Mortal Kombat: 30 Absolute Best Easter Eggs You Need To See

Probably the most obvious Easter egg in all of Mortal Kombat is the fact that Johnny Cage was inspired by Jean Claude Van Damme. Both are martial art actors who are iconic for performing the splits during fight scenes. Originally, Mortal Kombat was considered to be a tie-in for the Van Damme film, Bloodsport. In the first game, Cage's stance and costume are identical to how Van Damme's character is depicted in Bloodsport. In Mortal Kombat X, Johnny Cage's Brutality is called Blood Spurt as a reference to this film.

Jean Claude Van Damme was also meant to provide motion-capture for the original Mortal Kombat game but this idea fell through. He was supposed to play Cage in the film adaptation but he decided to work on the movie, Street Fighter, (which was a really bad move).

This may be common knowledge to gamers but there are two others who helped shape the character. Many of Cage's kung fu moves are taken from the Marvel superhero, the Immortal Iron Fist. In the comics, the martial artist teams up with a bulletproof superhero called Luke Cage, which Johnny's surname is derived from.