Goro and Sheeva has the same excuse as Reptile and Baraka. Because they are what they are. They're not human, so it immediately gives them a free pass as shit of an excuse that may sound.

And Quan Chi is a Sorcerer like Shang Tsung.

Jax didn't have the bionic arms in MK2.The ground pound i get but I'm not sure on the arm projectile.

If someone attempts to find a logical explaination on how MK fighters perform their special moves, many a head will be exploded.

Johnny Cage's energy manipulation is an inherited ability that was explained in MK9. As for others they could simply be techniques for harnessing ones' ki or chi into attacks ala Street Fighter or Dragonball.

He's not. Kitana, Jade, Tanya, Mileena, and Sindel all have special powers. If it comes naturally from being Edenian or if they were trained that way, who knows?

But a lot of the heroes especially from Earthrealm seem to have their powers from either technology or because they're chosen warriors. At least in the old timeline. In the new timeline it's mainly tech and magic.

Honestly I can do the whole suspension of disbelief thing.

I mean Cage went almost 20 years with his Shadow Powers not being explained. I do like the backstory though.

I thought in MK9 Sonyas Pink Ring blasts (Pink ring blasts lol) where from some wrist mounted device?

Johnny Cage: According to MK9, he's the descendant of an ancient Mediterranean cult that bred warriors for the gods. You can find his backstory by looking at his bio where the character models are.

Goro/Sheeva: HALF DRAGON MAYBE.

Sonya: Her Sonic Rings are all tech. You can see her calibrating it in MKA'S Konquest mode when she blasts a sasquatch with it. Pretty sure it's equipped on her wrist when she breaks Jax out of the dungeon with it in MK9.

Jax: According to MK2, he was the strongest man on Earth even before he got his metal arms. Strong enough to punch an earthquake, strong enough to punch the air hard enough to hit you with a concussion wave.

Rain vs. Edenians: Rain is the son of Argus. The others are just Edenians.

Everybody has fireballs: Liu Kang probably focuses his chi. If he can do it, anybody can. Which makes it insanely boring,

I know that I said to explain some of them to me if you can, but the main question of this thread is "does it matter if there's an explanation or not?".
Like for MKX for instance. Does it matter if new characters have abilities that make sense like D'Vorah manipulating bugs because she's a bug lady?

Again, still feel free to talk about existing characters abilities. I guess that the Shokan thing makes sense, but the Edenians I'm still not sure of. Is it sage to say that they are all just born with special powers?

Forgot about Sonya's tech on her wrist. Thanks for reminding me.

I have said this before, I will say it again. We may very well see new powers from returning characters because of the 3 variation system. We have seen it with scorpion already. THAT NEEDS TO BE EXPLAINED.

..and im sure it will be.

But as for new character's; their abilities do not need to be explained. Only returning characters.

The only characters that I would like an explanation for is any characters from Earthrealm. Not even an in-depth one, just like a "hey he has powers because of this/that" or "his powers could come from this/that"

No one from earthrealm has powers except Lui (who gets it from the order of Monks that he trained under.) And Johnny could potentially have untapped powers originating from the realm of order. He has Seidan blood in him some how. Also would explain Why Cassie has green plasma ballz powers too.
EDIT: and if you consider subby, he is actually from outworld

I'd like to know if Kitana ever just kisses someone, will they explode or does she have a different way in kissing people without killing them.

If that can be explained...

Lol no need to tell me I am well versed when it comes to MK

Lui Kang is one, I get that he trained with monks and all that but he is the only one I have ever seen shoot fireballs or turn into a dragon. I guess it can be chalked to him being a/the chosen one

Kung Lao can teleport, manipulate a bladed hat after throwing it, his dive kick doesn't seem very natural, nor does his spinning move. I guess that comes from similar training and possibly his ancestor

I have heard the Johnny thing before and I can roll with it


Kabal in MK3 never really had an explanation for his powers besides being "a chosen warrior" I get that his powers were explained in MK2011 though so ill chalk it up to that too.

Kano's cannonball technique doesn't seem very natural either IMO but I guess im just nitpicking

Jax before his cybernetics is weird but like somebody said he is supposed to be earths strongest so ground pound makes sense. As for the energy wave was it ever stated to be a wind gust from his super strength or anything? (IIRC) I believe it was just called an energy wave?

