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After losing my family, I lost my faith.
 

 

—Tomas to Tanya in Mortal Kombat 1

Biography

  • Mortal Kombat 1: "As a boy, Smoke lived to hunt with his family. Their final hunt, however, ended in tragedy. Having accidentally trespassed onto Lin Kuei lands, they were attacked. Smoke was orphaned. Ashamed by his warriors' actions, the Lin Kuei's Grandmaster adopted Smoke. He raised him alongside his sons, Sub-Zero and Scorpion. Eventually, Smoke chose to make the Lin Kuei’s mission his own. But as he lacked his brothers' innate supernatural abilities, he set out to master practical magic. Having done so, he now joins them in Earthrealm's defense."

Storyline

Mortal Kombat 1

In Liu Kang's New Era, Tomas Vrbada is no longer converted into an enenra. As a young boy, Tomas lost his family to the Lin Kuei during a hunting accident, in which Tomas and his family unknowingly trespassed onto their land. Ashamed by his clan's actions, the Lin Kuei's Grandmaster took Tomas in and raised him as his own son alongside his biological children, Bi-Han and Kuai Liang. While his new brothers possessed innate supernatural powers over ice and fire, respectively, Tomas had no such gifts, and trained to match them with magical prowess over smoke, earning him his trademark Smoke codename.

Smoke is first introduced along with his brothers during a test exercise set up by Liu Kang in Madam Bo's teahouse. Leading his fellow warriors, Smoke threatens Madame Bo and her establishment under the pretense of extorting her for protection. When Madame Bo clearly refuses Smoke, he signals for the other Lin Kuei to begin causing havoc. Madame Bo begins a string of attacks, but Smoke quickly turns the tables and sends Madame Bo over the second floor railing and crashing down onto a table below. Witnessing these events, the farmers Raiden and Kung Lao spring into action and defeat Smoke and the other Lin Kuei, though the latter held back as part of the exercise. Afterwards, Liu Kang reveals himself and the nature of the exercise, pleased to see that both farmers have excelled. With Raiden and Kung Lao departing for the Wu Shi Academy, Scorpion and Sub-Zero accompany Liu Kang as he seeks out other potential champions for Earthrealm, while Smoke departs the group.

Tomas is next seen with the other ninja at the Fire Temple, waiting for an audience with Liu Kang. Bi-Han expresses annoyance at having to sit idly, but Kuai Liang and Tomas advise him to be patient, as their father would have suggested. Hearing their father being brought up only serves to irritate Bi-Han further, who refuses to be shackled by what he views as his father's outdated ideals. Smoke warns him against abandoning their clan's tradition, but Bi-Han tells him to mind his place, coldly telling the astonished Tomas that his blood will never be Lin Kuei despite their father taking him in. Before the argument can escalate further, Raiden and Kung Lao arrive to tell the three that Liu Kang is finally ready to see them.

Smoke and his brothers later travel to Ying Fortress, having been instructed by Liu Kang to do so in order to capture the vile sorcerer Shang Tsung and disrupt his activation of a multitude of dangerous devices known as soul stealers. Smoke observes that going over the fortress walls is their only real entrance, so Sub-Zero begins searching for a section with less security to begin their infiltration. Again, he expresses his dissatisfaction with their father and clan's old principles, as well as excitement over being able to battle with a worthy opponent. Smoke and Scorpion again refute him, telling him that the Lin Kuei is bound to service, not governance, but Sub-Zero cannot be dissuaded from his vision of the Lin Kuei in leadership of Earthrealm, leaving Smoke and Scorpion to share a look of concern.

The three start their infiltration, with Smoke using his magic to ascend the wall via a vapor current. Unfortunately, their stealth advantage is instantly cut short when Nitara swoops in and tackles Smoke, nearly sending him falling to his death. Smoke saves himself by drawing his karambit and stabbing it into the fortress wall, managing to slow himself to a stop. However, he is nearly killed again when Sub-Zero and Scorpion move to see if Smoke survived, and the former accidentally nudges a rock off the ledge, which Smoke narrowly avoids. While Smoke makes his way back up a second time, Sub-Zero and Scorpion defeat Nitara, Sareena and Ermac. Proceeding further along the battlements, Smoke and the others overhear a new individual, monitoring a soul stealer's construction. Smoke identifies him as Quan Chi, another sorcerer working with Shang Tsung. Sub-Zero instructs Smoke to stay put to ensure Quan Chi's minions don't activate the soul stealers, while he and Scorpion plan to pursue Quan Chi in hopes of finding and capturing Shang Tsung.

However, while Smoke waits outside, the mission is brought to a catastrophic halt when Sub-Zero and Scorpion are reverse-ambushed and captured by General Shao and his guard, and Sub-Zero is goaded into joining Shang Tsung's side at the sight of his soul-powered Dragon Army, though Scorpion remains true to his oath and thrashes Sub-Zero and the other villains, soundly defeating every major threat at the fortress in his escape. As he reunites with Smoke outside, he fills him in on the botched state of things, and Smoke is astounded to hear that Bi-Han would allow his father to die and betray Earthrealm & Liu Kang after just a taste of power. Scorpion regrets not realizing how Bi-Han's ambitious nature and frustrations could have so easily overtaken him, and affirms that they can't afford to let his corruption spread to the rest of the Lin Kuei. Smoke tells Scorpion that he will aid him no matter what, and the kindhearted Kuai Liang thanks him, making amends for Bi-Han's earlier statement by telling him that even though Tomas does not share their blood, to Kuai, he is still their brother.

