnok begins his invasion of Edenia, prior to commencing the Second Earthrealm War.

During his time in the Netherrealm, Shinnok rallied an army of allies to help him avenge his losses after the first Earthrealm War and at the same time, keeping track on the progress of Shao Kahn's failed invasion of Earthrealm before and after the tournament. With the help of his disguises and his minions in Earthrealm and Outworld, and with the aid of the traitor of Edenia, Tanya, Shinnok escaped to the newly restored independent realm of Edenia, setting the stage eventually for his return to the heavens. Shinnok proceeded to kidnap Queen Sindel and Princess Kitana in the process of ruling with an Iron Fist as much as he could in his takeover of Edenia for the second time, (the first time was Shao Kahn) as part of his scheme to launch his declared attack on the Heavens as an act of vengeance, including murdering several of the Elder Gods and many of the lesser gods like Raiden as his prime target, for his suffering in the Netherrealm for millions of years, and to finally end their conflict that they started eons ago once and for all. However, the remaining gods, Fujin and Raiden, whom had survived the ambush, escaped to Earth, where they rallied the Earthrealm warriors to assist them and the Elder Gods in the secondary Earthrealm conflict. But unlike the last one against Shao Kahn following the aforementioned tournament and the Outworld Invasion, this time, they are up against Shinnok and his minions in the Netherrealm Invasion. Thus, the Second Earthrealm War began.

As the war raged on, this time with the help of Earth's warriors, Scorpion and Sub-Zero battled inside Goro's Lair and the ninja specter emerged victorious. Just as Scorpion was about to kill his foe, Sub-Zero convinced him to spare him by conveying the truth, not only that he was being deceived and neither he nor his brother, that he killed so many years ago had nothing to do with his own death and the death of his family and clan. Scorpion realized that he was telling the truth that he did not commit the heinous deed and wondered who did it, until it was revealed in front of him that it was the sorcerer himself who was the true mastermind in being hired by the Lin Kuei, behind the death of his family and clan the whole time. Just as when the sorcerer Quan Chi was about to do the same to Scorpion where he was believed to have been killed, Scorpion, enraged by this revelation, charged towards Quan Chi as they both were sent to the Netherrealm, and thus the specter was on a manhunt for the sorcerer. This time, he is out for vengeance in which he vowed not only to protect the future Lin Kuei warrior of Good as atonement for killing his brother once more, but to finally kill Quan Chi for the death of his family and his clan. Meanwhile, Tanya attempted to imprison Liu Kang in a cave within Outworld, but Liu Kang escaped her devious trap, and after a long arduous battle between the Fallen Elder God and Earthrealm's champion of Mortal Kombat with the help of Raiden and Kitana, the war came to an end as Liu Kang prevailed once again, defeating Shinnok, and emerging victorious in saving both Earthrealm and Edenia, leading to Shinnok's re-banishment to the Netherrealm.

In the aftermath of Shinnok's defeat throughout the war, Kitana had regained the throne of Edenia once more, and despite Mileena's demands of her status, she was imprisoned in its dungeon, while the Black Dragon's remaining survivor, Jarek, tussled with Jax and Sonya over a cliff. Kai began to ponder his own path with the Lightning staff that Raiden had given him. In Edenia, Kitana and Goro attempted to arrange a peace treaty between the Shokan and the Centaurs, only for Kung Lao to ceremoniously strike Goro in retaliation for his ancestor's death in the tournament years ago, but in the end, Goro and Kung Lao settled their differences and put their animosities aside much to Kitana's pleasurable surprise. Elsewhere, Cyrax was rescued by Sonya and Jax and with their help, restored his humanity freeing him from his brainwashing and his control from his former Lin Kuei clan and invited him to join the Outerworld Investigation Agency. Johnny Cage, knowing that the resurrection was permanent, began to resume his former life, but also knowing that he will be needed to defend Earthrealm whenever a huge threat presented itself. While Liu Kang was visited by Kitana as thanks for saving Edenia in the Shaolin temples, Liu Kang refused her kind and generous offer to be its king and chose to remain on Earthrealm to ensure its safety. In the ascension into the heavens, as the Elder Gods appointed Raiden as an Elder God, Raiden in turn, then appointed Fujin as his successor as the new protector of Earthrealm. Little did Raiden realize, that the appointment as an Elder God would prove to be a curse for him that he would be unable to protect Earthrealm and his chosen warriors. Even worse, he would be forbidden to protest to the Elder Gods, as a new threat would one day emerge to threaten the realms themselves.