Lol after thinking about it I realized most of their powers do have an explanation lol by bad

Nah dude, not your bad. Its a good point. The explanations are pretty bla, but I think we all just have to chalk it up to it being mortal kombat. And the fighters from earthrealm are "special" since they wouldn't be chosen unless they were able to contend with the likes of cryomancers and undead warriors and sorcerers and the like

Yeah, that's a good question. It would make sense if she was a witch and had to say some kind of spell before kissing who she wants to die, but she isn't so..

Yeah you have a point lol. They are Earthrealm's "chosen warriors" after all so them having something that sets them apart from regular humans makes sense after thinking about it. That along with it being Mortal Kombat pretty much explains it for the most part

These are really great points guys, but to just say "because it's Mortal Kombat" is a cop-out for me because I feel that's it's more interesting to dig a little deeper.

But yes they ARE Earthrealm's chosen warriors, good point. One could also ask though, why doesn't Stryker have any special abilities and only uses weapons? I always kinda thought of him as the Batman of MK.

He doesnt have abilities because, at least I have always seen him as, not a chosen fighter but just a cop who knew sonya and jax and got dragged into the whole ordeal.

That's not true, MK9 retconned in a more detailed explanation (mostly to justify why he suddenly becomes so much more powerful in his arcade mode ending than he's ever been before), but his original MK1 bio all the way back in 1992 said he learned the ancient secrets of martial arts from masters in the far east before he became an actor. (His story was a bit of a parody of Frank Dux, the real guy whom Bloodsport is based on. He was a controversial figure in martial arts back in the day because he claimed to be trained in an actual surviving feudal era form of Ninjutsu, and alleged that the Kumite deathmatch tournament was a real thing, and he was discredited as a fraud. In Johnny's case, swap out ninjutsu for Dragonball Z powers and note that his motivation is to prove he's NOT a fraud.)
The thing about super powers in martial arts-themed fiction is this: As Liu Kang points out in MK vs DCU, EVERYONE has "chi", it's a concept that exists in real world kung fu, but mostly as a metaphor. It's supposed to be the internal energy of the human body, something like a cross between bodyheat and the soul. It's learning to harness it and use it as a weapon that most people can't do, even in MK because Earthrealm is based on the real world, most people don't believe in magic or special powers and you have to train under old mystics and people in the know, but most the chosen ones have learned about it somewhere and trained to do so.

Lol I like to theorize about that stuff as well. I have a feeling Stryker might just be a really well trained police/swat officer lol sounds corny I know, but maybe his efficiency with those weapons are his power in a way?

I like to think Stryker was picked as a chosen one in MK3 because he has the potential to have powers but just never got the training.

Sonya would be in the same spot since most of her moves are just ordinary human acrobatics or technology (and whether or not she was originaly one of "the world's greatest fighters" has always been dubious since she wasn't actually invited to the tournament, Shang just lured her there by inviting Kano and then captured her and forced her to compete), but according to MK3 strat guides and dev interviews, she learned some moves from Liu Kang after she met him. That's why she started doing a bike kick.

That's why I like the idea that Earthrealm warriors outside of the monks and such use technology. That's the only real advantage Earthrealm seems to have over the other realms which are more magical and mystical in nature.

Jax, Sonya, and Kano all use tech to enhance their abilities but I guess with Sonya it's more ambiguous.

In MKA -- so the legend goes -- the combined supernatural power of the kombatants in one place was destabilizing the balance of the realms. This seemingly assumes that for whatever reason, every kombatant (even Stryker) is gifted with some kind of power beyond the ken of ordinary mortals.

... Namely, the power to do kickass double backflips in a police uniform, never ever ever run out of bullets and grenades, and have your most important organs perforated in a vicious sai stabbing and just shrug it off. In the world of Mortal Kombat, the real superpower is more in the ability to take damage than having fancy ways of dishing it out.

Sonya, Johnny Cage and Jax's powers are all energy based. In MK9, Sonya had a ray gun type thing, which shoots pink rings. Not so much pure energy rings like she used to release.

Not sure about any of the other characters on how they gained their powers.

*Off topic*

One can practice/preform the arts of fire, ice, telekinesis, etc in real life.