Mortal Kombat protagonist Cole Young's Arcana takes the form of a suit of golden armor around his torso - and it has some interesting tricks up its sleeve(s). In addition to providing much-needed protection in fights against four-armed giants and laser-eyed Australians, Cole's armor also makes him more powerful every time he takes damage.

A new concept created for the latest Mortal Kombat movie, Arcana are superpowers and mutations that every combatant in the ancient tournament has to unlock. Only those who are marked with a dragon brand, identifying them as a champion, can unlock their Arcana. Some, like Cole, are born with the dragon brand due to being descended from a champion, but those born without a brand can still acquire one by killing a Mortal Kombat champion in battle.

Related: Mortal Kombat: Cole Young’s True Identity Explained

After learning that he is descended from the great warrior Hanzo Hasashi (a.k.a. Scorpion), Cole is brought to the Temple of Raiden to train with the other champions of Earth until he unlocks his Arcana. However, it's not until he gives up and goes home to his family that Cole discovers his full potential.

How Cole Young Gets His Golden Armor In Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat Cole With Golden Armor

Liu Kang and Kung Lao initially attempt to unlock Cole's Arcana powers using the tried-and-tested method of causing him immense pain (via Kano's fists) until his body instinctively tries to defend itself. However, since Cole is an MMA fighter who has spent years getting brutally beaten up in the ring, his physical pain threshold is too high for this to work. When his powers fail to manifest, Raiden tells Cole that Hanzo Hasashi's bloodline has become too weakened, that he has no chance of becoming a champion, and that he should just go home instead. Of course, it's possible that Raiden realized Cole's family was the key to unlocking his Arcana, and sent him home knowing that Shang Tsung would send an assassin after him. Gods are tricky that way.

Cole returns to his wife and daughter, Allison and Beth, but he gets only a short respite before Shang Tsung sends one of his most formidable champions to kill him: Goro. Cole manages to draw the Shokan behemoth away from Allison and Emily, but he's no match for Goro and soon finds himself on the verge of having his head ripped off and spine ripped out (a move that Goro appears to have copied from Sub-Zero). Allison intervenes by hitting Goro with an axe, which causes him to drop Cole and fixate on Allison and Beth. Seeing his family in danger causes Cole a different kind of pain, which is enough to unlock his Arcana: a suit of golden armor and a pair of tonfas.

Cole Young's Arcana Power Explained

Mortal Kombat Cole Armor Glowing

The nature of Cole's Arcana power is set up at the start of Mortal Kombat, when the fight organizer mocks him for being a professional punching bag and failing to ever successfully go on the offense. The golden armor turns Cole's ability to take a beating into his greatest strength, by storing the kinetic energy absorbed from blows in a fight. The power of these blows builds up inside the armor until Cole unleashes it - for example in his brutal uppercut to Goro's jaw, or the manifestation of his tonfas.

Related: Mortal Kombat's Ending Explained

For much of Mortal Kombat Cole appears to be the weakest fighter among Earth's chosen champions. It's all the more impressive, therefore, that he's able to defeat Goro, who is one of the most notoriously difficult opponents in the Mortal Kombat video games, and is one of Shang Tsung's greatest champions. Goro's reliance on massive brute strength actually proves to be a disadvantage in his fight against Cole, since every blow he lands charges up the golden armor with equal strength. The armor proves to be less effective against Sub-Zero's ice powers, however, so Cole has to call in some back-up.

Is Cole Young's Armor From The Mortal Kombat Games?

Mortal Kombat 2021 Cole Arcana Armor

Cole Young is an original character created for the 2021 Mortal Kombat movie, so his Arcana powers and his golden armor haven't appeared in the games. A few characters in the games, including Jax, have wielded tonfas similar to the ones that appear in Cole's hands after he unlocks his powers. Comparable in design to a nightstick, tonfas originate from Okinawan martial arts like kobudo and karate. Cole's are unique not only in the fact that they manifested as part of his Arcana, but also because one of them has a vicious blade where tonfas usually have a rounded end. Though the bladed tonfa is certainly handy in a fight, the more traditional tonfa proves itself to be just as lethal; Cole executes his very first Mortal Kombat fatality by disemboweling Goro with the bladed tonfa and then impaling his skull on the other.

How Cole's Armor Connects To Scorpion's Origin Story

Mortal Kombat Scorpion Kunai Rope

Mortal Kombat opens with Scorpion's tragic origin story. Centuries ago, Sub-Zero (Bi-Han) and Scorpion (Hanzo Hasashi) were mortal warriors from the enemy clans of Lin Kuei and Shirau Ryu, respectively. Hanzo had left his warrior ways behind him and was living a peaceful life with his wife and two children when Bi-Han showed up, determined to eradicate all trace of Hanzo's clan. Hanzo's wife, Harumi, was able to hide their baby daughter under the floorboards of the house, but both she and Hanzo's young son were murdered by Bi-Han. When Hanzo returned to find his family dead, he tied a rope to a kunai that Harumi had been using in her gardening, forming Scorpion's iconic weapon from the Mortal Kombat games.

Cole is descended from the infant daughter who survived the attack, and his Arcana power is connected to Scorpion's origin story - both the death of his family, and his weapon of choice. The golden armor is formed from metallic ropes that look just like the one Hanzo Hasashi used to create his first "stinger." And while the armor does have offensive capabilities, it also shields Cole from harm. While the exact nature of the Arcana and how each person's unique powers are chosen isn't fully explained, it certainly seems like Cole's golden armor is a way of protecting Scorpion's family in a way that he failed to do when he was still mortal.

More: Mortal Kombat 2021: Every Character’s Powers Explained