The Netherrealm Is Fascinating
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- Опубликовано: 24 июл 2024
- Ashrah, Sareena, Quan Chi, Drahmin and Moloch - the Netherrealm is a fascinating place, full of fascinating creatures.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:52 What Is a Demon?
06:12 Ashrah
07:31 Drahmin
09:43 Moloch
11:02 Quan Chi
12:39 Sareena
14:03 Wraiths & Specters
#ashrah #sareena #mortalkombat #mk1 #mkdeception #lore #analysis 
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When the Netherrealm is more interesting than Nether Realm:
Netherrealm Studios has that name so they can have Scorpion as their mascot. 🙂
😮😮😅 CC xcccccxcxxxxxxx
That moment when your favourite character got turned into a marketable plushie resulting in him receiving tons of hate from the fans for it and in your heart of hearts you acknowledge that this hate exists for a reason.
Bi Han and Sareena’s, and other netherealm demon’s story has lots of potential, its just never fufilled. Series needs more world building and more explored realms
Would be cool to have a demon-themed MK game, then a chaos-orderrealm themed one next, just plan the main games based on the setting/realm.
@@CynicalWarlock That would be better than what they're doing rn lmao, and would give it a nice structure that's predictable, but not too much so that it's boring, because of the variety. They could do a trilogy where each game explores two realms simultaneously... maybe delving into the konflict between them.
Most obvious order would be Earth/Outworld, then Seido/Chaos, and Netherrealm/Edenia, which everyone thought was dead, and maybe it is and we're diving into the flashbacks of characters like Kitana, Sindel, Jade, Tanya, Rain, Shao and maybe Raiden.
@@CynicalWarlockWould have definitely been more interesting than the timeline trope from the last 3 NRS titles (including Injustice 🙄)
@@CynicalWarlock Legendary cynical warlock strikes again , I didn't knew I needed this video until you posted this video 😊😊 At some point you do a video what would happen if other characters change into spectres(Like a what if) as you do have to potential to do so and as I asked earlier about liukang , he also used to transform into dragons in earlier games in his fatalities and then he started to use fire construct dragons instead of turning himself into a dragon so where did that shape shifting ability came from in those earlier games (I have no idea) and he can also teleport in mk 11 but it just looks like he turns into fire and pops somewhere else and it looks same as m1k scorpion teleportation and yeah I didn't play mk 11 so I don't know much about that , at this point I wouldn't be surprised if you end up making a video explaining the teleportation of each character 😂😂🤣🤣 and I can imagine you starting to rant about it in the video 😝😝
@@vishaldutta4375 Interesting suggestion you've got there. Would be really cool to see more spectres, wraiths and other established types of individual ressurection on more characters across the series.
Drahmin is a character with tons of potential,imagine a Sun Tzu level warlord who eventually dies becoming Drahmin etc. Glad the mask made it into MK Onslaught as a relic leaving still much lore to be discovered
I always imagined he was just a petty criminal, in life, but this is way better. Makes him a lot more threatening.
"Edenia is a symbol of life, defiance, survival and denial of death; the ultimate realm or the living"
*Shao Kahn:*
Shao's definitely not pro life.
It’s hilarious how he sounds so calm then just has random outbursts of anger
I'm completeLY CALM!
@@CynicalWarlock Nice to meet a fellow Emotion-Bender🍃
@@outworld15 Very emotional to meet you.🤝
@@CynicalWarlockwhen will my emotional drug lord upload a new video ? 😮💨😮💨
@@vishaldutta4375 This weekend, worst case.
I remember that in the original games Scorpion had to make a deal with the Netherrealm. To be alive again, he needed to forget his family entirely so that he could walk on Earthrealm like a vengeful specter hunting down the man that had once murdered him.
Sounds familiar. And it makes his journey a bit more intricate.
Ah, back in the good ol' days when Scorpion was a character with agency and the like. Good times.
DAILY REMINDER:
>The Netherrealm is that has levels or 'planes' to it, like the circles in Dante's Inferno. Located on the first plane is a city called Nekros, an actual city down in literal hell, built and mostly populated by sorcerers and warlocks. At the dawn of time, the first sorcerers were tasked by the Elder Gods to map out the realms and thread them with a network of portals, so they built this city as an oasis from the hellish wastes and the hostile onis and other ghouls native to the realm. It is only here that magic users are unaffected by the drain of the Netherrealm
This, to me, is by far the most underexplored aspect of the Netherrealm. It really bothers me that Mythologies put so much effort into developing Netherrealm and showing that it doesn't just look like the generic fire'n'brimstone shit (at least not everywhere), but for some reason that's all we ever see in the following games. Like, you have the whatever plane the Prison of Souls is located on that looks that like a WH40K forgeworld tekno-industrial hellscape, complete with mechanized servitor guards and a soundtrack to match. And then you have Shinnok's fortress, which looks very clean, almost angelic, making it feel all the more bizarre and unsettling when you encounter something like that down in hell. DMC does something similar with its subversively 'heavenly' depiction of demons. So after this incredible tease in Deception with Nekros and even the Lucifer namedrop, all we've gotten since is muh skulls and muh lava. It's so lame.
When the spinoff puts in more work than the main series..
And even the industrial elements make sense, cause Shinnok coveted Earthrealm, so he terraformed the Netherrealm to resemble it more. And he's not a Netherrealm native, so his fortress having an out-of-place, angelic look to it makes sense.
Also love the Devil May Cry comparison. It's exactly that kind of a deal - mortal and supernatural realms, not good/bad.
As of how the Netherrealm is depicted in the games, it pretty much started with the typical "fire & brimstone" concept. MK's first ever hell stage, Scorpion's Lair from UMK3, was a lava river filled with pillars of encrusted skeletons.
I have the idea of the Netherrealm not being the generic "fire & brimstone" landscape in its entirety, BUT that still being a part of its natural environment, and the many different ambients being urbanizations done by its rulers and citizens over time, just like the industrial hellscape from MKM:SZ which was built by Shinnok as a reflection of his desire for Earthrealm, his "heavenly" looking fortress being an allusion to his former godhood and, kind of, the City of Nekros having been built by the ancient sorcerers to protect magic users from the Netherrealm's energy.
You two know your lore.
I always imagined that the fiery part of 'hell', like Scorps' stage, was one of the more extreme parts of the Netherrealm; not necessarily the 'lowest', but one of its more hazardous facets - Like one of the planes of the DnD hell - and that Scorpion, alone, can summon hellfire, because he was reborn there.
@@CynicalWarlock Scorpion's UMK3 stage was tied to the plot Midway used as an excuse to bring him back: That Shao Kahn tried to consume the souls from "Earth's Hell" but failed, yet this attemp gone wrong had Scorpion break free from there.
The Netherrealm wasn't fully fleshed out up to MK4, so before that, Hell was just Earthrealm's personal underworld (which implies that Kahn tried to overtake there because it was a part of Earthrealm after all). Maybe, the writters' plan was that each realm would have its Hell dimension, but that's just a theory.
Now, back to talking about the Netherrealm's visual depctions, what I said about its "fire & brimstone" environment and the different locations that were built by its denizens should apply to all realms; Every realm, as generations come and go, will be divided between its natural environment and the alterations by its inhabitants.
@@CynicalWarlock That's my take as well. There are several instances in MKDA that refer specifically to the Fifth Plane of the Netherrealm as the place where Quan ends up in his MK4 ending, which all but confirms that this is where Scorpion hangs out in between his topside excursions. I don't even mind the chains and the lava that much, honestly; it's a pretty iconic MK arena by this point, and it's nice to see the level designers trying to iterate on it every once in a while (the massive cerberus in the background of the MK9 version was a great touch). It just gets really old and lazy when that's all you ever see. Just hire some concept artists from the Dante's Inferno team and let them go ham. Or better yet, go all the way back to MK's roots, take another page from BTiLC and do really out there stuff like the Hell of the Upside-down Sinners or the Hell of Boiling Oil. The Chinese have a lot of hells. :)
Netherrealm studios suffers from the Dragonball and Star wars problem. A nearly endless universe of stories and lore yet the focus remains on like....4 things
If even that.
Oh, my, so many modern and/or still ongoing stories would fit that description so well.
Even quite some older ones.
Unfathomably underrated channel, this... This is the type of competence one expects to come associated with at least 100k subs.
That soothes the soul, thank you.
@@CynicalWarlockI agree wit dude
The Netherrealm has always fascinated. One of my favorite characters (Ashrah) originates from there, and the not quite knowing if its where all souls go or just the evil ones. Its such an interesting place and I hope they do more with it
Ashrah has so much potential..
Great video as always. I think Drahmin is extremely underrated and I hold out hope theyll bring him back some day.
That mask if his has a lot of story and gameplay potential.
@@CynicalWarlock I low-key think that Drahmin should be retconned into a Chaosrealm character, as he looks similar enough to Havik in my opinion. Going back to this MK-narrative I have been designing in my head that I mentioned in the comments to the Reiko video, I was thinking about the mask coming from Seido, and that similar masks would be worn by Seido guards like Hotaru. The masks would make them what they are - totalitarian and obedient at the same time, and then Drahmin would be an interesting case of a chaosrealmer thinking like a Seido denizen. His mask could even be the former mask or Dairou... making the latter Drahmin's mirror character.
Wraith shao khan?, seriously?, isnt he cool enough already?, thats idea will shatter the scale of coolness and power, like weaite shao khan is a menace to existence
Precisely the plan.
