Mortal Kombat 11 started the month by observing seasonal pranking with a wild and wacky April Fools Tower, but that wasn't the only fun emanating from NetherRealm Studios. Creative Director and notorious jokester Ed Boon made his own mischief on Twitter, poking fun at one of the game's much discussed absentees.

Mileena has been a mainstay of the series since debuting as Kitana's dark twin in Mortal Kombat II, but after ascending to a short-lived reign as Outworld Empress in Mortal Kombat X, she was sidelined in the latest game. Boon poked fun at the highly requested klassic, facetiously declaring she will never return!

You will never see Mileena in one of our games ever again.

ever. https://t.co/aVstCcC50z

— Ed Boon (@noobde) April 1, 2020

As if the calendar wasn't tip-off enough, Boon himself tweeted earlier in the day: "believe nothing...".

Mileena has emerged as a cult favourite, leading legions of fans to regularly tweet the series overseer with requests for her downloadable inclusion. She was devoured by insects in MKX, but is one of only three MKII characters not represented by their past or present incarnations in Mortal Kombat 11. She will appear in the upcoming live-action feature film.

Hoaxes and April Fools jokes have been part of Mortal Kombat history since the beginning, giving birth to memorable creations like EGM's Nimbus Terrafaux and even Ermac! The spread of misinformation has cooled enthusiasm for more elaborate deceptions, but as recently as 2017, Boon shared an amusing Injustice 2 Wonder Twins teaser.

MK Online has played the fool over the years as well, announcing MK's first guest characters in 2003, and the controversially convincing Special Forces HD. This year Aquilluxborg Hydroxybot became our default site theme, having appeared as concept art and a stage fatality.

With Army of Darkness DLC seemingly spoiled, and "years of content" still on the way, do you think Mileena should make a comeback? Share your thoughts in the comments below and join the Mortal Kombat 11 forum!

Mortal Kombat 11 has got into the spirit of the silliest season of all with an April Fools Tower that plays a wicked prank on players, presenting four new and unusual opponents. Read on for all the fun and games:

The newest seasonal offering from Towers of Time presents four battles against familiar warriors: Kronika's dinosaur "T-Wrecks", "Bestiardy Guy" [who is apparently named Frank], the mysterious "Krypt Guy", and a worse for wear Shinnok.

Fans will recognize the T-Rex from boss fight assists against time warping titan Kronika, while "Bestiary Guy" steps out from the background of the Koliseum Beast Pen, where he can be seen shepharding Outworld beasites during fights. Each recalls old fan rumor and speculation, the latter reminding us of a long sought secret fight in the Drum Arena of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance.

More exciting and dangerous inclusions are: Krypt Guy, whose total anonymity as the avatar players use to navigate Shang Tsung's Island in The Krypt mode has frustrated since release. Shinnok makes a bruised and bloodied return having been the final boss of Mortal Kombat X and featured in the MK11 Story Mode Prologue.

Anyone who's taken the challenge of the mode will know none of these characters actually appears in the game. Instead players are faced with modified battles against Jade, Johnny Cage, Erron Black, and an endurance round. Your modifiers probably won't work the way you expect, and when you select your character another name will be announced. All part of the mischief.

MK Online affiliate Mortal Kombat Warehouse has extracted the Tower Renders for each character. Take a closer look below:

Mortal Kombat has a long and memorable history with April Fools pranks, as featured in our Fools, Fakes, and Phony Ninjas retrospective. If you checked the front page of MK Online you would've seen the return of Aquilluxborg Hydroxybot in the default site layout, as well as portals to our klassic April Fools articles including the infamous Special Forces HD announcement.

With Ash Williams seemingly leaked and "years of content" still to come, could Mortal Kombat 11 actually see a fully realized "Krypt Guy" in the future? Share your thoughts in the comments below and discuss more on the Mortal Kombat 11 forum!

In two weeks fans will set sail for Shang Tsung's Island when Warner Brothers' first MK animated feature receives its digital release. The journey begins all over again in a new preview clip from Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge which shows the first meeting of Earthrealm's heroes. Watch:

Joel McHale (Community) stars as the aloof actor and martial artist Johnny Cage, with Jordan Rodrigues as Shaolin champion Liu Kang, Jennifer Carpenter as determined soldier Sonya Blade, and David B. Mitchell as the guiding protector god Raiden.

