This is an accepted version of this page
158-525: This is a list of playable and boss characters from the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise and the games in which they appear. Created by Ed Boon and John Tobias , the series depicts conflicts between various realms. Most characters fight on behalf of their realm, with the primary heroes defending Earthrealm against conquering villains from Outworld and the Netherrealm. Early installments feature
316-415: A gamemaster refereeing tabletop role-playing games . The player character functions as a fictional, alternate body for the player controlling the character. Video games typically have one player character for each person playing the game. Some games, such as multiplayer online battle arena , hero shooter , and fighting games , offer a group of player characters for the player to choose from, allowing
474-466: A mythical realm. Since the 1940s, when Superman, Batman, and many of the company's other heroes began appearing in stories together, DC's characters have inhabited a shared continuity that was later dubbed the " DC Universe " by fans. With the story " Flash of Two Worlds ", in Flash No. 123 (September 1961), editor Schwartz (with writer Gardner Fox and artists Infantino and Joe Giella ) presented
632-406: A playable character or PC ) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not controlled by a player are called non-player characters (NPCs). The actions of non-player characters are typically handled by the game itself in video games, or according to rules followed by
790-434: A March 1937 cover date. The themed anthology that revolved originally around fictional detective stories became in modern times the longest-running ongoing comic series. A notable debut in the first issue was Slam Bradley , created in a collaboration between Wheeler-Nicholson, Siegel and Shuster. In 1937, in debt to printing-plant owner and magazine distributor Harry Donenfeld —who also published pulp magazines and operated as
948-502: A Saturday morning live action TV adaptation and gained a prominent position in the mainstream continuity of the DC Universe . As the popularity of superheroes faded in the late 1940s, DC Comics focused on such genres as science fiction, Westerns , humor , and romance . The company also published crime and horror titles, although relatively tame contributions that avoided the mid-1950s backlash against such comic genres. A handful of
1106-584: A Soulnado. During its construction, Kano is assaulted by Li Mei , but Quan Chi intervenes, as the Alliance had made a deal with the Red Dragon leader Mavado to eliminate the swordsman Kenshi in exchange for the opportunity to fight and defeat Kano. Kano appears in the 2000 spin-off platform game Mortal Kombat: Special Forces , in which he is not playable but is featured in the storyline, freeing fellow Black Dragon cohorts No Face, Tasia, Jarek, and Tremor from
1264-496: A Special Forces security facility under the pretense that they would reform the organization, though he really intended to use them as pawns to slow down any Special Forces agents who might pursue him. They kill an entire Special Forces unit during the prison break before Kano heads to Outworld, where he recovers the Eye of Chitian, an artifact through which he would acquire incredible power. While Special Forces Major Jax Briggs gets ahold of
1422-408: A broad category of action games, referring to a variety of games that are driven by the physical actions of player characters. The term dates back to the golden age of arcade video games in the early 1980s, when the terms "action games" and "character games" began being used to distinguish a new emerging genre of character-driven action games from the space shoot 'em ups that had previously dominated
1580-480: A cameo appearance in Mortal Kombat Annihilation , played by J. J. Perry , and in a self-titled episode of Mortal Kombat: Conquest , played by martial artist Kimball Uddin. Noob Saibot has received positive critical reception, and particularly for his "Make a Wish" Fatality from the 2011 reboot game. In July 2011, The Daily Show ' s Jon Stewart played a video of the finisher while explaining
1738-469: A conceptual mechanism for slotting the 1930s and 1940s Golden Age heroes into this continuity using the explanation that they inhabited an other-dimensional "Earth 2", whilst the modern heroes exist on "Earth 1", consequently laying the foundations of what was later called the DC Multiverse . DC's introduction of the reimagined superheroes did not go unnoticed by their competitors. In 1961, with DC's JLA as
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#17330859683391896-484: A copy of Superman. This extended to DC suing Fawcett Comics over Captain Marvel , who was at the time the top-selling comic character (see National Comics Publications, Inc. v. Fawcett Publications, Inc. ). Faced with declining sales and the prospect of bankruptcy if it lost the lawsuit, Fawcett capitulated in 1953 and ceased publishing comics. Years later, Fawcett sold the rights for Captain Marvel to DC Comics, and in 1972
2054-446: A cyborg, Kuai Liang is converted in his place before Smoke is killed by Shao Kahn's queen Sindel . Following this, Smoke is resurrected by Quan Chi as an undead revenant, a role he fulfills while making a minor non-playable appearance in Mortal Kombat X ( MKX ). Additionally, the downloadable playable character Triborg possesses a form based on Smoke's cyborg form. In Mortal Kombat 1 ( MK1 ), in which Fire God Liu Kang creates
2212-563: A drug-fueled storyline in writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams ' Green Lantern , beginning with the story " Snowbirds Don't Fly " in the retitled Green Lantern / Green Arrow No. 85 (September 1971), which depicted Speedy , the teen sidekick of superhero archer Green Arrow , as having become a heroin addict. Jenette Kahn , a former children's magazine publisher, replaced Infantino as editorial director in January 1976. As it happened, her first task even before being formally hired,
2370-536: A female incarnation appears as a downloadable playable character via the Khaos Reigns DLC. After Fire God Liu Kang creates another new timeline while stopping Kronika, Cyrax was rewritten once more to become a Nigerien Lin Kuei clanswoman and Sektor's apprentice who wears a powered suit developed by the latter. Initially believing her grandmaster Bi-Han's deception, she later discovers his corrupt nature and defects to
2528-471: A few years, it yielded the popular animated series Static Shock . DC established Paradox Press to publish material such as the large-format Big Book of... series of multi-artist interpretations on individual themes, and such crime fiction as the graphic novel Road to Perdition . In 1998, DC purchased WildStorm Comics, Jim Lee 's imprint under the Image Comics banner, continuing it for many years as
2686-544: A flashback sequence, Baraka serves under then-Outworld ruler Mileena alongside D'Vorah, but during a meeting with the Osh-Tekk Kotal Kahn , Baraka is killed after D'Vorah betrays Mileena. In Mortal Kombat 11 , a past version of Baraka is brought to the present by the keeper of time Kronika . After learning of his death and Kotal Kahn rendering the Tarkatans to near-extinction, he initially allies himself with Kronika and
2844-554: A former Black Dragon member who became a NYPD riot control officer partnered with Kurtis Stryker . Amidst Shao Kahn's invasion of Earthrealm, Kabal is grievously injured by Kintaro and kidnapped by Kano, who nurses him back to health with help from the sorcerer Shang Tsung and outfits him with a respirator due to his lungs being damaged beyond repair. Kabal eventually escapes to join Raiden and his champions in defending Earthrealm, only to be killed by Shao's queen, Sindel and converted by
3002-498: A group of soldiers hostage before being frozen by the cyborg Sub-Zero . However, Kano manages to free himself and informs his ally Noob Saibot that Sub-Zero broke free of his controller, Sektor . In Mortal Kombat X , Kano infiltrates the Shaolin Temple and steals the fallen Elder God Shinnok 's amulet for Shao Kahn's daughter, Mileena , to assist in a civil war against Outworld's new ruler, Kotal Kahn. He attempts to distract
3160-499: A handful of thematically-linked series he called collectively "The Fourth World" . In the existing series Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen and in his own, newly-launched series New Gods , Mister Miracle , and The Forever People , Kirby introduced such enduring characters and concepts as arch-villain Darkseid and the other-dimensional realm Apokolips . Furthermore, Kirby intended their stories to be reprinted in collected editions, in
3318-488: A larger number of player characters to choose from, with some basic moves available to all or most characters and some unique moves only available to one or a few characters. Having many distinctive characters to play as and against, all possessing different moves and abilities, is necessary to create a larger gameplay variety in such games. Similarly to MOBAs, hero shooters emphasize pre-designed "hero" characters with distinctive abilities and weapons that are not available to
