This is more cool information about the game and Easter Eggs for Mortal Kombat
In the 1992 arcade original when fighting on The Pit stage (the bridge), the player could qualify to fight the hidden character Reptile, provided that he executed a Fatality, obtained a double flawless victory and never hit block during the winning round (due to Sonya’s fatality combination including the block button, she was only allowed to face Reptile on the home ports). This character was a merger between the Sub-Zero and Scorpion characters. In Mortal Kombat II, Reptile would be developed into a full character with his own special moves and would be available from the outset. The Sega Genesis versions had some unique eggs: in Mortal Kombat, a headshot of President of Probe Software Fergus McGovern flew in front of the moon in Mortal Kombat’s Pit stage, while in Mortal Kombat II, Raiden could perform a “Fergality” by pressing Back, Back, Back, Block during a fatality on the Armory stage.
Some Easter eggs originated from private jokes between members of the Mortal Kombat development team. The best-known example is “Toasty”, which found its way into the game in the form of a small image of sound designer Dan Forden, who would appear in the corner of the screen during game play (after performing an uppercut) and sing the word “Toasty” (players could face Smoke, when this happened on the Portal stage and after pressing the joystick/directional button Down and the Start button simultaneousely while the Toasty! image was on screen).” Later games included other jokes that originated in similar fashion; Mortal Kombat 4 had characters quickly uttering unintelligible battle cries such as saying “ooh I’m gonna throw you over there” when a player performed a throw (in fact, are screams of silly words in Spanish like “play the piano”) in a similar fashion to Raiden’s utterances in the first two games. Another note of interest in Mortal Kombat 4, Forden would also appear at the bottom of the screen and sing “Toasty 3D!” referring to the fact the Mortal Kombat 4 was the first 3D game in the series. “Toasty” is also found in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks after pulling off a chain of hits and will appear randomly, but the picture of Forden will not appear. Pressing the start button during the “Toasty” will also result in the player receiving a 1000 experience points bonus. Another private joke was the hidden character Noob Saibot, who appeared in various versions of the game. The character’s name derived from two of the game’s creators, Ed Boon, and John Tobias, although Noob Saibot’s name would later be shortened to just “Noob” after Tobias left the company.
Inspiration from popular culture
In addition to being referenced in many forms of popular culture, Mortal Kombat itself derives inspiration from many elements of popular culture. Many of the sources of inspiration share a commonality, in that Arnold Schwarzenegger films, Jean-Claude Van Damme films and John Carpenter’s 1986 cult film Big Trouble in Little China seem to have a tremendous bearing on the game’s original inspiration. The following list is only a select few examples:
The character name Sub-Zero was inspired in part by a character of the same in 1987’s The Running Man, a popular Arnold Schwarzenegger film. In the film, Sub-Zero was a “Stalker” that dwelled within an icy environment similar to a hockey rink, filled with deadly traps. The character himself was not garbed as a ninja, but was a rather portly fellow in hockey gear sporting a serrated blade-edge hockey stick. The character was played by Professor Toru Tanaka.
The character Johnny Cage was inspired largely by Jean-Claude Van Damme’s character in the film Bloodsport. He not only shared many of Frank Dux’s martial arts techniques (including the “nut-punch”), he also wore almost identical clothing. The Mortal Kombat tournament itself is largely inspired by the Kumite, which was a secret tournament that only the greatest of martial artists were invited to.
Ed Boon stated in a 1995 issue of popular video game magazine Gamepro that the visual design behind Mortal Kombat 3 newcomers Cyrax, Sektor and the robot form of Smoke were largely inspired by the Predator and Boba Fett. They even shared similar techniques, as Cyrax has a self-destruct Fatality which is activated by a wrist-computer like the Predator and Sektor had a wrist-mounted flamethrower like Boba Fett.
Kabal is largely inspired by Star Wars character Darth Vader with his similar breathing apparatus keeping him alive and horrific facial disfigurements. He also shares similarities to Tusken Raiders in the design of his mask. Additionally, early concept art of Luke Skywalker featured the young Jedi in a mask that connects to belt-mounted canisters used as a breathing apparatus via a tube, very similar to the design on Kabal’s mask.
Scorpion’s fire-breathing fatality features the ninja removing his mask to reveal a skull underneath. The flaming skull concept is somewhat inspired by Marvel Comics character Ghost Rider.
Shang Tsung’s design in the first Mortal Kombat game was largely influenced by the character Lo Pan from the 1986 film Big Trouble in Little China. Lo Pan’s mortal form was that of a decrepit old man who looked to be hundreds of years old. Shang Tsung bore a similar look due to his premature aging at the hands of Shao Kahn, a punishment for failing to conquer Earthrealm through the Mortal Kombat tournament. Subsequently, as Shang Tsung’s youth was restored in later games he bore a distinct resemblance to the youthful ethereal form of Lo Pan.
Characters Raiden and Fujin are actual gods in Japanese mythology. Much like Shang Tsung, their designs were based largely on characters featured in Big Trouble in Little China. Two of Lo Pan’s deadly warriors were similar in look and/or powers, such as manipulation of lightning or moving like the wind.
Kano’s glowing red eye is a nod toward Arnold Schwarzenegger film The Terminator.
Liu Kang is inspired by martial arts legend Bruce Lee in all aspects of his design, including his “whooping” sounds, his outfits and use of Jeet Kun Do.
The implied friendly rivalry between Liu Kang and Johnny Cage may be an acknowledgement of the on-screen rivalry between Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris. The two had a legendary battle in the 1972 film “Meng Long Guo Jiang” or Return of the Dragon as it is known in the U.S.A.