The scene recreates a legendary moment in Mortal Kombat mythology, when Earthrealm's heroes first met aboard Shang Tsung's Nethership on their way to compete in the Mortal Kombat tournament. The animated feature draws faithfully from established canon with liberal reference to the recent Mortal Kombat (2011) reboot retelling. Warner Bros have released an official synopsis [below], but how this story will end remains to be seen.

Based on the worldwide hit game created by Ed Boon & John Tobias, Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge spotlights the once-in-a-generation tournament between the champions of Outworld and Earthrealm – a competition that will ultimately determine the fate of Earth and all its citizens. Lord Raiden, protector of Earthrealm, must gather the greatest fighters of his realm to defend it from the evil Shang Tsung in the battle to end all battles - Mortal Kombat!

As the title suggests; Scorpion's Revenge will aso focus on the transformation of Hanzo Hasashi into the vengeful ninja spectre who haunts the Mortal Kombat tournament. Catch a glimpse of his tale in a bloody Scorpion's Revenge Red Band Trailer.

Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge is perfect home viewing during COVID-19 isolation, released digitally April 12th on PlayStation, Xbox, Amazon, Apple TV, FandangoNOW, Vudu, and more! A full DVD and blu-ray release will follow April 28th chock full of bonus features.

How are you liking the return to the original tournament? Journey to the comments below to share your thoughts on the latest preview, and find more animated previews and discussion in the Media & Merchandise forum!

Edit: What is this, an April Fool's joke? Of course it is! We went all out with this year April Fool gag -- but you knew all along! You just can't fool a Mortal Kombat Online reader - their source of MK news keeps them too reliably informed! We hope you had a good time with our little joke, all the same. You never know - maybe one of these days someone really will unearth a long-buried MK secret! If they do, you'll read about it on MK Online - so stay tuned!

It's no secret that the Mortal Kombat series is known for its secrets, but this one sets a record in that is taken nearly 25 years to be discovered! Mortal Kombat 3 was released in 1995, but a user named JustMKollum was going through the game's source code and managed to find unused renders for the game's developers and co-creators: Ed Boon and John Tobias!

In their entirety, the bios read:

Ed Boon: A humble software programmer from a large city in North America, Boon was kidnapped by a clan of Chinese "ninjas" called the Lin Kuei. He is faced with a choice: write the programming that controls their cybernetic assassins, or be killed. He agrees, but the clan has no idea how buggy his buggy AI will be.

John Tobias: A young comic book artist from the city, Tobias begun using his skills as a police sketch artist alongside Kurtis Stryker. He goes into hiding once Kahn begins his invasion of Earth, but vows to make a totally sweet comic book about the whole adventure - if he manages to survive the ordeal.

The MK team has a penchant for being self-referential and rarely inserting themselves into the game (Toasty!), but this revelation shows that they had planned to take it a step beyond. In fact, this may constitute the largest discovery in the entire series–right up there with the EJB Menu or the found footage of the Williams Bally/Midway ACME Event!

What do you think about this finding? Share your thoughts on the Klassic Forums, as well as our Facebook and Twitter.

People around the world are hunkering down in isolation to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. It's a good time to stay in and play video games, but if you need a break, and some exercise for your brain, NetherRealm Studios has that covered too with a Mortal Kombat 11 Word Jumble! Check it out:

No doubt eagle-eyed fans will immediately spot familiar names. The jumble contains all the major characters currently appearing in Mortal Kombat 11, including guest characters Spawn, Joker and Terminator. The full list of words to find is included after the jumble [below], and you'll want to check for exact inclusions (like the separated "johnny" and "cage)..

If you're really stumped with that one stubborn word you can't seem to find, we've solved the whole puzzle for you right here you dirty cheaters.

We haven't found any additional hidden messages or codes, but that doesn't mean they aren't there. If you'd like to start searching for greater meaning in the jumble, you can find the letters that should be leftover just below.

EKMLNPPVVNVA
UESYWHCNCQVIN
YDARFXY
VIAMB
VJXUHK
ZAILHUQJPZV
XZMIQWUZI
YGWNTFW
FAIVDRCT
NWXXVIHIR
HGCCZYCZSJH
JFQD
IQYYDDUGOSRK
GLJBTGZFXOM
SYMYJOXWTAS
EYKUELTMEN
DLJKJKEYAO
IZNVZMBFEBPD
FGJNOUBHZLBSGB
DPOFRK

Think you've cracked a hidden message? Need help spotting a word? Dive into the comments below to share your findings or ask for help from the kommunity! Find more forum games and contests in the Fan Koliseum or join the discussion in the Mortal Kombat 11 forum. We're all in this together!