I was wondering the same.
Perhaps it's better for everyone's sake if he's simply killed off and not given another chance to become a possibly bigger and somehow even more overwhelming threat, though that could also be funny if the likes of Quan Chi and Shinnok fail to see it coming/underestimate his power and it bites them in the ass. XD
We kind of got a 'wraith/revenant' Shao Kahn in Quan Chi's MK9 ending. He revived Shao Kahn as his enforcer to fight Shinnok, and Shao Kahn had this sorta pale zombie design. Honestly, it was pretty sick.
@@CynicalWarlock unfortunately it's NRS we're talking about here
You know, with how important the Netherealm became to the point where its the main antagonist team throughout the nrs saga, we really didn't get much in depth exploration aside from a "barren wasteland" stage in each game
Truth. Actually, could say the same for must realms.
There’s an intro dialogue where Ashrah specifies that it’s “Cambions” who can take a human form. Whatever THOSE are
They're supposed to be half-demons with the other parent being human. Human shaped but demonic in nature. That would imply that all the human-passing demons/Oni/whatever coming from the Netherrealm have some human lineage, which is...really quite unnecessary considering they're supposed to be able to shapeshift anyway, so...
Cambions are human-demon hybrids; the result of naughty business between a succubus/incubus and a human.
@@CynicalWarlock Isn't that basically what the OT Tarkatans were?
@@NucleaRaptor I believe Deception introduced that idea, yeah Before, they were just Outworld mutants.
Plot twist: Drahmin and Meat are the same person
That's the beauty of Meat: it can be anyone.
Nah they were just lazy and used same costume asset for both
@@omarxperez Possibly.
@@omarxperez as opposed to all male ninjas, robots, female ninjas…
In the mortal kombat meat is just a random character but in mk lore meat is supposed to be an incomplete clone of shang tsung that's how he gets his body in armageddon after raiden explosion in deception
Ya weren't lying: that truly was fascinating!
I kinda liked the waterfall analogy, except I see the Netherrealm as the very bottom of the pond into which the water falls-it's where all the dirt and sediment collects now that gravity has run its course and the water cannot move anywhere anymore, so it becomes stagnant and rife with impurities.
I don't know if dead Edenians or even Elder Gods go there upon death, but it does seem to be a place where dead things go, refuse to die, fester for a while, and then either die a final death, or suffer some more. I think it'd be fine if the Kast could all be revived up to once, but then they're gone for good if they die in wraith/spectre form.
Also, with Quan Chi, and perhaps Shinnock, being portrayed as though they're the ultimate true enemies in MK, it may be to show that it's not Outworld, but the Netherrealm that is the greatest threat to the rest of the realms because it's the one that consumes and "recycles" everything else, and thus the strongest candidate to resurrect the One Being, other than Shao Kahn and Onaga. Similar to the Burning Hells in Diablo, it almost seems inevitable that "hell" is going to grow too full and consume everything.
P.S: I'm now also seeing a lot of Wasted Plotential with Bi-Han, Sareena (and maybe Kuai Liang too, with how attached the latter became to "Sub-Zero.") Heck, every name you mentioned deserved a proper shot at having a great arc in MK kanon. Yes, even Moloch lmao. Used to be a bit scared of him as a kid tbh, while also digging his design.
I'd say he's not just a basic oni, but a pure one. He's probably the strongest one that we see, with exception to demons who are more human, or becoming more human and powerful in other ways. Moloch got to the top of the food chain by embracing his instincts, and it's not changing. So I guess that would beg the question, "how the Netherrealm did this happen? How'd he Become like this? Could someone like Goro or Shao end up the same way? I'd imagine he was always something of a force of nature... or always had that potential buried deep. Or perhaps he's simply a well-oiled, well-tuned and well-fed killing machine, like an orca whale. Unchallenged in physical dominance.
Damn, that was a lot about basically a nothing character lmao.
Let's see. Uhhh, I kinda agree with 4th Snake's take in that Captain Quanch should have been Shang Tsung's equal, not his better, and that NRS has become a bit too obsessed with gothic warlock Kratos, giving him way too much credit, power, foresight and agency. They be riding his pasty demon meat to hell and back, and they're probably still not done lol.
I do like the koncept of him, but feel he's favoured too much, and just because. Also, he's annoying. 😂
Hold the phone.. you're a Diablo fan?? Why didn't you say so?
I now realize how scary/tragic being a wraith/specter is, if that's your final saving throw. I think, in the back of our minds, we're all subconsciously hoping Scorps would somehow get fully revived, along with his family. The bitter realization that this undead state is all that's left might just push Scorps to commit one last sacrifice to save a Sub-Zero or someone like that.
I like that perspective on Moloch, and truth be told, I did kind of question my own words, when I said that he's *just* an Oni. He definitely looks like an Oni sub-boss, or an "Uruk-hai", compared to the orc that is the regular Oni, let's say. And I like that his design is genuinely scary; I have so many ideas on how to portray him as such, visually.
Regarding Quan, it's hard to balance a character who's all about swindling everybody, without making him seem too powerful. MK: Conquest achieved that balance, while also infusing this character with waaay more charisma than the games.
@@CynicalWarlock Oh, yes. Been heavy into Diablo for years lol. Mostly the third game, and also the second. Not as much the fourth... 3 set up so much cool shit and 4 felt like the spoilt, rebellious kids of the previous devs inherited it and that spitefully spat all over it saying "we're doing our own thing our own way."
4/10.
"Not enough Diablo" - IGN.
And yeah, that actually sounds like it could be a cool story for a not-Revenant (also think those were a stupid idea, and that they should have kept it the same as what Noob and Scorpion are, but I guess they were too lazy to redesign the Kast and add powers... Until X, anyway. "Such wasted potential."). Kinda what Scorpy attempted in Scorp's 'Venge. Except Squanchy showed it to talk shit, shich made him big angies lol.
Or imagine if our heroes died en masse like in MK9, came back as wraiths, and then formed a "Suicide Squad," but an actually good one without Jared Leto, and we actually have to say goodbye to them for a final time. :')
Idk what it was, but I guess kid me was a sucker for a good monster design lol. Loved how Moloch seemed like a big, scary gorilla combined with a bull, maybe a wolf and, of course, he's a demon too. He was just any big dumb f**k-off oni-he was *THE* big dumb f**k-off oni. XD
Regarding Mr Chi, I think I just want to see more depictions of him that aren't wanking him off as much as possible and taking a piss on Shang, who always seems to be taking L's in any kontest between them. And I like my Shang. He's a klassic. Especially the Tagawa portrayal. That's peak kharacter and peak kharisma. At the least, I feel they should be equals. Shang should probs have more raw power with all the soul-sucking he does tbh. Even if Quan is a demon. I loved the idea of the "Shang Chi" alliance being an almost unstoppable duo too. I sure wouldn't want to go against them. Only someone like Liu Kang would stand a chance, and even that's dubious as the Chad Kahn himself got his thundercock flattened by them. Even if they did only win by pulling a Jujutsu Kaisen jumping lol.
Anyway, I'm way off-track here. Sorry for long post. XD
@@CynicalWarlock One more thing, man:
You don't happen to have a Discord server for your fine kommunity, do you? Perhaps it's too soon, but let me know. I want in on the Friendships! XD
The Netherrealm is such an interesting topic to talk about. In Deadly Alliance they had the idea of introducing the "Elder Demons" which would be like the Elder Gods of hell, only less powerful. It's a pity they didn't use this concept.
There is something that always confused me about the Netherrealm, and that is the supposed "layers" it has. There are several times this is mentioned, but they never go into depth about it. The more bad things you do, the deeper you go? Are the layers based on each Realm? In MK3 it is said that Shao tried to take the souls of the Netherrealm from Earth. I would say that each Realm has an assigned layer, but this is never made clear in any game.
In MK Shaolin Monks you fight quite a few wraiths, all of them virtually identical to Noob Saibot, apart from the fact that they can turn into shadows, which I don't think Noob can do.
Something that I find very funny is that in the Midway era, it was made very clear that you could only enter the Netherrealm if you had evil in you. It was something that was constantly mentioned; you can't exist in the Netherrealm if your soul is pure goodness.
But Netherrealm Studios completely ignored this, to the point where in MKX and MK11 you have entire SWAT teams going in and out of the Netherrealm whenever they want.
Good video, hope to see more.
>entire SWAT teams going in
It's hilarious. -Unless the intent was to imply that all zogbots belong in hell, in which case, based I guess. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯-
Special Forces being able to enter there doesn't really break that rule since they would have had to do morally grey things to defend Earthrealm. Dark Raiden also apparently is EDGY enough to be there. Ideally, each kombatant would have that dose of morally grey, I don't see any pure of heart characters needing to exist in the MK universe.
@@LOWBORN-the-LOATHSOME I really don't think the intent was to open a can of "BuT wHaT iS tHe NaTuRe oF eViL?" philosophy 101 moral relativist bullshit on you, it's just NRS writers not giving a crap. In the OT, it was supposed to be pretty clearcut that lawful good guys like Nightwolf, Liu, Johnny and almost all of the Earthrealm defenders wouldn't really be Netherrealm material (Nightwolf has probably done his fair share of killing and kombat during the invasion, and he still had to undergo an entire sin-eater ritual in Deception just so he wouldn't be instantly ejected). I mean, are Scorpion's wife and child "evil" just because their husband and father is a killer-for-hire? Apparently not, because it's established they go to Heaven after their deaths. There's definitely a few borderline cases like Bi-Han or (probably) Kabal, but that's another discussion.