The Deadly Alliance: Formation and Retribution

The Deadly Alliance.

While in and escaping from the Netherrealm after suffering his own beatdown at the hands of Scorpion, at the same time deceiving the fellow Oni warriors in Drahmin and Moloch, using a secret portal returning to Outworld, supposedly regaining his dark strength once more, Quan Chi discovers much information about its past, via unlocking the secret of the ancient rune stone, including the existence of the Dragon King's immortal army. He approached Shang Tsung with an offer to join forces, thus forming The Deadly Alliance. Quan Chi established a Soulnado so that Shang Tsung would consume them in order to sustain himself within his own fortress at Sun Do with the agreement that Shang Tsung would use some of the souls to re-animate the army for their total domination of the realms. Together, with their combined strengths, they planned to overpower their two foes who could one day prevent their devious conquest. Their targets were Shao Kahn in Outworld and the other, the only one who could possibly stop them, Earthrealm's Mightiest Warrior and Champion of Mortal Kombat, Liu Kang.

In Outworld, after the failed invasion of Earthrealm, Shao Kahn was previously humiliated and almost became paranoid of his consecutive defeats and setbacks, with most of his subordinates abandoning him as this only made him easier for his elimination. They first approached in a false show of allegiance to the Emperor before they attacked him, seemingly killing him in his weakened state. Unbeknownst to the Deadly Alliance however, it was later revealed that the Shao Kahn they killed was a clone, and the real Shao Kahn had escaped death once again and would begin scheming to reclaim his throne. Then they traveled to Earthrealm via a mystical portal to double-team and kill Liu Kang, while he was honing his skills at the grounds of the Wu Shi Academy by masquerading as Kung Lao while the real Kung Lao had plans of reforming the White Lotus Society.

In order to protect Earthrealm once again, Raiden, in disgust and defiance of the Elder Gods' wishes for interference, forfeited his seat as an Elder God and rallied the Earthrealm soldiers on Shang Tsung's Island once again after the traitor revealing to be a member of the Red Dragon clan, Hsu Hao, destroyed the Outerworld Investigation Agency's portal with a miniature nuclear warhead, recalling the events much to the shock of the others of Liu Kang's death that led up to stopping this impending threat. Also included in the battle were newcomers Frost, Li Mei and Nitara. Nitara's realm, Vaeternus, had been merged into Outworld against her will years ago, whereas Li Mei was trying to free Sun Do from the Deadly Alliance with Kano as its slave-master for constructing Shang Tsung's Palace. Others joined the fight as well, including the newly restored Cyrax (now working for the U.S. Special Forces Unit with Jax and Sonya), as well as Kenshi, a warrior who unlike Scorpion, had been blinded by Shang Tsung's treachery and like Scorpion, who sought revenge against the sorcerer. Frost was also included in the conflict, but her real intention was to become the Grandmaster of the newly reformed Lin Kuei clan from Sub-Zero after he defeated and banished Sektor when he aggressively took the title by slaying his father, the Grandmaster.

Unfortunately, these heroes were unable to stop the Deadly Alliance, as the two sorcerers overcame all foes, with Kung Lao and Princess Kitana trying to avenge Liu Kang's demise, but failed as Shang Tsung and Quan Chi at last for the very first time since their previous setbacks, defeated both Kung Lao and Kitana, destroying the majority of the opposition, with most dead or fleeing with certain reasons and managing to put their insidious plan to near fruition. But their plans would soon to be their undoing however, that the prophecy would be fulfilled and that the Dragon King would one day return to re-impose his dominance once again.

Deception: The Dragon King Returns With Absolute Power

It is said that there is only one true ruler in Outworld, and that ruler had returned.

