The 2021 Mortal Kombat movie reboot is packed with Easter eggs and references to the long-running series of fighting games that it's based on. Directed by Simon McQuoid and starring Lewis Tan (Into the Badlands) as original character Cole Young, Mortal Kombat features all the main staples of the franchise, from gratuitously gory finishing moves to ancient blood feuds.
Mortal Kombat 2021 is the third big-screen adaptation of the video games, following the flawed but charming 1995 Mortal Kombat and the notoriously bad 1997 sequel Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. The new film's cast includes Joe Taslim (The Raid) as Sub-Zero, Hiroyuki Sanada (The Wolverine) as Scorpion, and Ludi Lin (Power Rangers) as Liu Kang. It offers a fresh introduction to the world of Mortal Kombat for audiences who might not be familiar with the games, but it's also packed with fun Easter eggs for fans.
From the obvious homages to hidden secrets in the background and everything in between, here's a guide to all the Easter eggs in Mortal Kombat 2021.
Fight!
Despite the title, Mortal Kombat doesn't actually feature an official Mortal Kombat tournament, since the story is focused on the lead-up to the tournament and Shang Tsung's efforts to stop it from happening by killing all of Earthrealm's champions before they can take part. The movie also doesn't (fully) introduce Shao Kahn, the evil emperor of Outworld and the announcer whose voice is heard throughout the games. Instead, the fighters are left to declare their own victories like "Fatality" and "Kano wins!" - and it's Kung Lao who gets to issue the classic opening command "FIGHT!" during a sparring session between Liu Kang and Kano.
Other Classic Mortal Kombat Catchphrases
The trailer for Mortal Kombat built up hype by featuring Scorpion's classic fight phrase "Get over here!" - and there are plenty more where that came from. There's "Kano wins!" Kung Lao's declaration of a "Flawless victory," and Liu Kang's proclamation of "Fatality!" after killing Kabal. There's also a tribute to the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie when Shang Tsung gets hold of Kung Lao and tells him, "Your soul is mine!"
Eddie Tobias
The fight organizer might not think much of Cole's talent in the ring, but Cole was once on the top of his game as an MMA fighter. Sonya Blade's board shows newspaper clippings of his past victories, and Jax hails him as "the man who took the belt from Eddie Tobias." The previous champion's name is a mash-up of Mortal Kombat creators Ed Boon and John Tobias.
Sub-Zero's Button Combo
Sub-Zero wins his initial fight against Jax, but to be fair he cheated a bit by choosing an arena that had his button combos written on the wall. As Jax hunts for the immortal ice warrior a piece of graffiti is clearly shown that reads "↓, → + LP." Down, forward and low-punch is the combo for Sub-Zero's classic ice ball move, in which he throws ice at his opponent to temporarily freeze them.
Nightwolf, The Matoka Warrior
Featured on Sonya Blade's board of Mortal Kombat clippings is a page from a book that highlights a Native American shaman known as the Matoka warrior, or Night wolf. Nightwolf is a classic Mortal Kombat character whose moves, as the book details, include the ability to "manifest bows and empower tomahawks with flames."
Kotal Kahn Bust
The last surviving warrior from the realm of Osh-Tekk and a former emperor of Outworld, Kotal Kahn doesn't appear in Mortal Kombat 2021 but does get a nod in the form of a gold bust. A photo of this is pinned to Sonya's board, indicating that Kotal Kahn has spent time in Earthrealm at some point in history.
"They Spelled It Wrong"
Cole is initially unconvinced by Sonya's ramblings about the evidence of Mortal Kombat - not least because, as he points out, "They spelled it wrong." Mortal Kombat is actually spelled with a "K" instead of a "C" for legal reasons. Speaking to Gameological in 2012, John Tobias explained that he and Ed Boon originally wanted the game to be called Mortal Combat, but because that's a common phrase they wouldn't have been able to trademark it. By turning the "C" into a "K" they made it unique, and similar in-game spellings like "kombatants" followed.
Shao Kahn Mural
Shao Kahn is missing from the action in Mortal Kombat 2021, but he still makes his presence felt in a mural displayed in Raiden's temple. The emperor of Outworld and long-standing mega-villain of the games is depicted wielding his iconic weapon, the Wrath Hammer. If Mortal Kombat 2 goes ahead, Shao Kahn and his spiky armor may well enter the fray.
The Great Kung Lao Defeats Shang Tsung
The hat-wielding Kung Lao proudly declares that he's descended from "The Great Kung Lao," an important figure in Mortal Kombat lore. The Great Kung Lao was previously responsible for saving Earthrealm from being conquered by Outworld in a previous tournament, where he defeated Shang Tsung and thereby prevented Outworld from claiming the tenth consecutive victory it needed to begin an invasion.
Argus & Delia
Continuing along the tour of Raiden's temple murals, the image above depicts Argus and Delia. Argus is one of the gods of Edenia, another of the realms that competes in Mortal Kombat, but one that's considerably nicer than Outworld. His wife, Delia, is a powerful sorceress who experiences visions of the future. The two of them played a major role in the storyline of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, as the creators of a powerful fire elemental designed to wipe out the kombatants of Mortal Kombat and prevent the increasingly violent tournament from ripping the universe apart.