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#17330859683393476-456: A major slump, while manufactured " collectables " numbering in the millions replaced quality with quantity until fans and speculators alike deserted the medium in droves. DC's Piranha Press and other imprints (including the mature readers' line Vertigo , and Helix , a short-lived science fiction imprint) were introduced to facilitate compartmentalized diversification and allow for specialized marketing of individual product lines. They increased
3634-564: A minor appearance in the story mode as a member of General Shao's army. Goro's original design was as a two-armed humanoid character named Rokuro , a member of "a race of demon warriors" who would join the tournament "to restore the pride and respect of his race". Series creators Ed Boon and John Tobias drew design inspiration from the stop motion adventure films of Ray Harryhausen , especially his depiction of Kali in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad in redesigning Goro with four arms. He
3792-416: A non-playable hidden character and a solid-black palette swap of the game's other male ninja characters, whom players could fight after winning fifty straight matches. Spurred by the positive reaction to the hidden character Reptile from the first game, Boon added Saibot to MKII without Tobias' knowledge, though Tobias would later create the character's initial backstory as a Netherrealm wraith. He makes
3950-433: A pair of long metal blades to his forearms. He later kills Jax's undercover operative, Johnny Cage , in a fight. These changes were not carried over into the 2011 web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy , in which he was played by Fraser Aitcheson and was reverted to his original Outworld origins. Baraka makes a brief appearance in the 2021 animated film Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge , in which he has no dialogue and
4108-593: A personality." Den of Geek wrote that he "has virtually no story to speak of outside of the [ MK9 ] retcon". His "Reverse Rip" from the reboot was rated 35th by Prima Games in their 2014 list of the series' top fifty Fatalities. Noob Saibot is an undead wraith from the Netherrealm and a member of a cult called the Brotherhood of the Shadow who worships a fallen Elder God, later revealed to be Shinnok . In Mortal Kombat: Deception , he discovers, reactivates, and reprograms
4266-654: A player character is more properly an avatar as the player character's name and image typically have little bearing on the game itself. Avatars are also commonly seen in casino game simulations. In many video games, and especially first-person shooters , the player character is a "blank slate" without any notable characteristics or even backstory . Pac-Man , Crono from Chrono Trigger , Link from The Legend of Zelda , Chell from Portal , and Claude from Grand Theft Auto III are examples of such characters. These characters are generally silent protagonists . Some games will go even further, never showing or naming
4424-413: A player typically creates or takes on the identity of a character that may have nothing in common with the player. The character is often of a certain (usually fictional) race and class (such as zombie , berserker , rifleman , elf , or cleric ), each with strengths and weaknesses. The attributes of the characters (such as magic and fighting ability) are given as numerical values which can be increased as
4582-514: A point in the story, but have rarely stayed dead. Goro is the sub-boss of the first Mortal Kombat game. He is a Shokan, a half-human, half-dragon race distinguished by his four arms and enormous size. He became Grand Champion of the Mortal Kombat tournament after defeating the Great Kung Lao , and held the title for the next 500 years as part of evil sorcerer Shang Tsung 's plan to manipulate
4740-517: A primer. They would get artists ... and they taught them the ABCs, which amounted to learning Jack Kirby ... Jack was like the Holy Scripture and they simply had to follow him without deviation. That's what was told to me ... It was how they taught everyone to reconcile all those opposing attitudes to one single master point of view. Given carte blanche to write and illustrate his own stories, he created
4898-416: A principal in the magazine distributorship Independent News —Wheeler-Nicholson had to enter into partnership with Donenfeld to publish Detective Comics No. 1, and Detective Comics, Inc. (which helped inspire the abbreviation DC) was formed, with Wheeler-Nicholson and Donenfeld's accountant Jack S. Liebowitz listed as owners. As the company continued to experience cash-flow problems, Wheeler-Nicholson
Characters of the Mortal Kombat series - Misplaced Pages Continue
5056-415: A publishing format that was later called the trade paperback , which became a standard industry practice decades later. While sales were respectable, they did not meet DC management's initially high expectations, and also suffered from a lack of comprehension and internal support from Infantino. By 1973 the "Fourth World" was all cancelled, although Kirby's conceptions soon became integral to the broadening of
5214-479: A reformed Black Dragon member turned SWAT officer, is severely burned by Kintaro , Kano takes him away to restore his health alongside Shang Tsung and outfit him with a respirator, mask, and hookswords in spite of his former ally's defection. However, Kabal is mortified by his condition and furious at Kano for siding against Earthrealm, so he bests him in combat and forces him to take him to Shao Kahn before knocking Kano out. Kano later joins Goro and Kintaro in holding
5372-639: A romantic interest for Batman named Julie Madison , as well as the Batarang weapon that Batman commonly uses, and the fictional aircraft called the Batplane . The story of Batman's origin was first shown in Detective Comics No. 33 (November 1939), which depicted the death of Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne by a mugger . The origin story remained crucial for the fictional character after its inception. The Daily Planet (a common setting of Superman)
5530-433: A set of forearm-implanted retractable blades. He spearheads the attack on Liu Kang 's Shaolin temple following the conclusion of the first Mortal Kombat tournament, which in turn lures Liu Kang into Outworld to seek vengeance. In Mortal Kombat Trilogy , he is a member of Shao Kahn 's forces that takes part in the invasion of Earthrealm. Baraka is not playable in the next fighting installment, Mortal Kombat 4 (1997), but
5688-685: A side-scrolling playfield. Examples include beat 'em ups like Kung-Fu Master and Double Dragon , ninja action games like The Legend of Kage and Shinobi , scrolling platformers like Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog , and run and gun shooters like Rolling Thunder and Gunstar Heroes . "Character action games" is also a term used for 3D hack and slash games modelled after Devil May Cry , which represent an evolution of arcade character action games. Other examples of this sub-genre include Ninja Gaiden , God of War , and Bayonetta . Fighting games typically have
5846-469: A similarly time-displaced Shao Kahn. However, Kitana convinces him to aid her in rescuing Kotal, and he and the Tarkatans take part in Kitana's battle against Shao Kahn and in the final battle against Kronika. In the new third timeline depicted in 2023 Mortal Kombat 1 , he was once a well-respected Outworld merchant prior to becoming a leader of the Tarkatans, a species of mutated individuals who are exposed to
6004-523: A subsidiary of Time Warner. In June, the first Tim Burton-directed Batman film was released, and DC began publishing its hardcover series of DC Archive Editions ; these were collections of many of their early, key comics series, featuring rare and expensive stories previously unseen by the majority of modern fans. Much of the restoration work was handled by Rick Keene, with colour restoration performed by DC's long-time resident colourist Bob LeRose . The Archive Editions attempted to retroactively credit many of
6162-462: A superhero origin story with the reveal of an unnamed planet, later known as Krypton , where he is said to have originated . The issue also contained the first essential supporting character and one of the earliest female characters in any comic, with Lois Lane as Superman's first depicted romantic interest . The Green Hornet -inspired character known as the Crimson Avenger by Jim Chamber
6320-554: A supporting character called James Gordon , the police commissioner of what would later become Gotham City Police Department . Despite being a parody, All-American Publications introduced the earliest female character who became the female superhero Red Tornado (though disguised as a male) in Ma Hunkel who first appeared in the "Scribbly" stories in All-American Comics No. 3 (June 1939). Another important Batman debut