It had taken Shujinko years to complete the quest Damashi had given to him but finally, Shujinko had collected the sixth and final Kamidogu from Edenia. Shujinko placed the Edenian Kamidogu on the altar in the Nexus with the other five. After the Kamidogu had been collected, and facing Scorpion, now as the Champion of the Elder Gods as well, back in the Nexus, Shujinko began to wonder why the six Kamidogu were not transported to the Elder Gods as he had been told, it was then that Onaga emerged in the Nexus to confront Shujinko revealing him to be the avatar Damashi all along. Onaga reveals his true plan of obtaining ultimate control over all that exists once he claims Shinnok's amulet, currently in possession of the sorcerer Quan Chi, while using Damashi to manipulate him nearly 4 decades ago. Shujinko immediately escaped from Onaga into the Earthrealm portal and blamed himself for all the events following his return, as he knew that in order to redeem himself, he had to continue his training after all the knowledge and skills he had gained to prepare himself for the final battle against Onaga, knowing that his journey was far from over. To Shujinko prior to Onaga's sudden reappearance however, a new revelation came from out of nowhere.

It was revealed as the battle between the Earthrealm Warriors and the Deadly Alliance raged on, that Nitara had manipulated Reptile from his original orders, and that was to protect Shao Kahn. When the Deadly Alliance slew him, but was unaware that Shao Kahn's created clone acted as a decoy, he vowed to avenge his emperor by destroying the Deadly Alliance, only to be swayed by Nitara into attacking Cyrax in an attempt to use him to find the Portal Sphere that bound Vaeternus to Outworld inside the Lava Shrine where Blaze was imprisoned years ago and forced to guard the egg that Onaga was hibernating inside. Reptile was enraged by Nitara's deceit and vowed vengeance upon her, until the egg hatched; and thus the Dragon King resumed his physical form by merging within Reptile's body, fully completing his part of the retaliation plan, with the remaining one being the destruction of Shao Kahn.

Meanwhile, Raiden (with his allies laying dead on the entrance of Shang Tsung's Palace including Hsu Hao whom was killed by Jax in retaliation), refusing the Elder Gods' wishes to interfere, faced the Deadly Alliance alone. Despite managing to hold his own for a time, he was ultimately defeated by their combined power. With their victory in hand, though it was short-lived, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi quickly turned on each other, each looking to grab all the power for themselves mainly for the reason that Shang Tsung wanted Quan Chi's amulet knowing that the spell contained the words "He who possesses the Amulet, commands the Army". Quan Chi emerged victorious, but the Sorcerer's victory was also short-lived, as the Dragon King returned to Outworld attempting to retrieve Shinnok's amulet with the army pledging allegiance to Onaga, even without the spell contained on the amulet.

Much to Quan Chi's shock and fury, he tried exceedingly to stop him and the quickly recovering Shang Tsung and Raiden aided as well, forming an impromptu alliance against the greater threat. This attack was successful in the short run, but quickly the Dragon King quickly was making his advance towards them. Realizing that they were unable to defeat the Dragon King even with their combined power, Raiden released all of his godly essence to a practically atomic explosion, destroying the temple and its surroundings, sacrificing his life. But that explosion also destroyed the Soulnado that Shang Tsung wanted to use to replenish his strength via the souls including the soul of Liu Kang among the others allowed them to roam free. Unfortunately, this sacrifice too was in vain as the explosion had little to no effect on the revived former ruler of Outworld who was now in possession of Shinnok's amulet which had been held by Quan Chi, unbeknownst to them that the sorcerer managed to escape back into the Netherrealm and leaving Shang Tsung and Raiden to die in the explosion.

Sometime later, Raiden's essence, now corrupted from his encounter with Onaga and tainted with Onaga's dark magic, gathered again in the Earthrealm. He had now became furious and enraged even more with the way Earthrealm's inhabitants always took their protection almost for granted, and when he learned that Shujinko had foolishly unleashed the Dragon King by attaining the Kamidogu of the realms for him, his patience for the mortals had been fully exhausted to the very point that Raiden decided that now was the time that he was going to punish those who placed Earthrealm in harm's way, including brutalizing and slaying those that would threaten the realm.