Centaurian Vase
The vase glimpsed on Sonya's board of research and shown in display in Raiden's temple might look Greek, but the creature depicted on it is actually a Centaurian, a four-legged race of warriors from Outworld. Motaro is the only Centaurian kombatant in the games, and his storyline gets a Greek myth twist when he's cursed to become a minotaur instead of a centaur, left with only two legs.
The Amulet of Shinnok
Light-fingered mercenary Kano doesn't waste any time in trying to steal valuable artifacts from Raiden's temple, and the one that he pockets while being given the tour is the Amulet of Shinnok. Created by one of the most evil Elder Gods in Mortal Kombat lore, the amulet is extremely powerful and dangerous, capable of greatly amplifying the wearer's magic powers and even trapping people inside it. Really, it's quite irresponsible of Raiden to just leave it on display out in the open.
The Leg Sweep Spam
Ranked alongside camping in Call of Duty and PIT maneuvers in Grand Theft Auto Online as one of the most cheap and annoying video game tactics is Mortal Kombat's leg sweep kick. It's a basic move beloved by lesser-skilled players because it's tricky to dodge or block, which means fights can often by won simply by spamming the sweeping kick over and over again. When Kano goes up against Liu Kang, he finds himself getting caught out over and over again by the same basic sweep kick until he angrily asks "Is that the only move you know, mate?" Of course, in the context of the Mortal Kombat movie Liu Kang is not an unskilled fighter, but rather is making a point about how easily he can defeat Kano using lazy leg sweeps alone.
Kitana's Fan
Kitana is one of the classic Mortal Kombat characters who doesn't make an appearance in the 2021 movie, but still makes her presence felt. Among the artifacts on display in Raiden's temple is one of Kitana's bladed fan, which are lethally sharp and typically wielded in pairs. Among Kitana's more gruesome finishing moves with the fans are splitting her opponent in half, decapitating them from the jaw up, and a particularly grim Fatality called "Gore-nado." It's unknown where Kitana is during the events of Mortal Kombat, but hopefully the fan will be put into action if there's a sequel.
The Pit
There have been many different fighting stages over the course of the Mortal Kombat franchise, but one of the mainstays is known as "The Pit." It's appeared in different iterations, but the basic concept remains the same: a raised platform, and a deadly pit of spikes below. When Jax faces off against Reiko in the third act of Mortal Kombat, their battle takes place in a faithfully recreated version of The Pit - though ultimately it's Jax's shiny new arms that finish Reiko off, not the spikes.
The "Finish Him!" Wobble
The Pit isn't the only iconic element of Mortal Kombat featured in the Jax/Reiko fight. In the games, when a character's health is reduced to nothing they stand stunned and sway around in a circular motion as the announcer commands "Finish him!" - encouraging the winner to execute a fatality. After Jax breaks Reiko's hammer and throws it into the pit, the defeated Outworld champion stands and sways in the signature motion, giving Jax the opportunity to pull off an incredibly gory finishing move.
Liu Kang's Bicycle Kick
Another staple of the Mortal Kombat games is Liu Kang's bicycle kick - a gravity-defying series of vicious kicks to the face that push his opponent back, accompanied by a string of kiai shouts that sound like a terrifying turkey gobble. After taking a cut to his arms from Kabal's blade in Mortal Kombat 2021, Liu Kang retaliates by unleashing his bicycle kick to push Kabal back into a tar pit. The kiai that accompanies the move is more of a growl than a gobble, but the kicks still get the job done.
Citizen Cage
It's more an obvious sequel hook than an obscure Easter egg, but the significant of the Citizen Cage poster could be missed by total newcomers to the Mortal Kombat franchise. Johnny Cage is one of the most prominent characters in the games: a Hollywood action movie star who seeks to disprove tabloid claims that his martial arts skills are phony by competing in the most deadly tournament across all the realms. Cage was played by Linden Ashby in the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie, and Ashby returned to voice the character in Mortal Kombat 11. The poster for Citizen Cage doesn't show Johnny's face, but it does feature his classic CAGE belt buckle.
Classic Mortal Kombat Fatalities
Mortal Kombat 2021 features a mix of new fatalities, like the one that Sonya uses to blow a hole through Mileena's torso, and classic fatalities from the games. There's Liu Kang dragon fatality, which traditionally involves Liu Kang himself transforming into a dragon and biting his opponent in half at the torso, but in the movie is limited to him created a dragon form using his pyrokinetic abilities. Goro comes close to stealing one of Sub-Zero's iconic fatalities when he tries to rip Cole's spine out by pulling off his head, but fortunately he's saved from copyright infringement when Cole's wife intervenes with an axe.
Kano punches a hole in Reptile's chest and rips out his heart, using one of his classic fatalities that was introduced in the very first Mortal Kombat game. Kung Lao ends up on the receiving end of Shang Tsung's soul suck, a move introduced in Mortal Kombat II. Jax's gory head-smash fatality is taken from the games, as is Scorpion's fire breath fatality. But arguably the best fatality from the games that's recreated in the movie is Kung Lao's buzzsaw hat finisher - a spectacularly gory display that involves planting his spinning bladed hat in the dirt and riding Nitara into it so that she's cut in half from the head down. Believe it or not, this is not actually the worst way to die via Kung Lao's buzzsaw hat; some variations of the move involve him grabbing his opponent's legs and pulling them onto the buzzsaw crotch-first. Ouch.