6478-405: A third new timeline, Tomas / Smoke is rewritten once more to become an adoptive brother to Bi-Han / Sub-Zero and Kuai Liang / Scorpion after Smoke's family was killed for accidentally trespassing on Lin Kuei grounds. Though he lacks supernatural abilities, Smoke is skilled in practical magic. After Bi-Han betrays them to join forces with Shang Tsung , Smoke joins Kuai Liang in breaking off to found
Characters of the Mortal Kombat series - Misplaced Pages Continue
6636-501: A wholly separate imprint (and fictional universe) with its own unique style and audience. As part of this purchase, DC also began to publish titles under the fledgling WildStorm sub-imprint America's Best Comics (ABC), a series of titles created by Alan Moore which included The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen , Tom Strong , and Promethea . Moore strongly opposed this move, and DC eventually stopped publishing ABC. In March 2003, DC acquired publishing and merchandising rights to
6794-532: A younger version of Kano. The two Kanos attack the Special Forces base and kidnap younger versions of Johnny and Sonya to force them to fight for the Black Dragon's entertainment before Sonya's daughter Cassie Cage rescues them. Sonya kills the younger Kano, erasing the present version from existence. Kano was the final fighter added to the first game, with his role as the enemy of the female character Sonya. He
6952-482: Is a mysterious warrior who possesses the abilities of all the franchise' male ninjas. He is distinguished by his partially transparent appearance and an outfit that constantly changes its colors. Chameleon appeared in the PlayStation , Sega Saturn , and PC versions of Mortal Kombat Trilogy with no biography or ending; he is instead only referred to as "one of Shao Kahn's deadliest warriors". His Armageddon ending
7110-445: Is a playable character in a video game available only after either completing the game or meeting another requirement. In some video games, characters that are not secret but appear only as non-player characters like bosses or enemies become playable characters after completing certain requirements, or sometimes cheating . DC Comics This is an accepted version of this page DC Comics, Inc. (later simply known as DC )
7268-509: Is also vague, revealing only that he had sought to become Mortal Kombat champion since the events of the first game. The character was ranked 32nd in UGO 's 2012 selection of the top fifty series characters, who wrote "They say copying is a form of flattery, so Chameleon makes our list." Complex rated him tenth in their 2011 selection of the series' ten "most underrated characters", but IGN ' s Mitchell Saltzman listed Chameleon and Khameleon as two of
7426-457: Is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment , a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery . DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book series first published in 1937. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, the first comic under the DC banner being published in 1937. The majority of its publications are set in
7584-557: Is being given a mission briefing or debriefing; the player is usually addressed as "general", "commander", or another military rank. In gaming culture, such a character was called Ageless, Faceless, Gender-Neutral, Culturally Ambiguous Adventure Person, abbreviated as AFGNCAAP; a term that originated in Zork: Grand Inquisitor where it is used satirically to refer to the player. Character action games (also called character-driven games, character games or just action games) are
7742-647: Is captured by Kuai Liang, who reprograms him to help him defeat Shao. In Mortal Kombat Gold (2000), Cyrax experiences flashbacks of his former life as Sonya Blade and Jax Briggs bring him to the Outer World Investigation Agency (OIA) headquarters to restore his humanity. In return, Cyrax joins the agency as a scout. In Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance , Cyrax encounters the vampire Nitara , who offers to help him return to Earthrealm in exchange for his assistance in finding Onaga 's egg. In Mortal Kombat (2011), following Raiden 's alterations to
7900-521: Is first depicted in the Mortal Kombat canon as a Japanese-born American ( Australian in later games.) who was the leader of the Black Dragon criminal empire and a wanted man in thirty-five countries. He enters the Shaolin tournament in the original Mortal Kombat Game after hearing rumors that tournament host Shang Tsung 's palace was filled with gold and other riches, with the intention of looting it for
8058-540: Is killed in a fight against Cage. CJ Bloomfield will play the character in the feature film Mortal Kombat 2 . In 2009, Baraka ranked third on GameDaily 's list of the "top ten ugliest game characters". Dan Ryckert of Game Informer , in 2010, noted him among the characters wanted for the 2011 reboot game, as he felt that "people love Baraka" yet noted his absence in subsequent releases since his series debut. Baraka has otherwise received positive reception from gaming media outlets for his character and Fatalities. Kintaro
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#17330859683398216-496: Is not seen again until the 1996 compilation game Mortal Kombat Trilogy , in which all the characters from the first three series games were playable. Goro was initially omitted from Mortal Kombat 4 (1997), but was included as a sub-boss in the home versions of the game. In the training mode of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (2002), Goro is mortally wounded and presumed dead. In the 2004 follow-up game Mortal Kombat: Deception , he has been saved from death by Shao Kahn, with
8374-399: Is one of eleven Mortal Kombat characters representing the Mortal Kombat franchise in the 2008 crossover fighting game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe . In the 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot that retells the stories of the first three games, Kano is the Black Dragon leader who tricked the Special Forces by acting as an informant and deliberately feeding them false intelligence that led to
8532-579: Is stated to be a Lin Kuei assassin who works with Kuai Liang / Sub-Zero . After their clan starts turning their best warriors into cyborgs, Smoke attempts to join Kuai Liang in leaving the Lin Kuei. However, the former is captured, converted, and forced to hunt the latter against his will. With Kuai Liang's help, Smoke discovers he still retains his soul and aids him in defeating Lin Kuei cyborgs Cyrax and Sektor , only to be captured by Shao Kahn 's forces. During
8690-511: Is still being used. The company created a second recurring title called New Comics , first released in December 1935, which was the start of the long-running Adventure Comics series that also featured many anthology titles. By 1936, the group had became Nicholson Publishing. Wheeler-Nicholson's next and final title, Detective Comics , was advertised with a cover illustration dated December 1936 but eventually premiered three months late with
8848-419: Is tasked by Havik with restoring the Black Dragon. In pursuit of this, he recruits arms dealer Kira and martial artist turned killer Kobra . In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon , Kabal confronts the demigod Taven and offers the latter membership into the Black Dragon, but is defeated. In Mortal Kombat (2011), after Raiden alters the timeline to avert the events of Armageddon , Kabal is rewritten to become
9006-522: Is the second largest publisher of comic books, after Viz Media ; and Marvel is third. In 1934, entrepreneur Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications , intended as an American comic book publishing company. Its debut publication was the tabloid -sized New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine #1 (the first of a comic series later called More Fun Comics ) with a February 1935 cover date . An anthology title, essentially for original stories not reprinted from newspaper strips , it
9164-501: Is the sub-boss for both Mortal Kombat II and also in the 2011 reboot . He is also the penultimate boss of Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks . A Shokan, he shares his species' four arms and imposing size, but is distinguished by his tiger -like stripes. Kintaro participates in Shao Kahn 's attempt to conquer Earthrealm during the second game's tournament, in which he is defeated by Liu Kang . In
9322-532: The Infinite Crisis limited series. Immediately after this event, DC's ongoing series jumped forward a full year in their in-story continuity, as DC launched a weekly series, 52 , to gradually fill in the missing time. Concurrently, DC lost the copyright to "Superboy" (while retaining the trademark) when the heirs of Jerry Siegel used a provision of the 1976 revision to the copyright law to regain ownership. In 2005, DC launched its " All-Star " line (evoking