Raiden first started with Shujinko himself for his errors that caused the destruction of the realms, but Shujinko was able to escape and survive. Then, he turned his attention towards Liu Kang's corpse, desecrating his own tomb and removing his body from the grave, Raiden took it to an underground temple that belonged to an ancient sect of cult-like necromancers called the Houan, whom he had destroyed centuries after Shinnok's imprisonment and defeat eons ago during the first Earthrealm War. Raiden spoke the enchantments the Houan had used to control their revived undead which was etched into the temple's walls and infused it with a thunderclap of lightning to revive his fallen friend and ally, thus binding Liu Kang's body with the enchanted shackles, making him the undead zombified enforcer of Raiden's will, and was sent to wreak havoc on those he believed did harm to Earthrealm for their defiance of the way they had treated it.

Onaga revived the previously deceased Earth warriors as his pawns along with a newly-forged alliance with the Tarkatan horde, the imperial guardsmen from the Orderrealm led by Hotaru and used them to prevent Edenia's army and others from interfering with his plans while he searched for the spells that would allow him to fuse the Kamidogu together and grant him supreme power. However, just as he was about to do so, Shujinko rallied the remaining warriors like Seido's resistance leader Darrius, ex-Seidan Guardsman and mercenary Dairou, two new Black Dragon recruits Kira and Kobra, now led by Kabal after being convinced by Orderrealm's rival realm, Chaosrealm, led by its cleric Havik in embracing their chaotic ways during their scuffle with the Red Dragon's warriors in Mavado, and Hsu Hao among others to turn against him, and in a moment absorbed their combined fighting power.

Empowered beyond the Dragon King's own expectations, Shujinko shattered each of the six Kamidogu, the source of his invulnerability. Weakened and in defeat, Onaga attempted to retreat only to vanish into thin air. As it turned out, Nightwolf carried, traversed, ventured, and absorbed all the sins and traveled deep within the Netherrealm itself. Using a method of knowledge passed down to him by his forefathers called the 'Sin Eater', Nightwolf drew a binding symbol on the ground and chanted the ancient words that drew the spirit of the Dragon King. When the spirit of the Dragon King appeared before him, knowing that he had carried the burden long enough, Nightwolf released all the sins of his people into the mystic symbol, and their weight bound Onaga to the Netherrealm, thus freeing Earthrealm from the corruption that he had harbored for so long.

However, Onaga's defeat would be short-lived as well, as it would lead to a much bigger and devastating conflict as it was during the time of the Dragon King's conquest of the realms, the prophecy predicted by Delia was going to be fulfilled.

Armageddon/Judgement Day: The End Of All The Realms

The safeguard, Blaze against Armageddon.

Prior to Onaga's return and his reconquest of the realms long ago, Caro mistook the loss of Blaze's contact, possibly when he was kidnapped in order to watch over the Dragon King's eggs as the signal to begin the race due to Shinnok's misdirection, Daegon had been awakened prematurely for centuries. He discovered after demanding from his parents what the true aim of the quest was, though he was unaware of the fact that their parents attempted to fake their deaths to reveal their sons' true nature, Daegon became obsessed with the power which would be granted to him immediately set up the Red Dragon clan under his leadership to represent Caro that awoke him, he then used and enslaved him in order to create portals for his insidious ends with his ultimate prime objectives with which were to find Blaze and assassinate his brother Taven in order to claim the prize for himself.

Although the Red Dragon were also a powerful crime organization, it was caught in a civil war with its stubborn rival clan, the Black Dragon and plotted their extermination secretly and use the Special Forces to do so. Around that time, the Red Dragon also began experimenting on their own clan members to create a hybrid of real Red Dragons as test subjects as well and attempted to do so to Kano, but Kano would later know that they were going to fail.

When Taven was finally awoken at the correct time during Onaga's return by Taven's protector Dragon, Orin, he was constantly ambushed by Red Dragon warriors, primarily within his father's temple. Eventually, Taven made his way to the temple's main chamber to speak to his father, only to find the weapon that was meant to be there had been stolen, before he was captured by the Tekunin under the leadership of Sektor and escaped their captivity. As he finally made his way to his mother's temple, which was now occupied by the Lin Kuei, when they formed an uneasy truce with the Tengu clan, he managed to find the suit of armor that had been placed for him. After he aided Sub-Zero in fending off Noob Saibot's shadow warriors along with Smoke, now rescued to serve his brother's own ends, he then proceeded towards the Red Dragon's stronghold in Charred Mountain to learn of what happened to his parents and how Daegon became so obsessed with the power of Blaze in his hands.