Bi-Han arrives amidst the snowstorm, determined to regain the two's allegiance or kill them for treason, but Kuai Liang and Tomas refute him just as adamantly. Tomas watches as the brothers of fire and ice battle it out, but even though Sub-Zero manages to scar Kuai's right eye with an icy dagger, Kuai maintains that this is his fight and for Tomas to avoid putting himself in danger. Despite his wound, Kuai bests Bi-Han and knocks him unconscious, then rips the Lin Kuei symbol off his gi. Smoke questions why he would do so, thinking that Kuai Liang would become the new Grandmaster after Bi-Han's corruption is exposed. However, Kuai thinks that Cyrax and Sektor, two other Lin Kuei, would be too much of an obstacle to his leadership due to their unquestionable loyalty to Bi-Han. Thus, he decides on considering a new path for themselves, one that both honors their late father and continues to serve Earthrealm as the previous Lin Kuei did. Tomas helps Kuai lift the unconscious Bi-Han on his back before they escape the fortress, watching from afar as the soul stealers activate in unison.

Despite their efforts, Bi-Han is able to ensure the Lin Kuei's blind loyalty, so Smoke and Scorpion make their desertion clear, and return to Ying Fortress to make a direct attack against Shang Tsung alongside Liu Kang, Geras, and their new Outworld allies in Empress Sindel, Tanya, and Princesses Kitana and Mileena. Infiltrating the battlements once again, they split up to tackle multiple soul stealers, with Scorpion, Smoke and Kitana immediately engaging with a group of soldiers while the others branch off. Eventually, they succeed in deactivating the soul stealers, gaining an unprecedented ally in Ermac, in whom the deceased King Jerrod had taken priority. The group proceeds back down into the Dragon Army's chamber, sneaking through the inactive warriors' ranks to close in on Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, who observe an active set of warriors training for the battle ahead.

Thanks to Mileena's clever gambit, Smoke and the others are able to ambush the sorcerers. Once again, however, Smoke's mission is botched by the arrival of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi's benefactor, Damashi - who turns out to be a completely different Shang Tsung. As Smoke and the others watch, Liu Kang and the new Shang Tsung reveal the situation's history - in a previous timeline, the two had fought viciously for the position of Keeper of Time after the defeat of the Titan Kronika. Both had defeated the other, but unbeknownst to either Titan, their battle had split the timeline in two, resulting in their individual victories. Having discovered Liu Kang's New Era, this new Titan Shang Tsung had manipulated its Shang Tsung and Quan Chi into wreaking havoc for him and amassing a great deal of souls to control for himself. Titan Shang Tsung and his accompanying Geras depart with a haughty farewell, leaving his villainous Sindel and Raiden to massacre Smoke and the others in his stead.

The battle is won through bloodshed, as Sindel is slain fending off Dark Sindel, who Mileena kills in her place after managing to control her Tarkat disease. Jerrod uses Ermac's powers to absorb Sindel's soul, reuniting the couple, but the group has to flee immediately, reaching the surrounding forest in time to witness the Dragon Army begin marching out from the base of the fortress. As they plan their next move, Smoke expresses bitterness at being unable to count on the Lin Kuei's assistance, though Scorpion assures him that they will deal with Bi-Han once the current threat has been dealt with. Eventually, they decide to split up. While Liu Kang returns to the Fire Temple to regain his power as a Titan with the help of Geras, Scorpion leads Smoke and the others in an assault on the Dragon Army, having a Jerrod-dominant Ermac and Kenshi disrupt the main forces with telekinetically launched boulders while he and the rest attack their dark counterparts from Titan Shang Tsung's timeline. Despite this, the dark warriors become mostly preoccupied with the trio of Raiden, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, so Scorpion and Smoke instead bombard more soldiers with fire and explosive smoke.

Though the current Smoke himself is not seen again afterwards, various versions and amalgamations of Smoke are seen during the second Battle of Armageddon, including one allied with Titan Shang Tsung, an alternate version of Cyber Smoke, and many more. Additionally, a version of Smoke resembling his current self can be selected as the final warrior who aids Liu Kang in defeating the Titans Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, before being sent back to his respective timeline. Sometime later, Smoke and Kuai Liang immediately flee to Japan for refuge while being chased by Bi-Han and his loyalists. Though outnumbered, Kuai Liang's childhood love interest, Harumi Shirai rescues both Kuai Liang and Smoke in time, forcing Lin Kuei to retreat. Incensed by Bi-Han's betrayal, Harumi agrees to help both Smoke and Kuai Liang built a new clan of Earthrealm's protector, which will be named Shirai Ryu, with Kuai Liang as its leader, in addition to an assistance from Lord Liu Kang. Though they have trouble finding recruits at first, Smoke has a fateful encounter with the new timeline's Hanzo Hasashi, and recruits him as their first new warrior.

Endings

  • Mortal Kombat 1 (Canonical): "Kuai Liang and I were working hard to build our new clan. But even with the help of his close friend, Harumi, it was difficult. The biggest problem was finding the initiates. Then, one night, while walking outside Harumi's compound, I was attacked. I thought at first it was a Lin Kuei assassin. But his strikes were uncertain, too angry. My attacker, it turns out, was a boy. Homeless and hungry, his assault was born of desperation. He needed money so that he could eat. It was looking at myself, fifteen years ago. I would've ended up just like him, if the Lin Kuei hadn't taken me in. So I took the boy to Kuai Liang, who also appreciated his fire. We made him our first initiate. The boy's name? Hanzo Hasashi."
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