9480-654: The Green Lantern character, the introduction of the modern all-star team Justice League of America (JLA), and many more superheroes, heralding what historians and fans call the Silver Age of Comic Books . National radically overhauled its continuing characters—primarily Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman—rather than just reimagining them. The Superman family of titles, under editor Mort Weisinger , introduced such enduring characters as Supergirl , Bizarro , and Brainiac . The Batman titles, under editor Jack Schiff , introduced
9638-674: The Joker , Lex Luthor , Deathstroke , the Reverse-Flash , Brainiac , and Darkseid . The company has published non-DC Universe-related material, including Watchmen , V for Vendetta , Fables , and many other titles, under the alternative imprint Vertigo and DC Black Label . Originally at 432 Fourth Avenue in Manhattan , New York City, the company offices have been located at 480 and later 575 Lexington Avenue , 909 Third Avenue , 75 Rockefeller Plaza , 666 Fifth Avenue , and 1325 Avenue of
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#17330859683399796-475: The Phantom Stranger ) rose from art director to become DC's editorial director. With the growing popularity of upstart rival Marvel Comics threatening to topple DC from its longtime number-one position in the comics industry, he tried to direct DC's focus towards marketing new and existing titles and characters with more adult sensibilities, aimed at an emerging older age group of superhero comic book fans; this
9954-754: The Silver Age , the comics of the 1970s and 1980s became known as the Bronze Age, as fantasy gave way to more naturalistic and sometimes darker themes. Illegal drug use, banned by the Comics Code Authority , explicitly appeared in comics for the first time in Marvel Comics' story " Green Goblin Reborn! " in The Amazing Spider-Man No. 96 (May 1971), and after the Code's updating in response, DC offered
10112-566: The U.S. Supreme Court 's ruling that the ESRB could regulate video games without government intervention. Smoke debuted in Mortal Kombat II ( MKII ) as a non-playable hidden character who emanates smoke from his body and randomly appears at the start of a match to provide vague clues on how to find and fight him, for which specific requirements had to be met by players. Appearing as an unlockable playable character in Mortal Kombat 3 ( MK3 ), he
10270-465: The arcades in the late 1970s. Classic examples of character action games from that period include maze games like Pac-Man , platformers like Donkey Kong , and Frogger . Side-scrolling character action games (also called "side-scrolling action games" or "side-scrollers") are a broad category of character action games that were popular from the mid-1980s to the 1990s, which involve player characters defeating large groups of weaker enemies along
10428-551: The line further, increasing the number of titles and story pages, and raising the price from 35 cents to 50 cents. Most series received eight-page back-up features while some had full-length twenty-five-page stories. This was a move the company called the "DC Explosion". The move was not successful, however, and corporate parent Warner dramatically cut back on these largely unsuccessful titles, firing many staffers in what industry watchers dubbed "the DC Implosion ". In September 1978,
10586-450: The 1997 feature film Mortal Kombat Annihilation , played by stuntman Dennis Keiffer. He has no dialogue and is killed in a fight scene with Liu Kang, and is only identified by name in the closing credits. In the 2010 short film Mortal Kombat: Rebirth , Baraka is played by martial artist Lateef Crowder and depicted in the film's alternate modern setting as a psychotic former plastic surgeon named "Dr. Alan Zane", who surgically attaches
10744-497: The 2015 DC Comics Mortal Kombat X prequel series, he is featured in a subplot that shows him fighting and being maimed by Kotal Kahn in a battle for the Outworld throne. Goro is the reigning champion in the 1995 film Mortal Kombat that follows the events of the original game, and was a life-sized animatronic model that cost over $ 1 million to construct and required over a dozen puppeteers to operate. Goro again reprised his role as
10902-412: The 2021 film, have been negatively received. Michael Kennedy of Screen Rant commented in 2021, "While the puppetry used to bring Goro to life [in the 1995 film] had its limitations, Goro played a vital role in the story, serving as a major roadblock to thunder god Raiden's defense of Earthrealm. While he returned in Mortal Kombat 2021, his inclusion felt more like an afterthought than anything." Kano
11060-680: The Americas . DC Comics was located at 1700 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan until April 2015, when DC Entertainment transferred its headquarters to Burbank, California . DC Comics books are distributed to the bookstore market by Penguin Random House Publisher Services . The comics shop direct market was supplied by Diamond Comic Distributors until June 2020, when Lunar Distribution and UCS Comic Distributors (who were by then dominating direct market distribution on account of
11218-486: The Bible as the foundation of his own new company, EC Comics . At that point, "Liebowitz promptly orchestrated the merger of All-American and Detective Comics into National Comics... Next he took charge of organizing National Comics, [the self-distributorship] Independent News, and their affiliated firms into a single corporate entity, National Periodical Publications ". National Periodical Publications became publicly traded on
11376-422: The Black Dragon. However, he is fervently pursued by U.S. Special Forces officer Sonya Blade , who holds a personal grudge against Kano that was left unspecified in the game's storyline. He evades capture by leaping onto Shang Tsung's junk bound for the tournament. When Sonya tracks him onto the private island, she is captured and forced to compete. She and Kano are among the competition's few survivors, and during
11534-466: The Changing Man , as well as an increasing array of non-superhero titles, in an attempt to recapture the pre- Wertham days of post-War comicdom. In 1977, the company officially changed its name to DC Comics . It had used the brand "Superman-DC" since the 1950s, and was colloquially known as DC Comics for years. In June 1978, five months before the release of the first Superman film , Kahn expanded
11692-528: The DC Universe, especially after the major toy-company, Kenner Products , judged them ideal for their action-figure adaptation of the DC Universe , the Super Powers Collection . Obligated by his contract, Kirby created other unrelated series for DC, including Kamandi , The Demon , and OMAC , before ultimately returning to Marvel Comics in 1976. Following the science-fiction innovations of
11850-512: The Shaolin Tournament from the first game, and is again defeated by Liu Kang in the story mode. He is playable in the 2015 title Mortal Kombat X (2015) as a bonus pre-order character, again serving as a sub-boss in the game's arcade-ladder mode. In Mortal Kombat 11 (2019), Goro's corpse appears in the story mode and in his "Lair" stage during gameplay. Goro appears in Mortal Kombat 1 as an assist character, or "Kameo Fighter", and via
12008-582: The Shirai Ryu clan to oppose him. Smoke, based on his MK3 portrayal, appears in the Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm episode "Old Friends Never Die". He appears in Mortal Kombat Annihilation , in which he is killed in battle by Liu Kang. Smoke has received mostly positive reception, while his "Earth Detonation" Fatality from MK3 has been noted by critics for its outlandish nature. Chameleon
12166-607: The Shirai Ryu. The original Cyrax appears in the Mortal Kombat: Legacy episode "Cyrax & Sektor", played by Shane Warren Jones . According to John Tobias, Cyrax and the cyber ninjas were inspired by the Predator and Boba Fett . The original Cyrax was included in GamesRadar 's 2011 list of "gaming's most malicious machines", and Complex ranked him the fourth-coolest robot in video games in 2012. His episode of Legacy
12324-539: The Silver Age Teen Titans led DC's editors to seek the same for the wider DC Universe . The result, the Wolfman/Pérez 12-issue limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths , gave the company an opportunity to realign and jettison some of the characters' complicated backstory and continuity discrepancies. A companion publication, two volumes entitled The History of the DC Universe , set out the revised history of
12482-519: The Soulnado. In Mortal Kombat 11 , Saibot resurfaces as a servant of Kronika , having gained increased power. In the new timeline depicted in Mortal Kombat 1 ' s DLC expansion Khaos Reigns (2024), Bi-Han is captured by Titan Havik, who converts him into Saibot. The character's name comes from the last names of Mortal Kombat ' s creators, Ed Boon and John Tobias , spelled backwards. Saibot first appeared in Mortal Kombat II ( MKII ) as
12640-503: The Special Forces' clutches once again, and convinces Shao Kahn to spare his soul at the outset of the tyrant's invasion of Earth on the grounds that he can teach his armies how to use Earthrealm weaponry. Kano was omitted from Mortal Kombat 4 in favor of new character Jarek , but returns in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (2002). He and Sheeva hatch a plan to assassinate Shao Kahn, but Kano turns on her by preventing
