The rumor mill has been working overtime since NetherRealm Studios shared an image of Tyler Lansdown's visit to Nerdist. The Instagram image - featuring NetherRealm's bearded male Kombat Kast host, and someone who may or may not be Nerdist's Chris Hardwick - has drawn attention for the bloody polar bears appearing on a screen behind.
We can't rule out the possibility that the blood splattered, gore-faced polar bears are from a completely unrelated, incidental image. Given that they were there to play Mortal Kombat X, though, we also won't blame anyone leaping to the conclusion that this may be our first look at a Stage Fatality or even some form of Animality!
Brutality finishers made a formal return during the last Kombat Kast Stream - revised to force players to initiate their kombo while the match is still playing! Even so, stage fatalities and a new finisher have remained on the table since E3 2014. Faction Kills are a possible explanation for the unseen move [read more].
34.2% of fans felt we were onto something when Mortal Kombat Online featured a story on the concept of Stage Animalities. Could this be a hint? Register to share your thoughts or knowledge on the Mortal Kombat X forum!
Twitter follower Timo Frazier (@fantim) has sent forward claims of having access to new Mortal Kombat X preview material. The material released so far includes cut scene screenshots, concept art and production renderings. The legitimacy of the material could not be verified at the time of this reporting.
Jax features most heavily, revamped with a low key Special Forces jacket design and klassically inspired chrome cybernetic arms. One screenshot suggest a revenant alternate, similar to the Sindel & Kitana seen fighting in the recent Story Mode Trailer. Jax was one of several casualties at the conclusion of Mortal Kombat (2011), held under the control of Quan Chi.
MK originals Johnny Cage & Sonya Blade have been rumoured continuously throughout production. Cage joined Sonya in the pages of the DC Comics tie-in, seen in Chapter 9 previews. Rumored casting leaks from the live-action webseries suggest Cage leads a secret unit of the Special Forces [full story].
All three klassic characters have been long rumoured, despite siring a second generation of kombatants featured in the game. Cassie Cage was part of a launch unveiling during last year's E3, while Jacqui Briggs has appeared in tie-in comics before being featured in the story trailer.
Among Fantim's claims is also the inclusion of cult character Tremoras post-game downloadable content [Kombat Pass]. All claims are at this stage unsubstantiated.
Mortal Kombat Online will continue to follow this story for further developments. Discuss more news and rumors on the Mortal Kombat X forum. Support the site by liking and sharing stories via @MK_Online & Facebook.
The blind sword saint is back! IGN has featured the first screenshot of Kenshi, battling Kotal Kahn in the newly announced Mortal Kombat X mobile.
A thumbnail appeared as a story preview on the site, with the full screenshot appearing exclusively on the IGN mobile app. A fitting home for the mobile reveal of a new character. No word on Kenshi's status for consoles & PC. NetherRealm Studios' previous console counterpart mobile title Injustice: Gods Among Us did not feature exclusive characters until later in its lifespan.
The screenshot ends months of speculation about the character, who was last seen as a downloadable extra included in Mortal Kombat (2011). Rumors of a Mortal Kombat X return began in October, when Creative Director Ed Boon shared a photo from the motion capture studio. Further teases ensued, including fantasy film casting.
Kenshi was the first character to appear on the page in Mortal Kombat X - the brand's first comic book maxi-series in twenty years [preview]. The story revealed a new relationship between Kenshi and Scorpion, bridged by the introduction of his son (and Scorpion's new apprentice) - Takashi Takeda [full story]. Takeda quickly found himself confronted by a powerful demon -- potentially explaining Kenshi's Possessed Variation in the screenshot.
Takeda was introduced to the playable roster in the recent Story Mode Trailer. Is Kenshi soon to follow? Register to discuss who's next in the Mortal Kombat X forum! Special thanks to MK Online User JaymzHetfield for sharing images.
In one of the most unexpected developments in the Mortal Kombat X cycle - NetherRealm Studios have announced a mobile version of the April console fighter!
NetherRealm Studios has been building its mobile cache since contributing to Arkham City: Lockdown in 2011. The studio developed a card trading game for Injustice: Gods Among Us and recently launched the massively successful WWE: Immortals.