During this time, Quan Chi, under Shinnok's orders, assembled the other Evil warlords, including Shao Kahn, Shinnok, Onaga and Shang Tsung. Quan Chi had managed to discover that the power that Blaze contained would be passed as a gift to the one who defeated him in the process. To ensure that Taven would not interfere in their insidious plan, Quan Chi killed Orin on the spot. Shinnok even offered Raiden a deal with which he would accept, only in secret to discover his intentions. He also made a deal of his own with Shao Kahn, that he would eliminate and prevent Taven from completing his quest, Shao Kahn would honor Earthrealm's independence when his forces are victorious, but the deal backfired when Taven confronted Raiden and beat some sanity and sense into the fallen Thunder God. While the Forces of Darkness united in order to claim this power for themselves and their own egotistical ends, the Forces of Light also united, and with Raiden's semblance of sanity left, joined in as well in order to stop evil, and claim the power for the betterment of the realms, thus culminating in the inevitable Judgment Day for all the Realms itself; the Battle of Armageddon, and just as Delia had predicted at the crater within the Edenian ruins, the defining prophesied conflict came to a head.

As Taven made his way to these ruins, he encountered Blaze who revealed the true nature of the quest: to either use the power to destroy all of the kombatants, or simply strip them of their power except for the heroes that did not deserve to die. Blaze also revealed that their Judgement Day/Armageddon would be upon all the realms if they had stolen the prize and defeated him instead of the foretold warriors, thus the quest would be a colossal failure. Daegon not only revealed that it was he who had killed their parents over the prize, with the very weapons their father Argus created to be used against Blaze (as it became apparent that Daegon was the one who had stolen Taven's sword), he also told Taven that Shinnok warned him that their parents made the decision to assist Taven and not Daegon, in which he was envious of. As the Sons of Argus fought within the ruins with tremendous ferocity, Taven was victorious and Daegon was defeated, but at a huge and terrible cost.

Meanwhile, the warriors clashing within the crater were suddenly stopped as the huge pyramid placed by Argus millennia earlier rose from the ground, with Blaze, now empowered and huge in size, waiting at the top. The warriors began to make their way to the top, fighting and turning on each other in order to claim the prize. Taven took his sword and made his way onto the top of the crater himself in order to defeat Blaze. In the end however, it was not Taven as he was destined in order to prevent Armageddon who defeated Blaze much to his disbelieving horror and the shock of all the kombatants themselves, it was none other than the supreme ruler of Outworld, Shao Kahn, thus as Blaze had forewarned, Armageddon was about to be unleashed upon the realms.

Renaissance With Unforeseen Consequences

Shao Kahn victorious in the face of Armageddon.

After the Battle of Armageddon ended (while the Kombatants from both sides are dead leaving Taven and Daegon's fates unknown as well), left Raiden and Shao Kahn the only two survivors. Defeated and about to be dealt the final blow, Raiden used his last attempt to cast a spell on his amulet, now shattered, to contact his past self and quote "He Must Win!" before he was killed; thus Kronika's Armageddon plan for her "New Era" had been foiled...for now.

In the events of the first tournament (historically the tenth), Raiden's past self appears with Liu Kang in the Mortal Kombat tournament hosted by Shang Tsung, now armed with visions of the events from his future self when his amulet first cracked. After the first two rounds of the tournament, with Johnny Cage defeating both Reptile and Baraka, Raiden and Liu Kang met with Cage and explained to him the reason and purpose of Mortal Kombat, which he refused to believe at first. Johnny Cage then finds Sonya Blade (whom Johnny Cage had flirted with earlier) while she was contacting the Special Forces, and he offers to help her out. Initially hostile, Sonya warms up to Johnny Cage after he saves her from Kano, during which time Johnny Cage begins to understand the truth in Raiden's words and took it seriously. Later, Sonya rescues Jax with assistance from Raiden. The Thunder God then explains to the four Earthrealm warriors his visions he possesses and what they foretell.