Oh, and speaking of Raiden - MKX Dark Raiden being able to go down to the Netherrealm in person to deliver his ultimatum to Liu and Kitana could've been an awesome little bit of writing to indicate the extent of his corruption, but MK9 ruined it before it even happened because in that game, Raiden just walks in there no problem -which is the dumbest bullshit- (actually, I take that back, MK9 has plenty of bits even dumber than this). Remember, Mythologies established that normally he couldn't go down there at all, he had to send Bi-Han in.
"Elder Demons" sound awesome, and sorely needed to balance out all the Shokan and Centaurs and other denizens of Outworld, cause the Netherrealm just has nondescript demons, for the most part; they didn't flesh out the fauna and hierarchy of the realm much.
Obviously, the mainline series didn't pay much attention to poor little MK: Mythologies, the overachieving spinoff. Also, I'm pretty sure the corrupted Soul thing referred to still-living people who wanted to enter the Netherrealm. So it's still unclear what are the conditions for disembodied Souls to enter it. Doesn't really affect anything, but still thought I'd point it out.
There's an alternative explanation to this whole corrupted soul retcon debacle: perhaps Quan and Raiden and everyone were just toying with Bi-Han, using whatever language they needed to manipulate him into doing their bidding. It's a bit of a copout, but it is an option.
In UMK3 (which just stays on MK3 lore), it is stated through Scorpion's bio that Shao Kahn tried to consume the souls from "Earth's Hell" but failed, and Scorpion was able to escape from there thanks to that. The Netherrealm as we know was not concrete up to MK Trilogy where Noob Saibot is mentioned to have emerged from there.
Because of this "Earth's Hell" thing, some people think that initially there was gonna be a Hell dimension for each realm, rather than a single Hell for all. Either this, or the Hell dimension was just going to be that simple: A underworld below Earthrealm. Given that, Kahn trying to overtake Earth's Hell has to be because it was, at the end, a part of Earthrealm too.
As of the "Elder Demons", this was a scrapped idea from John Tobias, and in fact, the most probable is that they were going to be just the Elder Gods' polar opposites, but who knows if there was something else. Tobias also had the idea of the literal Lucifer having been the first ruler of the Netherrealm before Shinnok taking it all over, and they DID mention that in Mythologies CD booklet. It stayed on that, however.
i'm sure you already know this but shout out to you, you have the most interesting Mortal Kombat videos Ive come across
Don't mind being reminded. 🙌
@@CynicalWarlock 🙌🏾
Is there no way for Bi-Han, Sareena, and Hanzo Hasashi and his family to have a happy ending and companionship with each other? (Kuai-Liang will always have a happy ending, Ashrah and Frost are entirely different beasts altogether, and Geras help us if Bi-Han becoming Noob Saibot or the circumstances behind Scorpion as a spectre are canon events.)
They can, actually, but you'd have to build up to it organically, so it feels earned.
About the "Kuai Liang always has a happy ending", not necessarily true. Aside from Midway Kitana (MKX ending) and NRS Fire God Liu Kang (thus far) no one in the first two timelines ended up with a happy ending. Both timelines ended with everyone dying/being erased. That's just depressing.
@@vaggos2003 Pardon?
@@maddenboseroy4074 Yep.
@@vaggos2003 Clarify, then?
Netherrealm as some really cool ideas. I like the idea that all souls go their but it seems not like an eternal fate as it seems the people who try to stay good or fight against the natural evil of the place retain their personality and sanity. Like a weird morbid taste.
Also glad to see the demon I choose having no issues whatsoever.
Additional I just want to remind you how good your editing is. Spot on with the video.
Hehe, thanks. Well as a fellow editor, you probably spot more things than the average viewer.
You chose Ashrah?
I always felt like the Netherrealm would do well with a DnD kind of depiction, where there are different levels and forms of it, not just one big cliche fiery pit, and all manner of transformations can occur there and plenty of folk come back from it, in various forms. Recent MK games are moving more and more towards the standard western depiction of hell, sadly.
@@CynicalWarlock I do notice more stuff now. But you clearly are better.
Yeah, and it seems my choice has no consequences at all.
I would love that idea. Like most souls or the evil souls go to the bottom of the layer. And the higher you are the different it is but it is also a bit less bad. Still hell but less.
@@Knight1029 Did my man just ask for a soul wedgie? What a madlad.
I remember playing Hordes of the Underdark and being absolutely captivated by the depiction of Cania, the demon-devil war, the cold mechanic, the pub where all these different cosmic races hung out, some dead, some just travelling, it was fuckin amazing.
@@CynicalWarlock no comment.
I love a lot of early DnD and how it describes really weird and odd worlds. It doesn't just give broad description but gives so much detail.
We were just talking about quanchi in a poll 😲
Imagine that..
I would love to hear your thoughts on Nightwolf. Not even a full video, just a short reply. Growing up, I never liked NW, but I came to appreciate how strong he is compared to most of the MK roster. For someone who can transform into and control woodland creatures, create etheral weapons, summon lightning and is an original Native American character, Nightwolf flies under the radar.
Well you gotta remember that in vanilla MK3, Nightwolf was supposed to be the Raiden replacement. He's the guy that gets visions of the invasion, he's the guy who casts a protective ward over his entire rez, turning it into a safe haven from Kahn's soulnados, and he's the guy who gets everyone together when shit starts going down. It's a shame he's so underutilized, because it's safe to say he's way up there on the Earthrealm power scale. I could see Liu and maybe Johnny being stronger hand-to-hand fighters, but when it comes to magical power and intelligence, Nightwolf should really be second only to Raiden.
Since both he and Johnny peripherally use the Shadow element and are from Earthrealm, I'd rather have him be Johnny's mentor and foil.
Nightwolf will definitely get his own video, just based off his power level alone. Shadow, Lightning, *heavy* Soul usage - man's a powerhouse.
But he has a lot of story potential, as well; one of the only 'spiritually endowed' characters, who could offer a different perspective on all this magic stuff, particularly Soul energy. I'd also give him the ability to read people's spirits/Souls, acting like a guide to some characters, and defeating certain enemies just with words. Nightwolf should be a supremely persuasive character.
@@CynicalWarlock I also quite like the retcon of 'Nightwolf' being a title for the one chosen by the spirits. When adapting MK3, one could even use this fact and have the previous Nightwolf killed during the invasion, and then the new and inexperienced Grey Cloud (I believe that was the name?) takes his place due to some heroics. It will allow to showcase what a fully trained and very experienced Nightwolf could do, and then have 'our' Nightwolf get some character development as well.
@@serhibei Yep, it also allows Nightwolf to transcend the ages, being one of the few characters to exist, in some form, throughout the entire saga.
I also had this idea of the freshly annointed Nightwolf to go through a ritual where he inherits the memories and experience of previous Nightwolves, kinda like a Reverend Mother from Dune. That would kill the inexperienced bit, but could have cake and eat it by way of the current Nightwolf not being strong enough to undergo the ritual, or not having had the chance to go through it, because Shao Kahn's invasion or such and such happened.
I always assumed Ashrah only wanted to purge her demonic form after first touching her magical Kriss and she just preach this new belief for her fellow demons but I never really explored Drahmin's lore until now and he doesn't seem to want to be human like Ashrah or Sareena (who probably wanted to be free after learning about Ashrah), he seems more like Scorpion except how instead of wanted to get revenge on Bi Han for killing him and "supposingly" his innocent family, Drahmin doesn't want revenge on the people that killed him in the living but revenge on the Onis who showed him every unimaginable torture that transformed him from a normal human to the scrapped sack of meat he is in the games (Maybe every demon just looks like a human still until they are tortured to look different, so most of the females like human because Quan Chi is a simp). Drahmin then probably then finds his mask and arm thing and becomes the Oni-Tormentor, where in the games he spins his arm around like a helicopter to knock his opponent back (thanks Midway for your genius move design). His Deadly Alliance ending is probably fate giving him the second chance he never asked for.
I ain’t readin allat
@@MisterTrickster well i did, and actually its good retkon for Drahmin
@@ihevmilkdhou I read it now my eyes hurt thanks for the advice
I still don’t understand why there’s anything demonic in L Kang’s era. I highly doubt he would care for balance like Kronika did.
@@MisterTrickster I'm a yap god
Timelines were damaging to MK lore
Cripplingly so.
The timelines being able to cross over in MK1 screwed it up a lot more than the timelines just existing one after the other in MK11
@@TheUncivilizedNationNaybe, but both were still extremely damaging to the series.
Moloch is just an absolute chad
Bro is so big and jacked, I couldn't fit him in the damn thumbnail.
@@CynicalWarlock an absolute chad move
Not late this time, lemme watch it
Mission passed!
Respect + 99
@@CynicalWarlockit has been quite some time....
@@syki-tp1tn Workin on it.
@@CynicalWarlock ok sir
You didn’t mention Jason vorhees? Technically he is a wraith as mentioned in his dlc ending.
Not an MK character.
@@CynicalWarlock … but warlock … for me por favor???
@@grownmannn2Alright. Jason Voorhees, I mention you
@@CynicalWarlock thank you 🙏
Another amazing video!
MK deception is really a deception, I would actually like to have another game with that kind of story mode, maybe it would be a good excuse to bring back kreate a kharacter. I want to see more of the other realms
Quan chi being a huge bluffer also sounds like an interesting idea, different from what I imagined him if he actually had a defined personality
Bluffing also fits with the Deception theme.
