With all of the DLC characters and skins that NetherRealm Studios and Warner Brothers have released for the Mortal Kombat series over the years, it seems like they would have released official purchasable (or even free) real-life Mortal Kombat face masks by now. With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic still a very prevalent issue in multiple countries across the globe face masks are in more demand than ever, and arguably no video game series has leaned into the use of these exact kind of masks more than Mortal Kombat, which has featured a number of palette-swapped mouth-and-nose-covered ninjas over the years.
Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Kitana, Mileena, Smoke (the classic version, not the cybernetic version), Reptile, Rain, and Ermac are just some of the Mortal Kombat characters who wear face masks. While the designs of Mortal Kombat's characters have been changed and refined over the years, with many (if not all) of the originally-masked fighters appearing in their unmasked forms at some point, their default outfits nearly always involved the masked variant. Masks are clearly an important part of the Mortal Kombat design philosophy, and over the past year they have increasingly become a part of nearly everyone's daily routine in the real world. That's why it's weird neither NetherRealm nor Warner Brothers have official Mortal Kombat-themed face masks for sale on their websites.
Sure, there are a ton of Mortal Kombat face masks available from independent, third-party retailers, as well as on places like etsy and RedBubble, which is where the mask design in the above image (by guillermofarze) can be found. However, it seems strange that both Warner Brothers and NetherRealm Studios haven't attempted to profit off of the success of Mortal Kombat's brand with easy-to-buy face masks - especially since there are plenty of other Warner Brothers properties for which face masks are available.
What Face Masks Are Available Instead Of Mortal Kombat
On the WBShop page, when searching for face masks, there are thirteen results. They include three-packs of specific WB-owned brand masks such as Scooby-Doo, Batman, Friends, and Looney Tunes, as well as purchasable single masks for every Harry Potter Hogwarts house (as well as Platform 9 3/4). While it is incredibly easy to find fan-made Mortal Kombat face masks, it's very strange that Warner Brothers ignored this potentially-profitable angle of merchandise on their main website.
Of course, neither WB nor NetherRealm would have been forced to charge for these theoretical official Mortal Kombat face masks. Instead, it would have been a fantastic marketing decision (not to mention an incredibly helpful action to the public at large) if the companies had released official Mortal Kombat face masks to the public for free. By offering them to anyone for no cost, even people who didn't know what Mortal Kombat was may have ended up walking around with it on their face, and that would have been a great promotional tool for the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie reboot.
There are lots of ways fans can find Mortal Kombat face masks, but right now if an official, licensed version of them exists, it's far too hard to find. Sites like etsy, Amazon, and Redbubble offer lots of options for both cosplay and medical protection, but it seems like an oversight that real, official Mortal Kombat face masks are so hard to find.