12798-689: The TV series. This change in tone coincided with the prominent "Go-Go Checks" cover-dress that featured a black-and-white checkered strip at the top of each DC comic (all cover dates between February 1966 and August 1967), a misguided attempt by then-managing editor Irwin Donenfeld to make DC's output "stand out on the newsracks". In particular, DC artist Carmine Infantino complained that the distinctive cover made it easier for readers to spot DC's titles and avoid them in favor of Marvel's titles. In 1967, Infantino (who had designed popular Silver Age characters Batgirl and
12956-587: The antihero. These titles helped pave the way for comics to be more widely accepted in literary-criticism circles and to make inroads into the book industry, with collected editions of these series as commercially successful trade paperbacks . The mid-1980s also saw the end of many long-running DC war comics , including series that had been in print since the 1960s. These titles, all with over 100 issues, included Sgt. Rock , G.I. Combat , The Unknown Soldier , and Weird War Tales . In March 1989, Warner Communications merged with Time Inc. , making DC Comics
13114-515: The arisen Dragon King Onaga, and recruits the mutant clone Mileena into Onaga's ranks in order to pose as Kitana. While Baraka is playable along with the entire series roster in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (2006), he was not among the seventeen characters therein who received an official biography by Midway and he played no part in the game's storyline. Baraka is a recurring foe in the story mode of 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot, in which
13272-401: The attack. As a reward, he is promoted to general of Outworld's reduced army and manages to repel Princess Kitana and her Edenian-Shokan army. However, after a weakened Kahn is killed by the titular Deadly Alliance of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi , Kano declares his allegiance to them. He is assigned to oversee the enslavement of a small village that constructs a temple over Onaga 's tomb to house
13430-413: The brand's popularity, like the presence of the color red or word balloons on the cover, or that the perceived crudeness of the interior art was somehow more appealing to readers. When Lee learned about DC's subsequent experimental attempts to imitate these perceived details, he amused himself by arranging direct defiance of those assumptions in Marvel's publications as sales strengthened further to frustrate
13588-424: The character was revived in DC's new title Shazam! , which featured artwork by Captain Marvel's creator C. C. Beck . In the meantime, the abandoned 'Marvel' trademark had been seized by Marvel Comics in 1967, with the creation of their Captain Marvel , preventing DC from using the name in the title of their own comic series. While DC's Captain Marvel failed to recapture his earlier popularity, he later appeared in
13746-413: The characters participating in the eponymous Mortal Kombat tournament to decide their realm's fate. In later installments, Earthrealm is often invaded by force. A total of 77 playable fighters have been featured in the series, in addition to unplayable bosses and guest characters. Much of the franchise's mainstays were introduced during the first three games. Nearly all of the characters have been killed at
13904-429: The comic book limited series . This publishing format allowed for the deliberate creation of finite storylines within a more flexible publishing format that could showcase creations without forcing the talent into unsustainable open-ended commitments. The first such title was World of Krypton in 1979, and its positive results led to subsequent similar titles and later more ambitious productions like Camelot 3000 for
14062-477: The company. The resulting influx of sophisticated horror-fantasy material led to DC in 1993 establishing the Vertigo mature-readers imprint, which did not subscribe to the Comics Code Authority . Two DC limited series, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller and Watchmen by Moore and artist Dave Gibbons , drew attention in the mainstream press for their dark psychological complexity and promotion of
14220-482: The competition. However, this ignorance of Marvel's true appeal did not extend to some of the writing talent during this period, and attempts were made to emulate Marvel's narrative approach. For instance, there was the Doom Patrol series by Arnold Drake (who had previously warned DC's management about Marvel's strength), a superhero team of outsiders who resented their freakish powers, which Drake later speculated
14378-462: The concept was scrapped due to the difficulty of creating such a complicated outfit. According to series co-creator John Tobias , Kintaro was redesigned as a "Goro spinoff" who was possibly a Shokan general, but not royalty. Kintaro appears in the animated film Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms , voiced by Dave B. Mitchell . Kintaro has received a middling reception due to his minor role in
14536-459: The cyborg ninja Smoke , intending to use his body as the basis for an undead cyborg army. In his ending, he is revealed to be a resurrected Bi-Han , who previously operated as Sub-Zero before he was killed by Scorpion . In Mortal Kombat (2011), Saibot is resurrected off-screen by Quan Chi and Shao Kahn. While defending the former's "Soulnado", Saibot is defeated by his brother and new Sub-Zero Kuai Liang and presumed dead after being pulled into
14694-521: The deaths of many of Sonya and Jax's comrades, establishing their vendetta against him. During the events of the first Shaolin tournament, Kano battles Sonya following her fight with the pompous actor Johnny Cage , but he is defeated. While Kano is later beaten by Sonya again after Shang Tsung presents him to her as a challenge, the tournament host forbids her from arresting him. Following this, Kano becomes Shao Kahn's arms supplier, giving his armies Earthrealm weaponry for his impending invasion. After Kabal ,
14852-421: The defending tournament champion in the 2020 animated film Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge that retold the events of the original game, but was a supporting villain in the 2021 live-action reboot film Mortal Kombat , in which he was computer-generated. Goro has received positive critical reception for his formidableness as a boss character in the games, but his cinematic portrayals, particularly in
15010-547: The direct market in 1982. These changes in policy shaped the future of the medium as a whole, and in the short term allowed DC to entice creators away from rival Marvel, and encourage stability on individual titles. In November 1980 DC launched the ongoing series The New Teen Titans , by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez , two popular talents with a history of success. Their superhero-team comic, superficially similar to Marvel's ensemble series X-Men , but rooted in DC history, earned significant sales in part due to
15168-573: The disruption to Diamond caused by the COVID-19 pandemic ) replaced Diamond as the direct market distributor. In 2017, approximately 70% of the American comic book market was shared by DC Comics and its long-time major competitor Marvel Comics (acquired in 2009 by Warner Bros. Discovery's main competitor, The Walt Disney Company ), though this figure may be distorted by the fact that sales of graphic novels are excluded. When all book sales are included, DC
15326-504: The distribution of NPP's shows. A 1966 Batman TV show on the ABC network sparked a temporary spike in comic book sales and a brief fad for superheroes in Saturday morning animation ( Filmation produced most of DC's initial cartoons) and other media. DC significantly lightened the tone of many of its comics—particularly Batman and Detective Comics —to better complement the "camp" tone of
15484-704: The end of 2009. By 2007, DC was licensing characters from the Archie Comics imprint Red Circle Comics . They appeared in the Red Circle line, based in the DC Universe, with a series of one-shots followed by a miniseries that led into two ongoing titles that each lasted for ten issues. In 2011, DC rebooted all of its running titles following the Flashpoint storyline. The reboot called The New 52 gave new origin stories and costume designs to many of DC's characters. DC licensed pulp characters including Doc Savage and
15642-456: The events of Mortal Kombat: Deception , Smoke is reactivated and reprogrammed by Noob Saibot into serving him as his ally and template for an army of cyber-demons. In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon , Smoke helps Saibot stage an assault on a Lin Kuei temple in Arctika until he is defeated by Taven . In Mortal Kombat (2011), during which Raiden creates a new timeline while attempting to avert
