Mortal Kombat: 30 Absolute Best Easter Eggs You Need To See
Stuffed with so many secrets, there's no way you found all of them.
Mortal Kombat is infamous for its over-the-top gore, iconic fighters, and anatomically-impossible Fatalities. It has inspired over two dozen games as well as films, tv shows, comic books, and crossovers. The violence could have been nothing more than a gimmick but Mortal Kombat became one of the most celebrated fighting games in history.
Because the franchise is so violent, you would assume it takes itself very seriously. But despite Mortal Kombat's dark tone and mature content, the creators, Ed Boon and John Tobias, fill every game with silly in-jokes and hilarious secrets. Throughout the series, Boon and Tobias have inserted every secret imaginable; hidden characters, film quotes, and references to other games as well as their own company.
There were some Easter eggs in Mortal Kombat that fans speculated about that weren't true but the developers loved these rumours so much, they incorporated them into the games. When politicians and parents tried to get the game banned, the Mortal Kombat team turned the controversy into a joke and inserted references to it in the series.
Even if you are a die-hard fan of the franchise, it's impossible to catch every hidden gem. But don't worry. We are here to look at the best Easter eggs Mortal Kombat has to offer.
30. Why Does Shang Tsung Have A Sword? (MK1)
Because the sprites aren't very clear in the original Mortal Kombat, a lot of players didn't realise the final boss, the shape-shifting sorcerer, Shang Tsung, has a sword attached to his robe. This is a little weird considering he never uses it at any point in the game. So why is it there?
Well, what is Mortal Kombat most famous for? That's right. The Fatalities. After the final boss defeated the player, Shang Tsung was supposed to decapitate his opponent with his blade. He was going to be the only character in the game that could perform a finishing move.
The main developers, Ed Boon and John Tobias, realised it would be more satisfying if the player executed their rival with a finishing move instead. After seeing the reactions of fans performing a Fatality, Boon realised he made the right decision.
Ironically, the sub-boss and final boss are the only characters in the original game that cannot perform a Fatality. By the time the developers made this decision, they had already animated Shang Tsung and so, couldn't remove the sword from his animations.