Later, Raiden receives more future visions whereby he sees the ninja specter Scorpion killing Sub-Zero and a new warrior forming (now known as Noob Saibot). Raiden confronts Scorpion and requests he spare Sub-Zero's life, offering to ask the Elder Gods to restore his clan, the Shirai Ryu, back to the mortal realm. this causes Scorpion to accept the request but his request would later be short-lived. In Shang Tsung's Throne room, Scorpion later confronts Sub-Zero, (after fighting Sektor and Cyrax), battled him in The Netherrealm and there defeated Sub-Zero, honoring Raiden's request not to kill him, until Quan Chi appeared and shows Scorpion visions of Lin Kuei forces attacking the Shirai Ryu clan and Sub-Zero killing his wife and child reminding him of his goal for vengeance. This enraged Scorpion, causing him to renege his deal with Raiden, and killing Sub-Zero much to Quan Chi's delight. He returns to the Throne Room in regret holding the burned skull of Sub-Zero and disappears enraged much to Raiden's dismay. Cyrax is later contracted by Shang Tsung to kill Johnny Cage, but is rebuffed by Raiden for doing so. Cyrax defeats Johnny Cage in their match, but honors Raiden's wish and lets him live, much to both Sektor's displeasure and Shang Tsung's dismay. Cyrax is confronted by Sektor regarding the interaction, but defeats him in a brawl.

Meanwhile, Kitana attempts to kill Liu Kang, but is defeated and spared. Later, Liu Kang then defeats Ermac, Scorpion, Quan Chi, Goro and Shang Tsung in the tournament. However, despite their short-lived victory, Raiden's amulet cracks further. Disappointed with Outworld's defeat, Shao Kahn orders Shang Tsung's execution, but relents after being given the proposal of holding a second tournament in Outworld. During the events of the tournament, Kitana learns that Shao Kahn lied to her and the fact that she was replaced by Mileena as his "true daughter" while Jax, Johnny Cage, and Raiden attempt to rescue Sonya. Along the way, Sub-Zero's younger brother and Smoke infiltrate Outworld to learn of the original Sub-Zero's fate, while Ermac maims Jax. However, due to Raiden's assistance of Smoke, Sub-Zero instead undergoes cybernetic transformation, inadvertently altering the timeline. Even worse, because of Sonya's rescue by Jax earlier, Kitana instead was taken to the Colosseum. Raiden attempts to substitute Kung Lao as the champion of the next tournament, only for Kung Lao to be killed by Shao Kahn after defeating Kintaro, leaving Liu Kang to be the champion of Mortal Kombat two times in a row.

Despite Liu Kang's seemingly fatal victory over Shao Kahn, the latter launches an invasion of Earth. In this new timeline, Queen Sindel supposedly created a magical ward in her death, preventing Shao Kahn from stepping foot in Earthrealm and claiming that realm as well. Quan Chi resurrected Queen Sindel, removing this barrier. Among the response teams would be riot cops Kabal and Kurtis Stryker. Although Stryker managed to defeat Kintaro, Mileena, and Reptile on his own, Kabal suffered severe burns from Kintaro. Meanwhile, after defeating Ermac (unbeknownst to Stryker that Kabal disappeared), he was recruited by Nightwolf to aid Raiden in defending Earth. However, it was revealed that Kabal has been recovered by Kano only to escape from Outworld. After defeating Sub-Zero (now a cyborg), fending off Sheeva, and assisting Smoke in helping him, they both joined Raiden's defenders, composed of Liu Kang, Sonya Blade, Johnny Cage, Kitana, Cyber Sub-Zero (his humanity having been restored), Jax (now with cybernetic arms), Jade, Smoke, Nightwolf and Stryker. Sub-Zero, working undercover, confronted Sektor and retrieved the intelligence from his data-banks. As Sub-Zero gained information from Sektor, he learned that Quan Chi was sacrificing Earthrealm's souls via a new soulnado to merge Outworld with Earthrealm, and confronts his older brother, Noob Saibot, allowing Nightwolf to halt Quan Chi's ritual. However, the interference causes Shao Kahn's forces to assault the headquarters of the Earthrealm warriors, where everyone (except for Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, Raiden, and Liu Kang surviving the ambush), are killed by Sindel, with Nightwolf sacrificing himself to kill the empress.

