Mortal Kombat saw both commercial and critical success when it launched in April 2019. The iconic fighting game was praised for its combat, controls, visuals and its near-seamless story mode, making it one of the long-running series' best entries.
While YouTubers and critics were busy applauding the game, fans were scratching their heads at some inconsistencies in the narrative of story mode. Here are some things that didn’t make sense in Mortal Kombat 11.
10 Why Does It Take More Than 10 Minutes To Set Up Charges?
During the game's earlier chapters, Sonya Blade had a litany of men assist her in setting up charges to destroy the foundation of the Netherrealm Fortress. With advanced technology and that much personnel (who presumably all have the proper training), the act of deploying some explosives shouldn't have taken that long.
Even though the death of a classic character raised the stakes for Earthrealm and fleshed out Cassie Cage as a character, it’s still a situation that didn’t need to happen.
9 How Is Noob Saibot Even Alive?
In Mortal Kombat (2011), Nightwolf defeated Noob Saibot and kicked the shadow ninja into the Soulnado. The Soulnado can rip apart both mortal bodies and souls when thrown directly into the magical vortex. With that being said, how exactly was Noob Saibot able to return?
It was already hinted during an interaction dialogue between Kuai Liang/Sub-Zero and Bo Rai Cho in Mortal Kombat X that the shadow ninja was alive in the current timeline. Now that he has returned unscathed, how is he even alive? We deserve an explanation.
8 Why Didn’t Sub-Zero and Noob Saibot Recognize Each Other?
In the current timeline, Kuai Liang (Sub-Zero) and Noob Saibot first confronted each other toward the end of Mortal Kombat (2011). Kuai Liang was Cyber Sub-Zero at the time and lamented about the similar situation him and his older brother were in.
Now that they are reunited in Mortal Kombat 11, why are they acting like this is their first meeting? One would think this long-awaited reunion between bothers would have had more weight, tension, and most of all, emotion.
7 Why Wasn’t Noob Saibot the One to Kill Scorpion?
It would’ve been a great way to end both Noob Saibot and Scorpion’s story arc. Scorpion’s hatred for Bi-Han (Elder Sub-Zero and Noob Saibot) is what led to Bi-Han’s erroneous death in this timeline. Quan Chi was the one who slayed the Shirai Ryu, and he got his justice in Mortal Kombat X.
Noob Saibot killing Hanzo Hasashi, the reformed Scorpion, would’ve demonstrated how revenge eventually comes back to haunt you. What a wasted opportunity. Now D’Vorah has the strong ire of the wider Mortal Kombat community because she killed Grandmaster Hasashi and fan favorites Mileena and Baraka.
6 Skarlet’s Retconned Backstory
Skarlet was introduced in the current timeline of Mortal Kombat games. According to her lore in Mortal Kombat (2011), she was a construct made from Shao Kahn. The red kunoichi was born from the blood of slain Outworld kombatants of past wars.
So why is she suddenly a mortal Outworld orphan who was adopted by Shao Kahn and taught Blood Magik in Mortal Kombat 11? While it gives her more character depth, it still doesn’t align at all with her initial (and official) concept and introduction.
5 How Is Kitana Able to Fight and Defeat Shao Kahn?
It took the combined might of Earthrealm’s Champions, Liu Kang and an Elder God-powered Raiden, to defeat Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat (2011). So how is it that Kitana was able to beat Shao Kahn without any backup to speak of? How is this possible when she wasn’t able to beat a buffed Sindel?
And speaking of which, why is she called Kitana Kahn? Technically she should be named Kitana Kahnum since Mileena’s title was Kahnum, indicating that female Outworld rulers are called Kahnum.
4 How Was Jacqui or Jax Still Able to Beat Cetrion?
Besides the fact that the Crown of Kronika should’ve killed them, they still should not be able to defeat an Elder God. In Mortal Kombat X, Johnny and Cassie Cage were the only people besides Raiden able to take on an Elder God. This was because they have an ancient power from a defunct human race of warriors.
Cetrion can grow to the size of Earth itself and launch a ground-shattering beam of energy that can obliterate opponents. Why could she not do that against the Briggs? Kombatants are not afraid to go all out to decimate their opponents.
3 Nothing Was Raiden’s Fault
All of Raiden’s character flaws and mistakes (some of which are simply unforgivable) were immediately wiped away by Kronika. The Titan of Time revealed that she manipulated various timelines to where the Thunder God and Earth’s Champion would always fight.
So, the last eight years of Raiden’s mistakes and character development were chalked up to machinations of a higher power? That doesn't sound right. On top of that, players didn’t even get to enjoy Dark Raiden in this game, yet another wasted opportunity.
2 Why is Frost Concerned with Raiden?
The only character trait Frost exhibits throughout the game is the need for affirmation from her superiors. However, she only showed this issue with Kuai Liang/Sub-Zero since her only concerns and loyalties are to the Lin Kuei.
So how come she is angry with Raiden for never recognizing her strength? She never had extended interactions with Raiden besides in the Mortal Kombat X comic, where she was told to venture to the Lin Kuei Temple to find a new master. Very strange and arbitrary.
1 Everything About Kronika's Plan
Why didn't Kronika just erase Raiden earlier? Why didn’t she bring back all the Outworld/Netherrealm forces instead of just some? Conversely, why didn’t she prevent Earthrealm's forces from entering the merged timeline? Why did she tell Raiden that the key to stopping her would be the fusion between him and Liu Kang? If she could rewind and halt time, why didn’t she stop Raiden from fusing with Liu Kang when Raiden defeated Revenant Liu Kang?
Inconsistencies have been a big issue for the last eight years of the Mortal Kombat franchise. While the quality and presentation of story mode has improved, the narrative team needs to maintain consistency in the wider lore. Netherrealm Studios (formerly Midway) set the standard for strong storytelling in fighting games. Now they need to maintain their pedigree.