(Editor’s note: Please note that graphic content and NSFW language follow in the article below.)
While the Mortal Kombat universe is as rich and varied as you’d expect from a franchise spanning 20 years, the addition of guest characters has given the developers even more to work with in terms of fanservice and Easter eggs.
Mortal Kombat X’s first post-launch character, Friday the 13th’s Jason Voorhees, continued this tradition with some brutal machete action and nods to his unstoppable nature in the film series he was pulled from, and NetherRealm Studios is set to do the same with their next release, Predator.
Yesterday, this upcoming character was unveiled by way of the game’s Tower mode, allowing players their first opportunity to see what this alien hunter had up its sleeves (or bladed wrist gauntlet). Equipped with all the technology you’d expect from the species, Predator incorporates a number of weapons and battle techniques we’ve seen in movies and comic books throughout the years, but one homage in particular involves a completely different character.
For those out of the loop, Mortal Kombat X includes moves called X-Rays. Originally introduced in 2011’s Mortal Kombat, these moves, in the most simplest of terms, function like supers in other titles, essentially giving characters access to a high-damage attack once the requisite meter has been acquired.
Though every X-Ray is graphically impressive (as well as impressively graphic), Mortal Kombat X newcomer Erron Black’s manages to stand apart thanks to the way it changes based on who he is fighting. The dusty cowboy loads up his trusty revolver and fires off a single shot, revealing that the opponent’s name is scratched into the bullet before it enters their body and ricochets through their skeleton. In the case of Predator, however, the developers used this opportunity to point towards one of the original film’s most famous lines.
Catch that? The younger readers out there may not understand the reference, but Dutch (the character played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the first Predator film) refers to the alien as “one ugly motherfucker” when he first catches a glimpse of what’s under those imposing masks.
While there’s no doubt that NetherRealm Studios loves to whet their fans’ appetites with constant callbacks to other aspects of the Mortal Kombat universe, it’s great to see them do the same with the guest characters that also inhabit their games. Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Source: DarmanDonphan via Murdoink