Johnny, Raiden and Sonya defeat Quan Chi and revert Jax, Scorpion and Sub-Zero to their old selves. With the help of Johnny, who unlocks ancient powers passed down his bloodline, Raiden traps Shinnok inside his own amulet and stores it away for safekeeping.
Those forces distract Earthrealm and Raiden long enough for Shinnok to try to use his corrupting powers on the Jinsei - the life force of Earthrealm - and destroy everything. Two years later, Shinnok attacks Earthrealm with his demon army and the fighters killed in the previous game, now Revenant warriors. Raiden promises to help Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade save Earth, just as Quan Chi reports to his master Shinnok, Elder God of Death, that the Earth is ripe for the taking. Doing so forces the Elder Gods to empower the god of thunder so he can destroy Kahn for violating Mortal Kombat code. Several characters die during the invasion, including Kitana, her friend Jade, Sub-Zero and his ninja rival Scorpion, Johnny's friend Jax Briggs, and thug-turned-cop Kabal, all of whom are in MK11.Īfter accidentally killing Liu, it's only then that Raiden realizes he was meant to let Kahn win. Kahn and the Netherrealm sorcerer Quan Chi team up, using their forces to invade Earthrealm. Raiden has the ex-Shaolin monk Kung Lao take Liu's place in the second tournament, which leads to Lao being murdered by Kahn. RELATED: Ed Boon Reveals the Story Behind Scorpion's CatchphraseĪs the second tournament occurs, the timeline changes Kuai Liang, the ninja who would become the second Sub-Zero, is taken away by cyber ninjas to be converted, and Kahn's daughter Kitana defects to Earthrealm after learning Shang was ordered by her father to create her clone, Mileena. Just as Liu is about to win, as he did in the original game, the sorcerer Shang Tsung convinces Shao Kahn to hold a second tournament in Outworld, and has an army ready to hold Earth hostage unless Raiden submits.
Because the message is so vague, the younger Raiden thinks the "he" refers to Liu Kang, the last contender for Earthrealm. With everyone dead and himself about to die, Raiden pulled a last-ditch effort and used his amulet to send a message to his past self, saying "he must win," effectively rebooting the franchise all the way to the beginning in 2011's Mortal Kombat. At the end of 2006's Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, every fighter from the games died until only two were left standing: Shao Kahn, given the power of the Elder Gods and ready to bring about Earthrealm's end, and Raiden. Outworld ruler Shao Kahn wanted to invade Earthrealm, but to stop him, thunder god Raiden recruited fighters, including failed Hollywood actor Johnny Cage, soldier Sonya Blade and Liu Kang, the monk who eventually became Earthrealm's champion. Ten straight wins allows a realm to invade and conquer another. In the game's universe, Mortal Kombat is a generational tournament in which the various realms send their best fighters to face off.