15800-419: The events of Armageddon , Smoke is rewritten to become Tomas Vrbada , a Czech member of the Lin Kuei who can transform into his namesake. As a child, he was kidnapped by a cult who sought to sacrifice him to a demon, only for Smoke to become an enenra and slay the cultists. In the present, Smoke is chosen by Raiden to help him stop Shao Kahn from taking over Earthrealm. Though Raiden saves Smoke from becoming
15958-449: The events of the first three games are retold, and he is defeated by Johnny Cage , Cyrax , Jax , and Jade . In the retold storyline of Mortal Kombat II , he leads his Tarkatan armies in an invasion of Earthrealm. He is not playable in Mortal Kombat X , but appears in the game's story mode when his fellow Tarkatans aid D'Vorah in loading captive Shaolin monks before they are confronted and defeated by Raiden, Liu Kang, and Kung Lao. In
16116-450: The example of Atlas/Seaboard Comics and such independent companies as Eclipse Comics —DC began to offer royalties in place of the industry-standard work-for-hire agreement in which creators worked for a flat fee and signed away all rights, giving talent a financial incentive tied to the success of their work. As it happened, the implementation of these incentives proved opportune considering Marvel Comics' Editor-in-Chief, Jim Shooter ,
16274-676: The fictional DC Universe and feature numerous culturally iconic heroic characters , such as Superman , Batman , Wonder Woman , Green Lantern , the Flash , Cyborg , and Aquaman ; as well as famous fictional teams, including the Justice League , the Justice Society of America , the Teen Titans , and the Suicide Squad . The universe contains an assortment of well-known supervillains , such as
16432-559: The final battle between Shang Tsung and Shaolin monk Liu Kang , Sonya reluctantly teams up with Kano to fight off the Shokan Prince Goro . During their battle, the island immediately self-destructs following Shang Tsung's defeat, trapping Kano and Sonya in the otherworldly dimension Outworld. Kano is unplayable in Mortal Kombat II (1993), in which he and Sonya are both captured and chained on display in Outworld emperor Shao Kahn 's arena. In Mortal Kombat 3 (1995), Kano escapes
16590-463: The first comic book to feature the character archetype later known as the "superhero", Action Comics was a sales hit that brought to life a new age of comic books, now affectionately termed the "Golden Age" . Action Comics #1 is credited as featuring the first appearance of Superman, both on the cover illustration and inside the issue, and is now one of the most valuable and sought-after comic book issues of all time. The first Superman tale included
16748-668: The first mention of Batman's utility belt by Gardner Fox . Outside of DC's publishing, a character later integrated as DC was introduced by Fox Feature Syndicate named the Blue Beetle released in August 1939. Fictional cities were a common theme of DC; the first revealed city was Superman's home city of Metropolis , originally named in Action Comics No. 16 (September 1939). Detective Comics No. 31 (September 1939) by Gardner Fox, Bob Kane and Sheldon Moldoff introduced
16906-628: The first recurring Superman enemy referred to as the Ultra-Humanite ; created by Siegel and Shuster, this is commonly cited as one of the earliest supervillains in comic books. The Superman character had another breakthrough when he was given his own comic book series , which was previously unheard of. The first issue, published in June 1939, helped directly introduce Superman's adoptive parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent , also created by Siegel and Shuster. Detective Comics No. 29 (July 1939) included
17064-556: The game play style different. Characters can learn new abilities or augment existing ones over the course of a match by collecting experience points. Choosing a character who complements the player's teammates and counters their opponents opens up a strategy before the beginning of the match itself. Playable characters blend a variety of fantasy tropes, featuring numerous references to popular culture and mythology . In both tabletop role playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons and role-playing video games such as Final Fantasy ,
17222-413: The gamer progresses and gains rank and experience points through accomplishing goals or fighting enemies. In many sports games , player characters are often modelled after real-life athletes , as opposed to fictional characters. This is particularly the case for sports simulation games , whereas many arcade-style sports games often have fictional characters instead. A secret or unlockable character
17380-500: The groundwork for a full continuity-reshuffling sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths , promising substantial changes to the DC Universe (and side-stepping the 1994 Zero Hour event which similarly tried to ret-con the history of the DCU). In 2005, the critically lauded Batman Begins film was released; also, the company published several limited series establishing increasingly escalating conflicts among DC's heroes, with events climaxing in
17538-446: The line was dramatically reduced and standard-size books returned to 17-page stories but for a still increased 40 cents. By 1980, the books returned to 50 cents with a 25-page story count but the story pages replaced house ads in the books. Seeking new ways to boost market share , the new team of publisher Kahn, vice president Paul Levitz , and managing editor Giordano addressed the issue of talent instability. To that end—and following
17696-540: The long-running fantasy series Elfquest , previously self-published by creators Wendy and Richard Pini under their WaRP Graphics publication banner. This series then followed another non-DC title, Tower Comics ' series T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents , in collection into DC Archive Editions. In 2004, DC temporarily acquired the North American publishing rights to graphic novels from European publishers 2000 AD and Humanoids . It also rebranded its younger-audience titles with
17854-556: The major DC characters. Crisis featured many key deaths that shaped the DC Universe for the following decades, and it separated the timeline of DC publications into pre- and post-"Crisis". Meanwhile, a parallel update had started in the non-superhero and horror titles. Since early 1984, the work of British writer Alan Moore had revitalized the horror series The Saga of the Swamp Thing , and soon numerous British writers, including Neil Gaiman and Grant Morrison , began freelancing for
18012-446: The mascot Johnny DC and established the CMX imprint to reprint translated manga . In 2006, CMX took over from Dark Horse Comics ' publication of the webcomic Megatokyo in print form. DC also took advantage of the demise of Kitchen Sink Press and acquired the rights to much of the work of Will Eisner , such as his The Spirit series and his graphic novels. In 2004, DC began laying
18170-408: The most popular superhero titles continued publication, including Action Comics and Detective Comics , the medium's two longest-running titles. In the mid-1950s, editorial director Irwin Donenfeld and publisher Liebowitz directed editor Julius Schwartz (whose roots lay in the science-fiction book market) to produce a one-shot Flash story in the try-out title Showcase . Instead of reviving
18328-469: The mysterious Tarkat virus and outcast to a disarrayed Outworld colony. The character was first conceived by Mortal Kombat co-creator John Tobias as a "savage barbarian demon warrior" who was initially planned to be in the first Mortal Kombat game. He was visualized for MKII with a Nosferatu mask adorned with silver-painted false fingernails serving as his teeth, while his arm blades were constructed from silver cardboard. Baraka appears briefly in
18486-474: The necromancer Quan Chi into one of his undead revenant slaves. In this state, Kabal makes minor appearances in Mortal Kombat X , in which he appears as an NPC, and Mortal Kombat 11 , which additionally features a young time-displaced Kabal who had yet to leave the Black Dragon. Kabal appears in the Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm episode "Amends", which is based on his MK3 backstory;
18644-437: The new Kahn while Mileena sets up an ambush, but Kotal realizes Kano is going to betray him and defeats the criminal. After he defeats Mileena, Kano retreats to Earthrealm. He infiltrates an Outworld refugee camp but is caught by Kenshi and Sonya, who take him into custody. In Mortal Kombat 11 (2019), Kano aligns himself with the keeper of time Kronika . To assist her further by fixing and mass-producing Sektor, she brings in
18802-557: The object first and transports himself and Kano back to Earthrealm, the latter soon escapes custody. Kano joins the then-entire playable roster in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (2006). In the game's training mode, the demigod Taven finds him being held prisoner by the Red Dragon Clan. Before escaping their facilities, Kano explains to Taven that the Red Dragon had been experimenting on him and their clansmen in an effort to create genetically engineered dragons and human-dragon hybrids. He