I truly believe we were robbed of a great game, in the form of a true sequel to Deception. Armageddon was a tired old mule, who preferred to wipe the board clean, rather than develop any of what Deception started.
It sounds like they wanted the netherrealm to be some quasi combination of purgatory and hell. Like you have the fire brimstone and demons, but the fact they changing their appearance or nature seems something like from purgatory(if I'm wrong about purgatory let me know). I did question why the good guys would end up in the netherrealm when they're good. Sucks that this happens to them
As for Scorpion and Noob it could be that Quan Chi was lying just to make it seem like he's the only one who can restore them and dangle that around. Hanzo is a very passionate guy perhaps his soul or chi is tied to fire and perhaps due to being in the netherrealm his fire got corrupted. With Noob it seems he lost himself he's a shell of what he used to. It reminds me of Sam from supernatural when he lost his soul he ate, sleep and hunted. Noob being an assassin without the humanity.
Well to be clear, this is just my interpretation of the Netherrealm; if you asked the devs where non-evil people go after death, their answers would probably range from "I dunno" to "Heaven? I guess?"
Id love to see some demon embodiments of the 7 deadly sins
Pff.. And make them playable characters. 🤌
Hmm...
Ashrah = Pride, but this should be the twist that concludes her self-righteous quest for absolution
Sareena = Lust
Moloch = Gluttony
Drahmin = Greed, his back story as an evil Outworld man
Kia = no set backstory, so I'll assign Sloth to her
Jataaka = no set backstory, so I'll assign Envy to her
Belokk = oh, what could have been, I'll make him the devil of Wrath
Love your content keep up the great work
Yeeeeeeeees.
great video again can't wait for the next one
More. *More!*
Dude this video analysis is pretty in depth. Also I will admit a lot of the 3D era NeatherRealm characters I didn't know their backstories. It's cool to know them. I also appreciate that Neather Realm studios started doing The campaigns so that you could understand some characters more
Thanks. Yeah some of those 3D era characters had potential.
Damn, ya got me learning shit up in here! Great content as always, came for the MK, stayed for the etymology and historic, worldly folklore!
As I live and breathe.. How've you been, Shawn?
@CynicalWarlock ah man... Lotta ways I could answer that question... I AM good... I've BEEN self destructive... losing my cousin, man... well, ya don't really ever get over that kinds shit... and it's far from my first rodeo with grief, but somehow, that makes it more dangerous to lose yourself in a cage match with it... when ya don't get all riled up by it anymore, ya just make friends with it and you both start trying to kill you... and the funny thing is, you can see it happening, ya know what's up... but I didn't snap out of it until I got arrested. There I was, asleep in a parking lot holding a meth pipe when a cop knocked on my driver's side glass. Now, I know what you're thinking... "that's impossible Shawn, how ya gonna sleep when you're high on meth?!?". Well, ya gotta be high for DAYS, bruh... I'm 43, and never been in trouble. I've done some wild shit, but I was always smart about it.... to tell ya the truth I don't know what I was thinking... I was on a bender, and I don't really remember it very clearly... but I think I was trying to get caught. Trying to save myself through brute force stupidity. I've been sober for weeks now... but I can't say I'm telling a story of a chapter of my life that has had the final page turned yet. I'm struggling with my music. Chester was the guy, man... he was the guy that listened every night to what I was working on, and he gassed me up to keep working. He told me what he liked and what he thought was a little off. Without him living here.. or even living at all... hell, I'm twisting in the wind... but I'll get my bearings. I got a lot more room say and do at this table before I cash my chips out, and I've never been scared just cause I'm holding nothing but a pair of deuces... I screwed my head back on... now I just gotta remember how to use it... c'est la vie, CW... c'est la vie. Oh, btw, you're kicking ass still I see... I got my Netflix back... I need to comb your videos for recommendations. For now, I'm not making music. I've decided to take two weeks off. Still PLAYING like a mother fucker, just not CONSTRUCTING anything. Hitting reset. Hope you are doing as well as your content output and quality suggest that you are. I always figured you'd make it... I know there's still hurdles in front of you, but you're barreling down the track plenty fast enough to clear em.... I got faith in ya bro!
Interesting take on the slow dissipation of oni into soul energy which then feeds the other realms. I, however, still view Edenia as antithesis to Outworld, as the realm of peace vs the realm of war. It is interesting to consider, though, whether there is Heaven or ‘good’ souls just reincarnate.
Speaking of the various oni/demons/revenants, I always believed that Sareena should be Kuai Liang’s future partner, not Bi Han’s. I also think she should be the one who will be actually able to fully turn into human by doing good things, while Ashrah, though killing demons, is doing this under Datusha’s influence - and Datusha is supposed to be a deceiving sword, ironic echo to the ‘Deception’ title and the main deceiver Onaga.
Also, Reiko could be a wraith version of Shao Kahn in a better world.
P.S. MK Conquest really did get some characters right
Good souls go to The Heavens, like Johnny Cage in MK4, or like Liu Kang in Deception. When Shang Tsung is killed by Raiden's explosion, all the souls he had trapped are released and go to The Heavens, except Liu Kang, who decides to stay in Earthrealm.
>the realm of war
That's Outworld though.
@@NucleaRaptor yeah, just like I wrote?
@@InfiniteThinking-qw1onright, I should have expanded on that. Basically my theory was that most souls would reborn, but the worst ones would go to the Netherrealm and the purest ones to Heaven. But that could admittedly be over complicating things
@@serhibei Sorry, my sleep-deprived brain somehow read it as Netherrealm. -_-
Yeah, imma need that Quan chi video. 😅
Comin' rrrriiiight up.
Drahmin is definitely the most underrated MK character of all time he is such an intriguing character there is so much potential in him he would also look so awesome in todays games with the graphics and fighting game engine I hope NRS makes him a Kameo Fighter in MK 1 for Kombat Pack 2 or 3 then they can bring Drahmin back in MK 2 down the road as an actual playable character he deserves to come back in this New Era
He would actually fit in really well, as a Kameo, true.
And you can rewrite him in a hundred different ways, to include him in Liu Kang's era.
Spot on about deception being a graveyard of good ideas
They threw the kitchen sink at that game; in a good way, more so than bad. You can feel the enthusiasm the team must've had spitballing all of this, through the finished product.
But then they got bored and axed everything in Armageddon.
I’m just glad to hear about Ashrah in deception again. I’m just super into her concept, also I don’t know why they didn’t give her Deception model the burnt out eyes that the Konquest model had. Really would have enhanced the idea that she’s in the middle of becoming someone new
Ashrah's one of the more interesting characters Deception introduced. Was fun discussing her powers too.
I still wonder if the Netherealm works fully like hell with tainted mortals going to it or if it functions somewhat differently. Because to me it is weird how some demons seemed to forever be from the Netherealm , born or created
In my mind, it's less of a moral realm than western hell. It's full of evil creatures, sure, but obviously not all of them are bad. I see it as the natural part of the birth-death-rebirth cycle.
We need Drahmin back and expanded upon, it would be nicee.
Man has potential.
@@CynicalWarlock Moloch too, I wanna see Moloch chasing after Drahmin constantly for betraying him for some reason.
@@Skarletishere With Benny Hill music, in the background.
@@CynicalWarlock you read my mind lol
@@Skarletishere Twisted minds think alike.
"... but then BI Han became Noob Saibot so he won't be needing one". I chuckled at this one 😅
Granted, I'm making assumptions here.
For all I know, it's BBC territory down there, now.
This video just gave me the really cool idea to have Ashrah and Drahmin be rivals, they both are demons wanting to restore their humanity and escape the neatherrealm (though Ashrah unlike Drahmin is naturally a demon) with the difference being Ashrah wanting to restore her humanity to become a better person and Drahmin wanting to restore his humanity to go back to who he was.
Moloch isn't someone who I'd call a god complex but tbh not every character needs to be since having simple characters makes the so called god complex's stand out.
Quan Chi I personally wouldn't focus as much on the sorcerer gimmick since Shang Tsung fufills that role already, I'd make his thing more about deals and brainwashing/corruption and torturing souls to stand out more and maybe address him as a warlock more so than a sorcerer.
Sareena even with the Noob Saibot direction with Bi-Han still has some potential as a contrast to Ashrah where Ashrah's arc is learning to purify herself Sareena's is learning to accept her demonic side and who she is.
We think alike. Ashrah's a great character because she parallels and contrasts so many other characters, like Drahmin and Sareena.
Also agree on Quan - definitely like the warlock angle for him; not sure why.........
Love the Legacy of Kain reference, good stuff...
I never, in a thousand years, thought that reference would find a fellow LoK fan.
Nice to be wrong, sometimes.
We are few and far in between...
Quan Chi in MK:Conquest is lowkey my favorite; you hit the nail on the head lol.
I'd actually like to see Drahmin brought back into the lore - expanding on his identity in life. Lots of potential with these lesser known entities, but I could see Drahmin in this new era as maybe some kind of Outworld "Jack the Ripper" type who's like an infamous serial killer that's racked up a hefty body count across Outworld, some of which notable figures close to the Royal Family (certain political figures, family members etc... ), while he always manages to just barely escape the law. Presumably, he would likely have a different name at this point in time... but I'll still say "Drahmin" for now.