During these events, Raiden, after failing to convince the Elder Gods to interfere, travels to the Netherealm in an attempt to convince Quan Chi to join forces with him against Shao Kahn, offering the souls of all the fallen Earthrealm warriors in exchange. Before he did so, Raiden beats down Scorpion for siding with Quan Chi. However, Quan Chi laughed, and mocked the powerless thunder god, revealing that he already had these souls as part of Shao Kahn's agreement, thus fully solidifying their alliance. Quan Chi then summons these souls and pits them against Raiden. Raiden successfully defeats six of the reanimated souls in his fury towards the sorcerer, while Quan Chi remarks at how Shao Kahn has already won. On hearing this statement, Raiden realizes that Shao Kahn has to win because by conceding to Shao Kahn, the Elder Gods would intervene and punish Shao Kahn for merging the realms illegally without having won 10 consecutive tournaments. Raiden returns to Earthrealm and explains his plan to Liu Kang, however, Liu Kang, delusional with grief mistrusts Raiden and goes to face Shao Kahn.

Perhaps for Kronika however, it could be a second chance for Chaos to reign supreme once more, as Raiden, knowing that if Liu Kang wins the battle against Kahn, Armageddon will ensue, attempts to stop Liu Kang, fighting and defeating him. Undeterred, Liu Kang refuses to back down from these unforeseen consequences. Raiden inadvertently kills Liu Kang while trying to stop him from fighting Shao Kahn. That was an even greater mistake that the Thunder God would regret and be haunted for the rest of his life. Raiden loses to Shao Kahn voluntarily, only for the Elder Gods to intervene and grant him tremendous power. Raiden defeats Shao Kahn who is attacked by the Elder Gods and is taken away for punishment, thus ultimately ruined Kronika's Armageddon plan as she raged at the Elder Gods, especially Raiden for ruining her plans once again.

In the aftermath of the whole debacle, Raiden vows to rebuild Earthrealm with Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage, the last remaining Earthrealm warriors. Worse, even though Raiden had indeed stopped Shao Kahn from merging Earthrealm with Outworld, he would unknowingly suspect that Armageddon could still happen, but with Shao Kahn gone, Raiden cannot foresee another force of circumstance might one day unleash it, and that still altered the timeline. However, Quan Chi and Shinnok decide to use the chaos to their advantage to make their plan successful in order to claim both Earthrealm and Outworld in the name of the Netherrealm for themselves.

The Next Generation: The Future of the Realms

Statues of characters made out of stone were used to tell the players about the story.

A few years following Shao Kahn's defeat, Shinnok escapes the Netherrealm and launches an invasion of Earthrealm. Shinnok personally goes to Raiden's Sky Temple with the intent to poison the Jinsei, the life force of Earthrealm. Shinnok nearly imprisons Raiden and Fujin within his amulet, only for Johnny Cage to intervene and knock the amulet from his hands. Shinnok incapacitates Cage's companions, Kenshi and Sonya Blade, but Johnny manages to hold off the former Elder God and passed the amulet over to Raiden. With the tables now turned in their favor, Raiden imprisons Shinnok within his own amulet. At Fujin's recommendation, the two gods take the amulet to the Elder Gods, seeking their guidance.

Soon after, Johnny and Sonya travel to Quan Chi's fortress in the Netherrealm, hoping to take down the necromancer and his revenants before they can cause any more trouble. In the fight against Quan Chi, Scorpion, and the revenants of Jax and Sub-Zero (now returned to a human form), Johnny Cage is stabbed, and Quan Chi begins summoning a revenant as his soul leaves his body. Sonya manages to defeat Quan Chi, however, and Raiden is able to reverse Quan Chi's spell, saving not only Johnny Cage, but also returning Sub-Zero, Jax, and even Scorpion to life.