18960-516: The old character, Schwartz had writers Robert Kanigher and John Broome , penciler Carmine Infantino , and inker Joe Kubert create an entirely new super-speedster, updating and modernizing the Flash's civilian identity, costume, and origin with a science-fiction bent. The Flash's reimagining in Showcase No. 4 (October 1956) proved sufficiently popular that it soon led to a similar revamping of
19118-420: The other characters. Hero shooters strongly encourage teamwork between players on a team, guiding players to select effective combinations of hero characters and coordinate the use of hero abilities during a match. Multiplayer online battle arena games offer a large group of viable player characters for the player to choose from, each of which having distinctive abilities, strengths, and weaknesses to make
19276-464: The other imprints was Impact Comics from 1991 to 1992 in which the Archie Comics superheroes were licensed and revamped. The stories in the line were part of its own shared universe. DC entered into a publishing agreement with Milestone Media that gave DC a line of comics featuring a culturally and racially diverse range of superhero characters. Although the Milestone line ceased publication after
19434-445: The player character at all. This is somewhat common in first-person videogames, such as in Myst , but is more often done in strategy video games such as Dune 2000 , Emperor: Battle for Dune , and Command & Conquer series. In such games, the only real indication that the player has a character (instead of an omnipresent status), is from the cutscenes during which the character
19592-547: The player to control one of them at a time. Where more than one player character is available, the characters may have distinctive abilities and differing styles of play. A player character may sometimes be based on a real person, especially in sports games that use the names and likenesses of real athletes. Historical figures and leaders may sometimes appear as characters too, particularly in strategy or empire building games such as in Sid Meier 's Civilization series. Such
19750-458: The promise of returning his fellow Shokan to their former glory and the banishment of their archenemies, the Centaurs, in exchange for his allegiance, and resumes his place at Shao Kahn's side. Goro was not playable in either game. He is a boss character in the 2005 beat 'em up title Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks . In the 2011 Mortal Kombat series reboot, Goro resumes his role as the sub-boss of
19908-519: The reboot, he is defeated by Kung Lao during the tournament. The reboot also establishes him as being responsible for Kabal's injuries. In the 2015 Mortal Kombat X prequel comic, Kintaro is killed by Sonya Blade while she is under Havik's control. The character was a stop-motion clay figure whose design was inspired by the Japanese mythological character Kintarō . He was initially conceived for MKII as an anthropomorphic fur-lined bipedal tiger, but
20066-431: The script for Mortal Kombat Annihilation before he was cut during production; Mortal Kombat (2021) as one of Shang Tsung's champions before he is killed by Liu Kang ; and Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind as a member of the Black Dragon. Kabal was originally nicknamed "Sandman" during production of MK3 before his name was determined. According to Mortal Kombat co-creator John Tobias , Kabal's overall design
20224-586: The series and is often unfavorably compared to Goro; UGO Networks opined in 2012 that Kintaro "serves no real purpose except for being a reskinned Goro whose sole purpose is to avenge the aforementioned's death" in the conclusion of the original game. Game Informer , in 2021, rated him 56th among the series' 76 playable characters: "Kintaro’s arrival wasn’t as impactful as Goro's since the Shokan boss thing had already been done before. NetherRealm also seems content with giving him more and more feline attributes in place of
20382-449: The specific inducement, Marvel Comics' writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby ushered in the sub-Silver Age "Marvel Age" of comics with the debut issue of The Fantastic Four . Reportedly, DC dismissed the initial success of Marvel's editorial change until its consistently strengthening sales—albeit also benefiting DC's parent company Independent News, as Marvel's distributor—made it impossible to ignore. This commercial situation
20540-504: The stability of the creative team, who both continued with the title for six full years. In addition, Wolfman and Pérez took advantage of the limited-series option to create a spin-off title, Tales of the New Teen Titans , to present origin stories of their original characters without having to break the narrative flow of the main series or oblige them to double their work load with another ongoing title. This successful revitalization of
20698-490: The stock market in 1961. Despite the official names "National Comics" and "National Periodical Publications", the company began branding itself as "Superman-DC" as early as 1940 and became known colloquially as DC Comics for years before the official adoption of that name in 1977. DC Comics began to move aggressively against what it saw as copyright-violating imitations from other companies, such as Fox Comics ' Wonder Man , which (according to court testimony) Fox started as
20856-493: The successful Batwoman , Bat-Girl , Ace the Bat-Hound , and Bat-Mite in an attempt to modernize the strip with non-science-fiction elements. Schwartz and Infantino then revitalized Batman in what the company promoted as the "New Look", with relatively down-to-earth stories re-emphasizing Batman as a detective. Meanwhile, editor Kanigher successfully introduced a whole family of Wonder Woman characters having fantastic adventures in
21014-920: The timeline, Cyrax is rewritten to become a human Tswana member of the Lin Kuei who relies on his chi and opposes the "Cyber Initiative". Nonetheless, he is captured and forcibly converted off-screen. He and Sektor later capture Kuai Liang and take him to be converted as well before aligning themselves with Shao Kahn and assisting him in his invasion of Earthrealm, only to be defeated by Nightwolf . As of Mortal Kombat 11 , Cyrax joined forces with Kronika to help Sektor bolster her forces with more cyborgs. However, Kuai Liang and Hanzo Hasashi defeat Cyrax, causing him to realize what happened to him, then convince him to help them stop her instead. Though Kuai Liang promises to help restore him, Cyrax chooses to sacrifice himself to destroy Sektor's cyber factory. Two incarnations of Cyrax appear in Mortal Kombat 1 . The original appears as an assist character, or "Kameo Fighter", while
21172-465: The title of the 1940s publication ), designed to feature some of the company's best-known characters in stories that eschewed the long and convoluted continuity of the DC Universe. The line began with All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder and All-Star Superman , and All-Star Wonder Woman and All-Star Batgirl was announced in 2006, but neither of these stories had been released or scheduled as of
21330-464: The tournament in order to achieve Outworld emperor Shao Kahn 's goal of dominance of Earthrealm. However, these plans were thwarted when the Earthrealm warrior Liu Kang defeated both Goro and Shang Tsung, allowing Earthrealm to regain control of the tournament. Goro disappeared thereafter and was believed to be dead. In Mortal Kombat II , Goro is succeeded by another member of his race, Kintaro , and
21488-422: The use of non-traditional contractual arrangements, including the dramatic rise of creator-owned projects, leading to a significant increase in critically lauded work (much of it for Vertigo) and the licensing of material from other companies. DC also increased publication of book-store friendly formats, including trade paperback collections of individual serial comics, as well as original graphic novels . One of
21646-503: The worst Mortal Kombat characters. "Unlike all of the other ninja palette swaps that eventually gained their own identity and playstyle, both Chameleons ... feel more like gimmicks than anything." Cyrax is an assassin and Botswanan member of the Lin Kuei clan who agreed to become a cyborg. First appearing in Mortal Kombat 3 , he and fellow cyborg Sektor are tasked with finding and killing former member Kuai Liang . Amidst Outworld emperor Shao Kahn 's invasion of Earthrealm however, Cyrax
21804-401: The writers and artists who had worked for DC without receiving much recognition during the early age of comic books when individual credits were rare. The comics industry experienced a brief boom in the early 1990s, thanks to a combination of speculative purchasing—mass purchase of the books as collectible items, with the intention to resell at a higher value (as the rising value of older issues