Have Li Mei trying to hunt him down, to the point of obsession, at the cost of her relationships with fellow Umgadi and the Royals - perhaps tying him into the backstory as a critical part of why she was expelled from the Umgadi in the first place, as the reason King Jerrod was killed on her watch - being known amongst the Royals (people with whom she was very close with, essentially a family friend) as handling the case, supposedly having everything under control... and because she couldn't stop Drahmin from eventually killing Jerrod, she is thus held in contempt - blamed for a problem she could have fixed had she been more vigilant... while Drahmin is still out on the loose.
Of course, he would eventually die - perhaps eventually caught and executed, his soul cast into the Netherrealm and thus kickstarting the Drahmin we all know. By then his arc will go wherever, likely involving Ashrah and Quan Chi at some point I guess.
I would also add that this would be interesting in the sense that Liu Kang, having knowledge of all villains in the past, and just as he made Quan Chi, a former Netherrealm resident now an Outworlder with a meaningless life, perhaps he'd extend the same hand to someone as vile as Drahmin. Raised in a sketchy part of Outworld with a rough upbringing (probably one of abuse - alluding to his status as an "Oni Tormenter" ). Left on the streets, trying to salvage a broken life due to circumstances he had no control over, but finds he can't. With no one to turn to, no light at the end of the tunnel, he eventually projects his pain onto the rest of Outworld, leading down a path of crime. It would be grim, but befitting one who would feel like a tortured soul in life eventually becoming a tortured soul in death.
@@TheNimbleEnigma This is suuch a well thought out story. Now I'm pissed they didn't include him in M1K.
Also, kudos for being a Conquest connoisseur.
@@CynicalWarlock Aye thanks man! 🙌
@@TheNimbleEnigma 🙌
This one off topic but remember that weird scene in Scorp Revenge Movie where Liu dodge bullets, fans find that funny (me also) for some reason that.... make sense..
You know whats faster than bullets? Lightning. You who else is lightning? *MY MO-*
its raiden
He was trained by Raiden and also, BoRaiCho (who is not human)
So if this is true then the Monks wasn't training a Monk, but a SUPER HUMAN
Liu Kang is Shang Chi(Shang tsung x Quan Chi) of Mortal Kombat
oh... i forgot about kung lao
Never actually seen Scorps' Revenge, so this sounds pretty outlandish.
I always saw scorp/noob and wraith/spectres as kinda a "indoctrinated before/after death" kind of deal. One results in demon power up like scorpion, other in power up and invert like sub/noob. Kind of like obscure undead zombie/vampire rules like whether it works on long dead vs newly dead
Sounds intriguing.
I was stuck in the train station in Basel for hours.... Thank you for the entertainment
Damn, my Dutch dawg roaming through Switzerland. Nice.
@@CynicalWarlock you can call me mister worldwide 😎
@@stijnvanrobaeys7011 Sounds fun.
Can u analyze guess characters powers? Like where would they fit in ur chart of powers?
They wouldn't.
@CynicalWarlock but r u gonna analyze guess characters right?
Great video! You explained the concepts of the Netherrealm's denizens/characters well, and the "waterfall" analogy of the Netherrealm accumulating then recycling the dead from the other realms makes sense too. But, I should give you my own POV now.
As of the whole "antithesis" factor, I'm more with Edenia being the antithesis to Outworld: The former is of ultimate peace, freedom and beauty, and the latter is of ultimate war, slavery and wastelands. That also is because, actually, I do support the idea of there being a Heaven to oppose the Netherrealm, both playing the typical "Heaven & Hell" formula over the other realms: The good ones go up there, the bad ones go down there.
Thing is, some of the lore indicates that, at some point, the writters DID want to make the "Heaven & Hell" synergy: Characters such as Kung Lao and Johnny Cage being mentioned to have ascended to the "Heavens" after death, the Deadly Alliance's soulnado being linked to the "Heavens", and all. It's just that, in the end, all indication to the Heaven realm's existance is way too vague. But, another thing that MIGHT (no certainty) be proof of the writters having had attempted to use the "Heaven & Hell" formula is Tobias's scrapped idea of the "Elder Demons": The Elder Gods' Devil counterparts. So, the Gods rule up there, the Devils rule down there, IF the Elder Demons were originally going to be, indeed, the Elder Gods' total opposites.
Now, back to the "antithesis" factor, with me saying that I prefer Edenia X Outworld and Heavens X Netherrealm, you might be thinking: "Who is the antithesis to Earthrealm for you then?". Well, in this case, Earthrealm has no antithesis, but rather just stands in the middle of the other realms, being some sort of balance between all of them; a mix of both war & peace, both order & chaos, and so on.
Perfectly valid interpretation. Earth being the centerpiece realm works particularly well, given its geography and how coveted it is by everyone in the story. And you're right, a heaven and a hell was probably the intention, all along.
The reason I'm entertaining other ideas is because the standard heaven and hell duality is a bit tropey and "western", let's say, in a game that's dominated by Asian mythological elements (or used to be, anyway). I really like the more eastern/anime-ish depictions where, instead of the good realm, the mortal realm and the bad realm, you have just Earth and Hell, kinda like in Devil May Cry, with the latter being more of a supernatural realm, full of twisted evil stuff, sure, but also some benevolent, morally forthright elements (like Ashrah and Sareena, in the case of MK). After all, "yokai" are known as demons, but more accurately translated as "spirits", and Chinese/Japanese mythology is full of morally gray fox spirits, dog demons, spirits of nature etc.
And I personally interpret Earthrealm and Outworld as opposites, because their continued conflict and rivalry makes up most of the series, with Outworld being the offensive realm that always attacks but just can't seem to break the impregnable Earthrealm - the ultimate defensive realm. There's also a bit of an elemental association there, with Outworld symbolizing a merciless, conquering wind (chieftains, shamans, conquerors, tribal orc-like factions are often associated with air, wind, tornadoes and such), while Earthrealm is obviously associated with earth, and Edenia and the Netherrealm are water and fire, respectively. But this is all, of course, symbolic stuff, with no bearing on the actual story.
Almost my exact thoughts! I Even the concept of Earth being a balance or a mix of opposite realms is my favourite way to look at the MK universe. The only thing I am somewhat against of is the very concept of Elder Demons as Elder Gods' opposites, but that's due to my own interpretation of the MK cosmogonic myth.
@@CynicalWarlock Now that you mentioned the prominence of eastern mythological elements in MK, I'd like to say that, as true as it is, MK's lore in the end is a mashup of cultures: Lots of inspiration from eastern folklore, yes, but there ARE western elements here and there, such as:
• Shinnok's story is a nod to the common misconception regarding the christian Devil: Betrays Heaven, gets sent to Hell, establishes his rule there (the Devil is really just another Hell prisoner in the christian mythology). Also, Shinnok himself has a very mesopotamianish design throughout the games.
• The Netherrealm's depictions take mainly from the occidental concepts of Hell (although it does get overused as we have argued about here), as much as its characters and denizens take from eastern folklore. Also, its Kamidogu is clearly shaped in resemblance to the upside-down pentagram which is associated with a goat's head in western satanism (although the upside-down pentagram originally does NOT mean that).
• Edenia's name and depiction is a reference to the Garden of Eden, as much as the realm itself is not set to be MK's heaven.
• MK3 is set entirely in the occident of Earthrealm, as the central point of Kahn's invasion was New York. Also, Nightwolf, an essential character in that plot and one of the most iconic to this day, is a clear tribute to the western indigenous people.
Of course, these are outnumbered by the asian elements, BUT this is where I can say that, personally, I actually support mixing both western and eastern elements into one lore, making for a diversified mashup of mythologies and cultures rather than a mainly eastern one. That is also why I personally emphasize the "Heaven & Hell" formula as of the realms.
Absolutely accurate - MK is a hodgepodge of eastern and western elements, so the world's your oyster, as far as how you configure the specifics.
@@CynicalWarlock Exactly! MK's lore is a mixture of western and eastern elements, but because people look mostly at the eastern ones, the western ones get overshadowed, which is why I highlight them like I just did here.
Asked a Vtuber who says they are from the Netherworld if they know what the Netherrealm was. She asked if it was Minecraft and I promptly clicked off.
Best stay away from that rabbit hole.
@@CynicalWarlock I have #1 Mortal Kombat fan as my description for the Vtuber Convention at the end of the month
Umm... where the robot demons?? :'(
Edit: remember the change of Noob Saibots face from 9 still look human but with dark skin to 11 Marvel Red Skull but dark skin
Whether it's intentional or coincident the dev made, i like it
Both Scorp and Noob are ghost of there former self with a skull covered by their mask
Yep, love the skull-mask thing.
I'm a fraud - what robo-demons?
The konquest show was so good
Yes! Finally getting to meet a few fellow fans. 🤜🤛
I always had this alternate head canon of what if it was Bi Han who was killed by Hanzo Hasashi in the Temple of Elements. Hed get turned into a wraith like Scorpion only hed be more icy with his powers. I eish there was a name for this type of ice demon but i think thats what Bi Han would have become if he died first in that fight.
Terrible idea - it's actually interesting and creative, and gives you a valid reason to reboot the franchise. So nah, let's just give Scorpion Sub-Zero's name, instead.
I think Drahmin being a warlord that fought against Shao Khan would be pretty interesting, especially if one goes down the route of making him so vicious and barbaric in life that he made SHAO FUCKING KHAN seem like the lesser of two evils.
Kinda makes your wanna see him resurrected that much more, morbidly enough.