Update: Available April, Mortal Kombat X will be a free-to-play fighting/card battle hybrid in the vein of Injustice Mobile for iPad, iPhone, iPod touch and Android users. Once the console and PC version of the game is out, players will be able to unlock content for mobile platforms (and vice versa) by playing both versions. A version of the persistent Faction War mode will also be present.
"NetherRealm Studios has created a Mortal Kombat X mobile experience that allows more players than ever before to play this over-the-top fighting game through their ever-present smartphones, tablets or other devices," said Ed Boon, Creative Director, NetherRealm Studios. “What’s more, we’ve expanded the unique cross-connectivity feature that links the mobile and console versions of Mortal Kombat X, delivering unique rewards to all players for simply playing the mobile game."
The trailer features 2D klassic kombat heavily, noting milestones along the Mortal Kombat release timeline before settling on Mortal Kombat X. Could this suggest a special tie to the original titles, or the pre-reboot timeline? It's difficult to draw any conclusions at this early stage. Interesting to note that none of the 3D klassic titles are seen.
What do you want to see in MKX Mobile? Register to join the mobile speculation and more on the Mortal Kombat X forum!
Update:Fans will be pleased to know Tremor will join the game as part of The Kombat Pack. The DLC fighter was revealed in a trailer along with Tanya in March, 2015.
The nebulous world of the fan petition is far from an exact science, often ranging from the absurd, to the unlikely. Change.org hosts the good and the bad indiscriminately, offering a free platform to collect e-signatures for just about anything. The distinction of supporters is dubious, but every now and then a petition garners so much interest it stands out from the crowd. Such is the case with Make Tremor A Playable Kombatant in Mortal Kombat X.
The petition has freshly counted more than 4,000 supporters, with more arriving each day. Even taking into account inflated numbers supplied by dummy posts and spoof votes, that's an impressive figure for a character whose existence dwells in spin-off obscurity, trivia, and fan-fiction.
Tremor first officially appeared in the ill fated 2000 third-person shooter: Mortal Kombat: Special Forces. He was given an unlikely reprieve in 2012 -- as featured by Mortal Kombat Online -- finding his way into PlayStation Vita versions of Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition.
Fans in the Twittersphere will have become aware of the campaign through the tireless dedication of @TremorBD and the FeelTheTremor hashtag. His efforts as petition founder supporter have also been shared by various NetherRealm Studios staff, including Executive Producer Shaun Himmerick, and beleaguered series co-creator/notorious Special Forces denier: Ed Boon.
"@TremorBD@noobde 70 signs to 4.000!! Hope its enough to make it! #FeelTheTremor EB: Damn! You guys REALLY want Tremor! :0
So, why Tremor?... In their petition outline, [@mk10news & @mk102015] make the case, "Tremor would make a good addition to Mortal Kombat X's roster due to the fact he has a unique relationship with the Black Dragon and the Lin Kuei, the latter of which he was rumored to abandon, the first Lin Kuei ninja to do so and live."
As a burly bruiser with a ground pound special among his most prominent weapons, he made a convincing counterpart warrior for Jax, when finally appearing. Fan-fiction has expanded on Special Forces to reimagine him as an elementally based earth warrior -- a valid option to embellish an incomplete character visually, and functionally. The thought of a modern grappler in MK, also attractive. [See; Bane (Injustice)]
When Mortal Kombat Online discussed the character with series co-creator John Tobias, he offered a tantalizing tease of what might have been, "I do remember having big plans for Tremor, but when I conceived him, he wasn't a member of the Black Dragon. He was a Lin Kuei hired as muscle by a mad man who was trying to open a gateway between Earth and Outworld."
What ever the outcome, it's clear fans are eager to see what the developer could do with these basic ideas. The characters of Special Forces may have been condemned to star in an unimpressive, troubled project, but their existence has helped flesh out the criminal underbelly of the Black Dragon clan, and added to the mystique of the sprawling fictional universe. With MKSF sub-bosses Jarek & Tasia showing up in the comics, and fan created costumes confirmed for DLC - now seems as good a time as any to make the leap!