21962-427: Was added to the roster of the 2000 Sega Dreamcast -exclusive upgrade Mortal Kombat Gold , in which Quan Chi offers him a chance to rule the Outworld realm of Edenia by his side if he agrees to join the fallen Elder God Shinnok's army. While Baraka accepts, he secretly plans to betray his new masters. In Mortal Kombat: Deception , Baraka and the remainder of his Tarkatan (formerly "Nomad") race ally themselves with
22120-412: Was alienating much of his company's creative staff with his authoritarian manner and major talents there went to DC like Roy Thomas , Gene Colan , Marv Wolfman , and George Pérez . In addition, emulating the era's new television form, the miniseries while addressing the matter of an excessive number of ongoing titles fizzling out within a few issues of their start, DC created the industry concept of
22278-444: Was charging fifteen cents. At this time, the senior DC staff were reportedly unable to explain how this small publishing house was achieving its increasingly threatening commercial strength. For instance, when Marvel's product was examined in a meeting, the emphasis on more sophisticated character-based narrative and artist-driven visual storytelling was apparently overlooked. Instead, superficial reasons were put forward to account for
22436-628: Was featured in Detective Comics No. 20 (October 1938). This character is known to be the first masked vigilante published by DC. An unnamed "office boy", retconned as Jimmy Olsen 's first appearance, was revealed in a Superman story by Siegel and Shuster in Action Comics No. 6 (November 1938). Starting in 1939, Siegel and Shuster's Superman was the first comic-derived character to appear in other formats, later featuring in his own newspaper comic strip , which first introduced his biological parents Jor-El and Lara . All-American Publications' debut comic series, All-American Comics ,
22594-735: Was first named in a Superman newspaper strip around November 1939. Doll Man was the first superhero to be produced by Quality Comics , which DC now owns. Fawcett Comics was formed around 1939 and became DC's original competitor company over the next decade. At the end of 1944, All-American titles began using its own logo to distinguish it from the National comics. All-American Publications , an affiliate concern co-owned by Gaines and Liebowitz, merged with Detective Comics, Inc. on September 30, 1946, forming National Comics Publications . The previous year, in June 1945, Gaines had allowed Liebowitz to buy him out and had retained only Picture Stories from
22752-559: Was first published in April 1939. The series Detective Comics made history as being the first to feature Batman —a Bob Kane and Bill Finger creation—in issue No.27 (March 1939) with the request of more superhero titles. Batman was depicted as a masked vigilante who wore a caped suit known as the Batsuit and drove a car that was later referred to as the Batmobile . The Batman story also included
22910-581: Was forced out after the first year. Shortly afterwards, Detective Comics, Inc. purchased the remains of National Allied (also known as Nicholson Publishing) at a bankruptcy auction and absorbed it. Meanwhile, Max Gaines formed the sister company All-American Publications in 1939. Detective Comics, Inc. soon launched a new anthology title called Action Comics ; the first issue , cover dated June 1938, featured new characters such as Superman by Siegel and Shuster, Zatara by Fred Guardineer , and Tex Thompson by Ken Finch and Bernard Baily . Considered as
23068-418: Was highlighted by Marvel's superior sell-through percentage numbers which were typically 70% to DC's roughly 50%, meaning that DC's publications were barely making a profit after returns from the distributors were factored in, while Marvel was making a healthy profit by comparison. Also in 1961, both DC and Marvel increased their cover price from ten cents to twelve cents, while the rival publisher Dell Comics
23226-457: Was in response to Marvel's efforts to market their superhero line to college-aged adults. Infantino also recruited major talents such as ex-Marvel artist and Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko , and promising newcomers Neal Adams and Denny O'Neil , and he replaced some existing DC editors with artist-editors, including Joe Kubert and Dick Giordano , to give DC's output a more artistic critical eye. In 1967, National Periodical Publications
23384-502: Was initially named Kao , and his faceplate came from being shot while escaping Sonya in an early planned Special Forces game . Kano's bionic metal faceplate was inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger 's character in The Terminator , with the infrared eye added digitally. Baraka is a member of a lowly Outworld race called the Tarkatans, who are known for their violent and unpredictable behavior and characterized by long gnashing teeth and
23542-592: Was inspired by the Tusken Raiders from Star Wars while his mask's circular lenses were inspired by 1940s-style aviator goggles. Tobias, however, expressed his dissatisfaction with Kabal's original design in a 2012 interview. Kabal has received mostly positive critical reception, but received notoriety for being overpowered in MK3 , while response to his Fatalities throughout his series appearances has been mixed. Player character A player character (also known as
23700-461: Was originally named "Gongoro" before his final name was determined, and was constructed as a stop-motion clay figurine that eventually fell apart after excessive use in capturing its movements for the game. Goro has a prominent role in Malibu Comics ' Mortal Kombat series that followed the events of the first game, and was the subject of the 1994 three-issue miniseries Goro: Prince of Pain . In
23858-466: Was plagiarized by Stan Lee to create The X-Men . There was also the young Jim Shooter who purposely emulated Marvel's writing when he wrote for DC after studying both companies' styles, such as for the Legion of Super-Heroes feature. In 1966, National Periodical Publications established its own television arm, led by Allen Ducovny, to develop and produce TV projects, with Superman TV Corporation handling
24016-456: Was purchased by Kinney National Company , which purchased Warner Bros.-Seven Arts in 1969. Kinney National spun off its non-entertainment assets in 1972 (as National Kinney Corporation ) and changed its name to Warner Communications Inc. In 1970, Jack Kirby moved from Marvel Comics to DC, at the end of the Silver Age of Comics , in which Kirby's contributions to Marvel played a large, integral role. As artist Gil Kane described: Jack
24174-466: Was the introduction of the fictional mansion known as Wayne Manor first seen in Detective Comics No. 28 (June 1939). The series Adventure Comics followed in the footsteps of Action Comics and Detective Comics by featuring a new recurring superhero called Sandman who first appeared in Adventure Comics No. 40 (July 1939). Action Comics No. 13 (June 1939) introduced
24332-417: Was the single most influential figure in the turnaround in Marvel's fortunes from the time he rejoined the company ... It wasn't merely that Jack conceived most of the characters that are being done, but ... Jack's point of view and philosophy of drawing became the governing philosophy of the entire publishing company and, beyond the publishing company, of the entire field ... [Marvel took] Jack and use[d] him as
24490-459: Was thought to imply that all comics would rise dramatically in price)—and several storylines gaining attention from the mainstream media. DC's extended storylines in which Superman was killed , Batman was crippled , and Green Lantern turned into the supervillain Parallax , resulted in dramatically increased sales. However, the increases were temporary, and sales dropped off as the industry went into
24648-421: Was to convince Bill Sarnoff, the head of Warner Publishing, to keep DC as a publishing concern, as opposed to simply managing their licensing of their properties. With that established, DC had attempted to compete with the now-surging Marvel by dramatically increasing its output and attempting to win the market by flooding it. This included launching series featuring such new characters as Firestorm and Shade,
24806-449: Was unlike many comic book series before it. While DC Comics is now primarily associated with superhero comics , the genres in the first anthology titles consisted of funnies , Western comics , and adventure-related stories. The character Doctor Occult —created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in December 1935 and included in issue No. 6 of New Fun Comics —is considered to be the earliest recurring superhero created by DC that
24964-585: Was well received, but critical reaction to his Fatalities has been mixed. Kabal is a former member of Kano 's Black Dragon crime syndicate and one of Raiden 's champions in defending Earthrealm who was attacked, maimed, and scarred by Shao Kahn 's extermination squads. As a result, Kabal was forced to wear a respirator to survive and left the Black Dragon. Following an appearance as a non-playable character (NPC) in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance , Kabal returns in Mortal Kombat: Deception , in which he
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