1:08
well thats kind of depressing :
I'm sorry, your majesty.
About Quan Chi. Whats his real motivation? He is one of the few that accomplished his goals and put down the heroes in both timelines
He just wants someone to play Uno with, but no one trusts him.
I just gotta point out how insanely cultured of a being you are, first inuyasha then out of the blue bro brings out a legacy of kain reference
Same to you. It's rare to meet a fellow man of culture.
Inuyasha's one of the first anime I ever laid eyes on, and probably the first one I actually enjoyed watching. Legacy of Kain is forever ingrained in my soul. Must have played Defiance 100 times.
@@CynicalWarlock Inuyasha was the first anime I have memory of watching, as for legacy of kain I sadly only got to play soul reaver.
Guess it's time to finally play all of them
Can we got an m1k story review ik u talk about and reference m1k a lot in ur vids bro we need a full vid
In the mood for a 1-hour roast video, are you?
Quan chi being demon is so interesting
Makes sense, considering where he comes from.
Stupid question, but has Sareena ever been a Playable Fighter in pervious games?
And if she isn't, how would her moveset/play style look? Would she be close quarters or ranged?
She was playable in MK: Tournament Edition and Armageddon. She used daggers and such.
I think having dual forms would be an interesting angle for her - a human zoner variation, where she throws daggers and tries to stay away, and a demon bruiser variation, where she gets up close and personal, and uses her tail, claws, and fire abilities more.
The kombat kings mentioned you on todays episode (for the right reasons you should be more popular)
You're shittin me.
Also, why didn't I know these 3 have a podcast together?
@@CynicalWarlock They’re my holy trinity, it’s canon that Snake and Dawg have seen you’re videos
@@Smoaque Snake too??
Dawg actually commented on like 3 of em; had no idea Snake saw some of em too.
You just made my day, Smoke. Thanks for letting me know.
@@CynicalWarlock Thank YOU for making Unique and entertaining mk content
undead Kano been interesting
The undead snark would be off the charts.
-At the basest level, the Netherrealm villains should be written as some parallel to the Outworld villains. The Conqueror Big Bad (Shinnok/Shao), his second-in-command fruity, zesty sorcerer (Quan Chi/Shang Tsung), his big guy (Moloch/Goro), his mysterious humanlike spymaster (Drahmin/Reptile), his top female lieutenant who he sees as a pawn (Sareena/Mileena), and a noble female warrior in his posse that will eventually oppose him (Ashrah/Kitana).
-I sort of like how the Netherrealm is more associated with Water rather than Fire in the new timeline. Not only does it help with the waterfall analogy, but because Water and Earth are dark elements* and would in many mythologies be associated with formlessness and chaos, like the bodies of the Oni themselves (think spirit of God hovering over the surface of the dark waters). I'd wager that in their natural states demons/Oni don't actually have power over either of those elements although fire is in abundance around them. Ashrah only gets light powers when she wields Datusha which also un-demonizes her with every one of her own kind or vampires that she kills with it. The more an Oni becomes less demonic, the more power they get over light, fire and air. Noob Saibot must be the Netherrealm denizen par _excellance_ with his Shadow powers, a perfect union of Water and Earth mirroring the perfect union of Bi Han to that state of being he finds himself in. Scorpion, by contrast, exudes fire because he rejects what he's become.
*Apart from darkness, formlessness and chaos, Water and Earth are classically understood as FEMININE and passive elements (Katara and Toph), the Yin, while Fire and Air are the corresponding MASCULINE and active ones (Zuko and Aang), the Yang.
The more I read, the more believable it got. You've definitely got a lore book or 2 in you. The Avatar comparison was the cherry on top.
Earth being feminine caught my eye, cause I usually consider it masculine; then again, it is "*mother* earth", the nurturer, the one that feeds us, and puts up with all our bullshit, so either interpretation works.
@@CynicalWarlock
Even though it's hard and stable, Earth is a passive element that sustains life within it, hence its association with femininity.
@@LOWBORN-the-LOATHSOME Very true, love that perspective. But I also offer you the counter-perspective: from the viewpoint of men, not of children, women are nurtured more than they nurture - they're protected, paid for, wooed, offered rings, commitment, time, seed, all manner of resources, and the nurturer is the male, who works and provides. So in that way, the earth is masculine, because it is the mother (father?) of all resources, that we feed on.
Again, I love both perspectives.
Ashrah has the best story personally
One of the more compelling ones, yes.
do a video about apep
Me: Naah.
Me, 200 videos later: "The overlooked complexity of Apep"
Real question is: Did Quan Chi once have glorious hair or was he always bald
He has hair..
Nether-hair.
So Shaolin Monk's/ Open World/Elden Ring Kinda Deal..
I Wanna Play That.
You and me both.
Neatherrealm should hire you at this point. Pls bring back MK 😢
#makeMKgreatagain
Guess I wondered if all souls would go to the netherealm, like the revenants for example, did all the good guys soul descend to netherrealm or did Quan chi acquire them and revived them in the netherrealm. Cause in konquest mode in deception, your soul has to be corrupt to even be able to enter netherrealm, that is why shujinko had to get his soul tainted first, and it corrupts more and more. Which means Hanzo and bi han's souls were already tainted in a way either that or something something .
I was expecting you to stab a spear through the green shirt guy. In a conceptual way, netherrealm is the opposite of edenia, so maybe the deceased good souls reincarnate there(explaining realm of living not spirits), but that wouldn't make sense since edenians are descendants of the gods right?
Demon gender change, right.
Didn't actually know drahmin's story until now. I think mk onslaught had something to do with his mask.
😂😂😂😂😂, molok. More like, No luck( I see what I did there). Also did you see ashrah's name (with an e) one of the meanings of molok.
Who would you say is more of a trickster, shang tsung or quanchi. And what was that about his own video. A deadly alliance video. I wanna find a way to connect his role and character to him , in the earlier games been a free roaming sorcerer.
Imagine a detective show, where Sonya less actiony more detectivy investigates several murders committed by sareena, something dark and horrorwey.
I'll just go with mk legends scorpion's revenge for this, scorpion survived the netherrealm and remained conscious that he had to get revenge, although never said in the movie, he couldn't get out, Quan chi gives him this opportunity as a left wing ass man. Or eventually because of the burning thirst for revenge he finds his way out on his own then Quan recruits him. And bi han, well he is just a puppet, he had no role in this wraithification and was just used.
Yes, for still living beings to enter the Netherrealm, their souls need to be corrupted. Although yeah, that still kinda implies that only the wicked go there.
Sometimes I stab, sometimes I don't. Green shirt didn't annoy me enough, this time.
Moloch definitely got noluck.
Quan is definitely the bigger trickster. Shang may deceive and shapeshift, but he doesn't hide his role or ambitions much. Quan Chi, on the other hand, lies to everyone he meets, Scorps, Sub, pretends to have a forthright alliance with Shao and Shinnok, he uses portals, buffs, trances, illusion, weapons steals, and he's a fuckin albino - everything about him is devious.
I actually thought of something similar, for Sonya. Like a spy thriller vibe, with psychological thriller undertones, where she's tracking down nutjobs like Kano and decoding messages from a serial killer.
Imagine if a film called "Scorpion's Revenge" ended with Scorpion not getting revenge..
@@CynicalWarlock depending on how they handle the scorp revenge, it could be great or terrible
@@syki-tp1tn True.
I think the question of "How much is Quan Chi ACTUALLY responsible for?" is a narrative gift that has gone unused. I get that they can't put focus on Scorpion and Sub-Zero(both)......but they also totally could. Our gateway characters are so well accounted for now that I don't need their stories anymore. Our leads should be either NEW characters, or we should follow characters we know but not well enough.
Who did Quan Chi actually resurrect? Scorpion or Bi-Han? He's at the center of their conflict. Focusing on that question would illuminate the best core characters in a way they haven't been before, and *give appropriate attention to the most interesting underused villain*. Is Scorpion a champion of the elder gods after all? (acknowledges Deception's angle) Is Quan Chi just taking credit for natural occurrences, like you said? How fun would it be if Scorpion and Sub-Zero are on tandem missions to meet their makers?
Idk. Flesh out the flagship characters. Flesh out the flagship characters. FLESH THEM OUT. As is said so many times in these comments and in your videos, MK needs a perspective shift. Lower the scale, heighten the interest, raise the stress/stakes.
+ It's also such a shame how Shang Tsung (debatably Quan Chi, although it's so much cooler if he's just cosplaying as a major player in the overall story) is genuinely SO unnatural in that world. He's more unnatural than demons/oni/insertanythingelse. When I think of the literal demons in this world, I inevitably come back to Shang and how genuinely unique and unnatural of a thing he is weighed against everything else.
Love your videos, you rule, till next time.
Round 2: I can't stop.
I'll never forget how interesting I found Quan Chi when MK4 came out. Hardly anything familiar about that game. LOT of new characters, LOT of new introductions to themes and geography, COMPLETELY NEW VILLAINS. We were deeper into the world than ever before.
The tower-endings are genuinely so much of what the series needs now. They're congruent in a way no other games was to the point that it feels like MK4 does at least try to tell one story and not branching ones that ultimately go nowhere. Quan Chi shows up, a figure INSIDE the world in a way that Shang Tsung still felt outside or personal to Liu and the gang. Quan is at the heart of most of the characters conflicts sewing seeds, culminating in the reveal that he's even duping the former Elder God (which felt so fucking epic at the time. An actual Elder God we get to interact with).
