Skip to main content

A fan favorite feature is coming back to Mortal Kombat after almost 30 years

Liu Kang in yellow getting eaten by a large hippo.
Warner Bros. Games

Mortal Kombat 1 is about to get a lot more beastly. Fan-favorite animalities are coming back to the franchise after 29 years away in a free update.

The updates were announced at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend, alongside the ultimately more important Khaos Reigns expansion reveal.

Animalities, which were introduced in 1995’s Mortal Kombat 3, are just like fatalities, except instead of the character performing a brutal finisher, they transform into an animal and tear their opponent apart. In the trailer, we see a hippo chomping down, a gorilla tearing apart a mouth, and a dinosaur skeleton enjoying a meal.

Some of the animal transformations are kind of obvious; Scorpion would of course be a scorpion, for example. The gorilla and the T-Rex skeleton are new to the series, so it’s not clear who they are immediately. There will be an animality for every playable character, which we assume includes all DLC characters. What would the animality for Homelander be? Probably an eagle, but we’ll have to see when the update is released alongside Khaos Reigns on September 24 across all platforms.

Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns Official Announcement Trailer

Khaos Reigns is Mortal Kombat 1‘s big year two story update, bringing in new characters to take on Titan Havik, who is ready to cause chaos from an alternate timeline. The trailer unveiled our first official looks at Noob Saibot, Cyrax, and Sektor. As was the case for all characters in Mortal Kombat 1, they’ll feature new backstories. Noob Saibot is still the resurrected version of Sub-Zero, but he’s been made to fight alongside Havik, for example.

In case Homelander and Omni-Man weren’t enough, Ghostface from the Scream series, Conan the Barbarian, and the T-1000 from Terminator 2 are coming to the game in the next Kombat Pack DLC. Hopefully they get their own animalities too.

The Khaos Reigns expansion is now available for preorder on consoles and PC. Players will also get the previous Kombat Pack, which includes the six previous DLC characters and five Kameo fighters. Preorders also come with four new skins at launch, including Mortal Kombat 3 versions of Sub-Zero and Noob Sailbot.

Carli Velocci
Carli is a technology, culture, and games editor and journalist. They were the Gaming Lead and Copy Chief at Windows Central…
Mortal Kombat 1 takes the series back to the start this September
Key art for Mortal Kombat 1 shows its logo and Liu Kang.

The next installment of the Mortal Kombat series is coming this year, but it's not Mortal Kombat 12. Instead, a debut trailer from NetherRealm Studios revealed Mortal Kombat 1, which launches on September 19 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

https://twitter.com/MortalKombat/status/1659182088954986496

Read more
Mortal Kombat 12: everything we know
Scorpion using his chain in mortal kombat 11.

The legendary Mortal Kombat franchise is preparing for its 12th installment to release in 2023. Why haven't you heard more about it? Well, there hasn't been an official announcement yet!

During a recent Warner Bros. Discovery earnings call, CEO David Zaslav casually mentioned that Mortal Kombat 12 is in the works and is expected to come out this year. Speaking about WB Games’ upcoming lineup, Zaslav stated that the “highly anticipated Mortal Kombat 12” is in the works alongside Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and that the company has “ambitious launch projections” for this title.

Read more
Mortal Kombat 12 is coming out this year, according to Warner Bros.

While Mortal Kombat and Injustice developer NetherRealm Studios has been secretive about what its next game is, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav spoiled the surprise during the company's latest earnings call: it's Mortal Kombat 12, and it's coming out this year.
Speaking about WB Games' upcoming lineup, Zaslav stated that the "highly anticipated Mortal Kombat 12" is in the works alongside Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which was featured in a State of Play showcase that took place around the same time. Zaslav says Mortal Kombat 12 is "set for release this year" and that Warner Bros. Discovery has "ambitious launch projections" for this title.
Digital Trends contacted WB Games to confirm the statement and will update this article when we hear back.
Obviously, as this is the first time the game has been mentioned, we don't know any specific details about the story, gameplay, or characters that will be featured in the new entry. Still, it's quite an exciting confirmation for fighting game fans as NetherRealm Studios hasn't released a new game since 2019's Mortal Kombat 11, which itself has not received any new DLC since 2021. The Chicago-based developer had been flip-flopping between making Mortal Kombat and Injustice games throughout the 2010s, but its focus appears to be wholly on Mortal Kombat now. 
If Mortal Kombat 12 is truly coming out this year, we shouldn't have to wait too much longer for an official reveal. Still, this is an unexpected way for such a game to be revealed. Mortal Kombat 12 is in development and intended for release sometime in 2023.

Read more