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

25. Who Inspired The Characters?

mortal kombat
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Every character in the original game is based on someone apart from Goro. Kano was inspired by The Terminator, Liu Kang on Bruce Lee, Sub-Zero and Scorpion on the warriors in American Ninja, Raiden and Shang Tsung on characters in Big Trouble in Little China, Sonya on Cynthia Rothrock, and Johnny Cage is based on Jean Claude Van Damme.

Fans liked how fighters were based on movie characters so the developers maintained this theme in every game. Baraka is based on Count Orlok from the fantasy horror, Nosferatu. Since Kung Lao has a razor-sharp hat, he was obviously inspired by the James Bond villain, Oddjob.

Kabal’s appearance is based on the Tusken Raider in Star Wars. Ferra/Torr, who debuted in Mortal Kombat X, were inspired by Master Blaster from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.

The cyborgs, Cyrax, Sektor, and Smoke were inspired by the alien in Predator. The robots have many Predator-like weapons like missiles, nets, and self-destruct bombs. They have loose wires on the back of their helmet that resembles dreadlocks, which is a reference to the dreadlock-like tendrils on the Predator's head.

Speaking of Predator...

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James Egan has been with Whatculture for five years and prominently works on Horror, Film, and Video Games. He's written over 80 books including 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts About James Bond 1000 Facts About TV Shows