His role with the Deadly Alliance thing was rad, but narrative was a weirder thing to experience then, and then he goes nowhere. And he's so consistently present in every story and game now, but he's HARDLY used in a sufficient way.
MK1's intro of him is NOTHING, and we could've had a scene with him the same we got with Shang at the beginning, and just when I thought they were really going to factor him in and make him something, they immediately do away with him (and everyone else in the fuckin game).
Anyway...'shoulda been woulda been coulda been shoulda been.'
I've been watching some MK4 content lately - revisiting endings, arcade run videos etc. - and it's interesting reading people's comments, saying stuff like "this is the real Mortal Kombat", praising the creepy vibe or worldbuilding of a game that was ostensibly considered the worst in the series, back in the day.
M1K made everyone appreciate the past more.
@@CynicalWarlock I think what M1K has done so far is remind people of what they love/want from the series...the issue is that M1K is filled with only fragments of those things.
I agree with MK4's ranking in the series overall but it was huge in the arcades/places that had arcade cabinets by me, so it was really the last game that got to ride the Arcade hype and origins of the previous titles. Also living in Chicago where MK was born, there's an electricity about the series that ends after MK4 for me, so it'll always be this thing I can't let go of. MK got a lot deeper for me with the MK4 tower endings, and cemented the series as a narrative experience in a way the prior games just couldn't. You had to play the previous ones so fucking much just to get little drips of story, it was so much more Kinetic than anything else.
Anyway, demons are rad. lol.
@@SeekingJoshua Indeed they are.
And yeah, MK4 is kinda like a weird border game between the OG and 3D eras. It's techincally 3D, but still considered part of the 2D era, because of its aesthetic and how it continues the story of the previous games. That's also partly why it's the black sheep of the family, cause it's got no place in either camp.
You can't blame the MK community for making a distinction between Wraith and Spectre when the series itself is a stickler about what Sub-Zeroa dn Scorpion's profession.
I can and I will.
JK, it's more of a lowkey compliment, as in fans are so enthusiastic that they dissect and classify every little thing in the lore. Probably part of why my videos started getting views.
And therein lies the problem. John Tobias was the person who created all of the story lines, he was the storyteller up into mortal Kombat 4. Where everything started to fall off.
Think about it we came up with a dragon king, it was just quan chi and Shang tsung, two previous villains we had been introduced to that were the antagonist in mortal Kombat deadly Alliance. Then that dragon King came along. Then you have Armageddon the absolute abysmal interpretation of mortal Kombat in its rawest form. Then you have mortal Kombat 9 which is just a retelling the exact same story, only what the character's backstories being talked about during the time that the later games had let us know was going on behind the scenes. Ben 10 was just a retelling the original mortal Kombat 4. Then 11, although we all like the gameplay of, was kind of a terrible story aside from the fact that all they did was bring back all of the characters that we love, and all of the characters that they just added in that were having story lines that talked about them being there even though they worked in the shadows. So inevitably everybody's storyline that was a part of the first three mk tournaments.. being amalgamated into one long story.
And then what does Ed boon do, try to do the exact same thing because he sucks at making story lines. He literally got rid of his partner that is the person that created the entire mortal Kombat for what it is, what the heart of it is, what it should be.. and has been riding off the coattails of his storyline for the past 20 years, as a matter of fact more than 20 years; almost 30.
John Tobias is the creator of mortal Kombat. This is why we have not seen anything besides the first four games repeated over and over again. Because you literally have a swindler person, who is the embodiment of quan she taking away all of the ideas of another person, I guess is the embodiment of Liu kang, and totally ravaging his ideals and life. Almost like how Quincy had Liu Kang deleted in mortal Kombat deadly Alliance and then resonated all of his friends and allies in order to place them against Raiden the god that protects Earth realm.
Ed boon always makes himself out to be scorpion, or even reiko, when he is doing his faces, but he is literally just quanchi
I fuckin *hate* MK11's gameplay. Rather play Solitaire.
I agree, for the most part, but I'd also take care not to over-idolize one creator, at the expense of the other. Tobias planned to do a new generation passing of the torch thing, kinda like what MKX ended up being, and Shinnok, although interesting as a concept, wasn't that well developed a villain, at the time of MK4. But he *is* a god of lore and worldbuilding. It was the combination of Tobias and Boon that made the whole thing work as well as it did; one doesn't work without the other, I think.
Also, Deadly Alliance was an interesting enough idea, executed not in the best way, while Deception - in my opinion - did a lot of good things for the lore, and juggled some interesting ideas. Which Armageddon then proceeded to gut like a pig.
What's weird to me is that Tobias still tweets about MK, he likes Boon's posts, they still claim to be friends, they're just, for whatever reason, not.. working together.
@@CynicalWarlock yeah but most all of the characters and storylines, like I said above, were made by John Tobias. From what I've read, Ed boon was just a programmer. So it can be seen pretty easily that Ed boon is just repeatedly rehashing the same story line that John initially set up. But I do agree that it took both of them to create the games, and they seem to be on okay terms.
But there's a big noticeable difference now that that Creator is gone. So much so that we get things like mortal Kombat 1 and Armageddon.
Mortal Kombat 1 2 3, ultimate, trilogy, mortal Kombat 4... Were all amazing games.. and those characters are memorable.. they are always the core characters in every single game that continues on. Not just because of nostalgia, but because they are really interesting characters.
Four introduce new characters, and aside from jerek and kai; which Kai I'm very upset they never did anything with, almost every one of those new characters are also now established main stays.
Deadly Alliance and deception introduced quite a few new characters and most of them are irrelevant or trashed. They just tried to add Movado in mortal Kombat 1 and his gimmick is ridiculous..
Tsu Hao, I think that's how you spell his name, up until mortal Kombat 1 it was lei mei.. terrible ridiculous character. Dairou, darrius, hotaru, cyber sub, The dragon King, blaze, dragmin, I can go on and on.
I think kenshi and havik are the only ones that actually got any footing. Everything else is just been trash upon trash being thrown at a wall and hoping that it sticks.
So, there clearly is a difference, and something is clearly missing. If I have to watch a new rehashing of mortal Kombat 1 2 and 3 again I'm giving up on mortal Kombat. I don't care if it's in an alternate universe, I don't care if they talk about more in-depth lure in it. I'm so sick of hearing the same story over and over and over again.
We should have gotten the great Kung lao's time, we should have gotten the mortal Kombat where Shang tsung was initially a part of Earth's realm and then betray 🌍realm. Not sure if I said all this on my previous post, I didn't go back and read it before and I wrote it a little bit ago, but we can get Sonya blades father or whatever relative was in the military, Johnny Cage is ancestors.. or we could have just continued on with the story after mortal Kombat x. But no here we go all over again back at mortal Kombat 1 2 and 3..
If John Tobias would have had creative control or would have stayed I do not think that this would be occurring
@@CynicalWarlock but, anyway, i really love your channel, and every video you put out is absolutely a joy to watch. I get stuck in a marathon, so don't stop making content please, it's very much appreciated!
The mortal Kombat elements, breaking down the history which I've been wrapped up in since I was a child. And then even your other videos that don't touch on mortal Kombat. You're very good Creator! I'm glad I stumbled upon you
@@jayantiraphael8655 You watched my non-MK videos; impressive..
I'm truly humbled. And I'm right there with you - grew up with MK, and it informed my life, in many ways, so I guess it's fitting that I ended up making videos on the topic.
Glad you stumbled upon me too.
"The Netherrelm" is my 2nd favorite version of "Hell" portrayed in popular media... especially in "MK Deception", where we actually FINALLY ( I've been playing "MK" since literally day one in 1992) got to explore the place!
My favorite is Clive Barkers version of "Hell" from the "Hellraiser" films.
Mortal 1 Kombat SUCKS.
First game in the series I've said that about.
....we don't mention "Special Forces" around here.
No such thing as "Special Forces".
Yeah, I love non-standard depictions of Hell, which the Netherrealm kind of is, but then again, the newer games also heavily skew towards the traditional Christian fire pit.
For me, MK11 is where the series lost me.
You forget about sareena comrade or sister maybe jateeka and kia
I didn't forget them, but they're more or less nothing characters.
To me, I understand the Netherrealm can deteriorate identity and looks, like the Oni and Revenants did. I do believe they descend cuz of their actions like in Dante's Inferno. And I think that spending time there absorbs time, as Constantine puts, 2 mins in Hell is a lifetime.
Which is scary as fuck. Means these undead people have suffered infinitely more than is apparent.
I don't think human souls naturally go to the Netherrealm. Every human that became a demon needed an outside presence. Hanzo and Bi-Han needed Shinnok's magic, Drahmin needed the mask, and the Quan-Chi needed Nitara's blood magic to turn Earthrealm's fighters into reverents. It really feels like souls don't naturally go there.
My theory is the Jinsei from mk10 is the true heaven for all souls, not just for Earthrealm. It would explain why Shinnok, the death god, wants to ruin it. If there was a similar thing in other realms than Shinnok wouldn't focus just on Earth's.
Interesting theory. Jinsei didn't exist back in the 3D era, though, but could be a way of bringing everything together, I suppose.
I don't like the idea of a permanent MacGuffin in Earthrealm, though, or making Earthrealm the unique gateway to heaven.
Day 1 of asking for a Smoke video
And so it begins..
It's a shame that we don't explore other realms and other beings
Yep, it's pretty much the Earthrealm & Outworld show.
