Throughout its 29-year history, Mortal Kombat has seen so many characters brutally beat each other to death that it’s quite the challenge to try to name even half of almost 100 playable fighters. Despite such a wide selection, very few have stood the test of time like Scorpion and Sub-Zero, as well as the rest of the colored ninjas that draw inspiration from them.
When Midway launched Mortal Kombat in 1992, due to the hardware limitations and resource-saving decisions Scorpion and Sub-Zero were never meant to be the face of the franchise, that honor was reserved for Mortal Kombat champion Liu Kang or even Jean Claude Van Damme look-alike Johnny Cage. After all, who’d want a couple of ninjas with swapped color palettes that didn’t exactly spell out individuality as their salesmen? Yet, as Mortal Kombat conquered arcades in the 90s -just like nowadays- Scorpion and Sub-Zero were the most-used Mortal Kombat characters collecting millions of coins all over the world.
Though 1995’s Mortal Kombat movie still holds up fairly well when compared to most video game movie adaptations, the film turned most of its plot attention to the Earthrealm defenders Liu Kang, Sonya Blade, and Johnny Cage, leaving Scorpion and Sub-Zero looking like bad cosplays, even if they were cool secondary characters next to no dialogue. Since then Mortal Kombat has slowly embraced Scorpion and Sub-Zero as the real poster boys for the franchise, especially after NetherRealm Studios took over development in 2010.
This is increasingly evident for those playing the games and it was something Midway recognized early on with titles like Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero. Fast forward to 2021 and the Mortal Kombat reboot trailer puts Scorpion in the forefront, with Sub-Zero acting as the antagonist that’s bound to be on the receiving end of speared drag down and a toasty fatality.
As it turns out, Hanzo Hasashi (AKA Scorpion) has one of the most interesting origin stories in Mortal Kombat lore. Hasashi’s father was a member of the Shirai Ryu clan and against his father’s wishes goes on to lead the clan, until they’re exterminated along with Scorpion’s family at the hands of Quan Chi, except that’s not what Scorpion is led to believe.
From then on Scorpion’s story is pretty consistent in most iterations: Quan Chi goes on to frame Sub-Zero for the tragedy that befell Hanzo Hasashi; the sorcerer revives him into the revenge obsessed Scorpion; Scorpion enters the Mortal Kombat tournament to avenge his family and clan killing the Sub-Zero known as Bi-Han; Bi-Han’s younger brother Kuai Liang assumes the Sub-Zero identity and leadership of the Lin Kuei; finally, upon realizing that Kuag Liang and Bi-Han were not responsible for his misfortunes, Scorpion vows to protect the young Sub-Zero.
Starting off from that general blueprint Netherrealm Studios decided to turn Scorpion’s story arc into one of even bigger and better redemption when the franchise got a soft reboot in Mortal Kombat 9. In this new era, Scorpion manages to regain his human form, exacts revenge upon Quan Chi and Hanzo Hasashi begins his quest to rebuild the Shirau Ryu, which includes mentoring Takeda the son of another Mortal Kombat character named Kenshi.
And that’s not all: Scorpion is heavily featured in the Mortal Kombat X comic series, as well as being the protagonist of his own animated feature film Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge and even having the honor of being on NetherRealm Studios’ logo. What this means is that Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon will make sure Scorpion is one of the main focus points on any MK projects for the future.
Scorpion has gone from being an irredeemable soul in the NetherRealm during the early games and movies to self-sacrificing hero and mentor in Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath. It’s only fitting then that from here on the franchise chooses to propel Scorpion and Sub-Zero to even greater status within its world, as they are the franchise’s best hopes to land a commercial crushing blow in real-life Earthrealm.
The Mortal Kombat trailer already featured Scorpion and Sub-Zero prominently, as viewers are guaranteed to see parts of Scorpion’s past aside from his fated quest for vengeance against Bi-Han’s Sub-Zero and some fan theories speculating that Scorpion story could be intertwined with that of the film’s newcomer Cole Young. Considering NetherRealm’s treatment for Hanzo Hasashi in recent years, an “I am your father” moment shouldn’t be out of the question for the two protagonists.
Rumors already suggest that -if successful- the Mortal Kombat reboot could lead to more fatality-laden films being produced in the future. There are 11 mainline games so far in the series, but in 2021 it’s clearer than it’s ever been before that Scorpion is to Mortal Kombat what Ryu is for Street Fighter. If there are sequels are on the way, only one fighter can get audiences to theaters or to fork over the money for an HBO Max subscription, and it’s definitely the yellow ninja with the grappling kunai.
Mortal Kombat is planned for release in theaters and on HBO Max starting April 16, 2021.
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