In the years that follow, Johnny and Sonya marry and have a daughter, Cassie, and later divorce. Scorpion revives the Shirai Ryu clan while mentoring Kenshi's son Takeda, and Sub-Zero becomes the new Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei after killing Sektor.

Twenty years after Shinnok's defeat, Johnny Cage assembles a new team of fighters composed of Cassie, Jax's daughter Jacqui, Takeda, and Kung Lao's cousin Kung Jin. After undergoing a training exercise with Sub-Zero which was meant to test the teamwork and effectiveness along with Cassie's leadership, they are deployed to Outworld to resolve a civil war between former empress Mileena, who has obtained Shinnok's amulet, and Outworld's current emperor Kotal Kahn, with whom Earthrealm had ceasefire known as the Reiko Accords.

Meanwhile in the Special Forces base on Earthrealm, Sonya captures Kano and forces him to reveal where Mileena is keeping the amulet. Armed with this information, Cassie's team aids Kotal in recovering Shinnok's amulet and capturing Mileena. After executing Mileena, Kotal decides to keep the amulet in Outworld's hands, and takes Cassie and her friends hostage to prevent Raiden from retaliating despite the violation of the accords. Kotal's second-in-command D'Vorah, who is revealed as a double agent for Quan Chi, steals the amulet. Cassie and her team escape captivity, and inform Sonya of D'Vorah's intentions.

Jax and Kenshi, aided by Sareena, lead an assault on the Netherrealm and manage to capture a weakened Quan Chi, who is brought back to Earthrealm and held at a refugee camp. Scorpion, having learned from Sub-Zero the truth of Quan Chi's involvement in the deaths of his family and clan, not only ended the feud between the two clans, but infiltrates the refugee camp alongside his clan with the intent of assassinating Quan Chi, defeating Kenshi, Johnny and Sonya in the process. As Scorpion prepares to kill Quan Chi, D'Vorah arrives with the amulet. Quan Chi manages to finish a spell moments before being beheaded by Scorpion, releasing Shinnok from captivity. Weakened by the Shirai Ryu's previous attack, Johnny is taken prisoner by Shinnok and D'Vorah. With the aid of Quan Chi's revenants, Shinnok and D'Vorah assault the Sky Temple, where they subdue Raiden. Shinnok then enters the Jinsei and corrupts it, transforming himself into a powerful demon in the process.

Cassie's team pursues Shinnok, only to be intercepted by Kotal Kahn and his army. They tried telling him about Shinnok's return and Kotal decides to kill them, hoping to appease Shinnok and buy time to bolster Outworld's defenses. Sub-Zero and his Lin Kuei comrades appeared just in time to repel the Outworld forces and congratulating Cassie's team for their teamwork and bravery, granting them ultimate consent to save Earthrealm. At the Sky Temple, Jacqui and Takeda occupy the revenants, while Cassie and Jin enter the Jinsei chamber. There, Cassie defeats D'Vorah and Shinnok, and rescues her father. A grievously-wounded Raiden then purifies the Jinsei, stripping Shinnok of his powers and forcing the revenants to withdraw. Sonya and her soldiers arrive, and the Cage family reunites.

Some time later, the revenants Liu Kang and Kitana are revealed to have assumed leadership of the Netherrealm in Shinnok's absence. Raiden, hinted to have been corrupted in the process of purifying the Jinsei as a final warning, presents them with Shinnok's severed, yet still living head tells them that they will face "fates worse than death" if they threaten Earthrealm.

Merging of the Timelines: Past and Present Collide

Main article: Mortal Kombat 11's Story Mode

A New Beginning: The New Era Begins

Main article: Mortal Kombat 1's Story Mode

References and Notes

There are several timeline errors within MKX itself:

• Following Shinnok's defeat, the story jumps forward twenty years, though Jax's chapter (within the same general time frame) has Jax say that it's been twenty-five years since then.
• Johnny Cage's narration at the beginning states that Shao Kahn's defeat at the second tournament occurred two years prior to Shinnok's escape from the Netherrealm. Combined with the twenty years that passed between Shinnok's defeat and the events of the main story, this would put a twenty-two year gap between the two games. However, a flashback in Raiden's chapter indicates that the second tournament occurred twenty-five years ago.

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