I'd love for them to re-do ken errrr….i mean Kobra and like actually try this time and same goes for Kai
There's a Kobra Kai joke in there somewhere.
Why i keep hearing bell sound😢
The background track, or..?
I wondered how come the people that got killed and became "revenants" didn't get their names/identities changed. How come we didn't get some messed up version of Liu or Sindel?
Woulda been cool.
@CynicalWarlock by the way I recently subscribed, finally a channel where someone takes the MK story seriously. NRS should hire you.
@@livingweaponnightmare Yeah, I get that a lot. :D
Appreciate it. Glad you enjoy the content.
@CynicalWarlock you're welcome. You ever noticed the ending for UMK3 klassic sub zero? I always had a theory that it was Shinnok impersonating Bi Han (since he would have been Noob Saibot at that point).
@@livingweaponnightmare Yeah, the prevailing theories are either Shinnok or Johnny Cage, mostly out of spite, cause he was offed.
Not sure I like either of those - what would be the point of Shinnok himself getting involved directly, only to then switch gears and invade Edenia, instead of a weakened Outworld or a weakened Earthrealm?
I grew up watching adam sandler movies and playing mortal kombat so quan chi always reminded me of tit head.
My mind instantly went to Little Nicky.
TBF Ashrah in MK1 they don't exactly go into if the Kriss is a demonic souls sucking weapon. Seems its left a bit open.
Precisely my gripe with it.
@@CynicalWarlock Ya gotta leave something for the expansion or sequel :)
@@innocenceUnknown Where they retcon and reboot everything again.
@@CynicalWarlock Im not honestly a fan of retcons and reboots, but when MK9 came along there was really just no other choice and after the travesty that was the MK11 story reboot was the only true choice.
Now the only thing I liked about the MK1 was the subtle differences between the previous games and the characters stories. I like that it tied off the loose ends of MK11's story. Now it needs to just stay focused on evolving the new era time line and drop this time travel multi-verse Avengers style crap and get back to being a fighting game.
@@innocenceUnknown I am both skeptical, and hoping to eat my words, later on.
This mans videos are more addicting than meth
I'm the ultimate drug lord.
@@CynicalWarlock I agree with your videos being addictive and also I gave you some new ideas about videos in my comment I posted yesterday in this videos comment section, hope you like it and cook up something in future for us 😋😋
Gamer
Yes.
Netherrealm is my favorite realm too. But not as a location. Every character from netherrealm has an interesting story. But too bad they either removed them from roster or turned them into humans, made them less interesting characters. We are only left with Ashrah.
Even Ashrah lost some of what made her interesting, like her relationship to get weapon.
@@CynicalWarlock And she is trying to purge herself, I won't be surprised if she succeeds in doing so and turning herself into human in the process. This very well might be the case. After all what is gonna happen if she purge herself %100
As someone who's a big fan of demonic characters and lore, the Netherrealm has always been a disappointing element of the lore as it shows how uninterested in world-building MK has pretty much always been, it only got worse now. They're fine with going with the cliché "place of eternal flames and volcanoes" when the Netherrealm could easily be the MK version of the Forgotten Realm's hell with its many layers and species. (Honestly, the entire MK universe should be more like the Forgotten Realms in terms of lore and world richness. If only MK hired real writers, not butchers.)
And I must focus on Ashrah, of course. The way the franchise has misused her is simply spectacular. I won't even focus on MK1 because I no longer consider that to be Ashrah, only a Wonder Woman copycat who stole the name of my favourite character. Anyway: her purification is bullshit. In my concept, demons are creatures who have mostly "undead" energy - let's call it Nether energy - but also a portion of "life" energy - let's call it Jinsei energy. Those two energies are what make them exist. You "purify" one, what are you left with? Nothing because you either cease to exist or become a vegetable. Even if you ignore the Jinsei aspect, as you mentioned, she's a demon, what is she even supposed to become if she purifies herself? Armageddon came with that "she became light" thing at the end, which is one of the stupidest things in that game (which is already choke-full of stupid things).
The truth, which I have been saying for a long while and even more after the shitshow that is MK1 came out, is: *the writers have no idea who Ashrah is or what they're doing with her.* She's not supposed to purify herself, whatever that means. She's supposed to represent duality, the acceptance of two natures, and if you played Spider-Man 2, Ashrah should be the embodiment of Aunt May's line, "Balance is a process, not a destination." As you said in the video, what defines us is our actions, not our nature, and Ashrah is the literal damn embodiment of that! (Plus, Sareena is another example: *she* doesn't need to purify her soul for... anything. Why would Ashrah need to?) Because unlike what many think and Dumbnic enforced, Ashrah isn't supposed to be a hero, either, but a neutral force. She's arrogant, prideful, and has this holier-than-thou attitude that is what led her to be manipulated by Datusha (the real Datusha, the one from the Midway era) in the first place. She's a fighter, a creature led by her extreme curiosity, and yes, she has that childish fascination with things she never thought possible like the ocean, from which no creatures come to try and drown her! She's not cruel for the sake of being cruel, but she won't go out of her way to protect others. Why would she when she's obsessed with her own purification - at least until she finds out that purification is nonsense? That's one of the maaaany things that Dumbnic got wrong about Ashrah: if she's a being in deep conflict with her own nature, how can she be all smiles and "cute"? It's a total and complete lack of character understanding.
In short, what frustrates me so much is how little writers (and consequently many so-called "fans") understand her. Ashrah has the potential to be THE most complex and fascinating character in the entire MK universe. If only she had the privilege of at least a decent writer writing her.
Yeah, I see Ashrah as a demon who discovered religion, let's say, and got duped by the propaganda aspect. It's kinda how Game of Thrones characters misinterpret their magical abilities as divine intervention. Ashrah's whole journey should be about self-acceptance.
Also great point about how they portray the Netherrealm, nowadays. Maybe I'm trippin, but I remember the Netherrealm being described a little more complex, in the original lore; but later games just went with the standard western fiery pit depiction.
And it's funny that you mention DnD and the 9 hells - that's exactly how I described the Netherrealm (or at least my version of it), in another video.
Great points. Gotta make more Ashrah videos, to get more yummy comments like these.
Ashrah was already my second favorite MK character, but with this comment, I think I like her even more than before.
I always wanted them to make a game like Shaolin Monks, but starring Ashrah and Sareena. That way they could develop both characters, along with the Netherrealm as well.
@@CynicalWarlock Exactly! Her obsession with purification (and *obsession* is one of the keywords of Ashrah's character, which was of course ignored in recent times) has always been supposed to be a MacGuffin for her real journey, which is a journey of self-acceptance. People see purification as the end of her journey when, in truth, her accepting that purification is dogshite should be merely the beginning - after doing a lot of messed-up things in the name of "cleansing her soul," of course!
To be fair, 99% of things were better in the Midway era. Super developed? Absolutely not, but I felt the writers were at least trying (most times... those Armageddon endings are proof that it didn't always work like that). Oh, I'm afraid I missed that video, but I 100% agree with you, it's my version of the Netherrealm as well. To be honest, MK1 completely shattered any interest I had in playing/watching the series or even participating in most discussions. I watched and commented on your video because I could already tell from our previous conversation that you have solid opinions. But otherwise, I'm here on my little corner, building my own "Ashrahverse" to start posting soon-ish and (hopefully) start drawing my version of the character too. I don't know how your comment sections are; I usually stay away from Ashrah discussions to avoid arguments, but I totally support more Ashrah videos if they shed some light on how awesome Ashrah could be if written well. I thought about doing my own video, buuut my introverted soul kept to articles only so far x)
@@InfiniteThinking-qw1on Aw, thank you 😭 And yeeees! An action-adventure starring Ashrah and Sareena (and I'd throw Nitara in there as well depending on the context) would be my dream! Like, a game focusing on their lore, their relationship, their struggles, really focused on *them* as characters and how they help each other grow. I'd settle for a Hades-like game with them as well. I had this idea a while ago, and I think it would work very well, having this co-op adventure as they try to leave the Netherrealm and face Quan Chi's hordes along the way :D
Demon gender change surgery had me rollin rotflmao😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣☠️☠️☠️
Yeey, nailed it.
MK Lore has simultaneously some the best/coolest ideas and concepts and some of the most dogshit writing lol
Which, in itself, is fascinating.
Get not liking revenant versions, but let's not act like the cast doesn't die just cause they come back in a way you don't like. That whole end rant seemed really distorted imo
More of a throwaway comment, than a rant.
I hated the way mk1 Sareena looked they downgraded her somehow
Yeah, definitely one of the tamer cases, but they did rough her up a bit. Bigger forehead.
It's astounding that they show absolute minimal attention to a realm the literal studio is named after. Now all the cool things that could've been explored will probably never see the light of day and we'll be doomed to watch this franchise fumble about until it dies from generic cheap shit storytelling.
That's what you'd call ironic.
What is a demon and what is a woman is actually the same question. One is formless and can change pronouns, or sex at will. The other one can't 😅
And they're confused about which is which.
Oh, every one can tell they're own kind from the other. So women know when they are talking to a woman. The problem arises with the fact that they don't understand anyone else except woman. So to woman, men and demon is the same
Everyone can identify they're kind. The problem is that one can only understand it's kind and presumes that everyone else except for they're kind is a demon 😂😂😂😂
So to woman, men and demons are in fact demons. To menn, women and demons are in fact demons. Aaaaaand, to demons....., both men and women are in fact, ... Humans.......😅