The History of Time Travel in Mortal Kombat | Canon Ball
Вставка
- Опубліковано 19 тра 2024
- Script - www.deviantart.com/the4thsnak...
Patreon - / the4thsnake
Twitter - / 4thsnake
Discord - / discord
Fan Fiction - www.fanfiction.net/u/6871790/
Archive of Our Own - archiveofourown.org/users/The...
DeviantArt - the4thsnake.deviantart.com/
itch.io - the4thsnake.itch.io
#MortalKombat #MortalMay #MortalKombat1 - Ігри
Time travel, multiverses, pointless fanservice and pure greed are basically 4 horsemen of Apocalypse of the Mortal Kombat at this point.
The four horsemen of legacy media in general at this point.
And it kinda takes out the word "Mortal" from Mortal Kombat if anyone is immortal and/or can come back from another timeline.
@@drstephenstrange897 That's how it's been for a long time. Johnny Cage died how many times in the early games?
@@YTPrule ONE.
@@drstephenstrange897 Johnny died in MK3 original timeline (killed by Motaro, as shown in the story mode of MK9; never understood the role of the extermination squads), in MK DA (but everyone else was killed in that game) and MK Armageddon. This was joked in not wanting to star in The Death of Johnny Cage. Others have a record of dying and being brought back too.
Kung Lao: died in the endings of both him and Liu Kang in MK 3; absent in MK4 and replaced by Kai for this very reason. MK gold came with a retcon where he faked his own death. Killed again in MK DA, Armageddon and MK9. He died more times than Johnny.
Mileena: killed in MK2. Killed in MK Gold (later retconned in being "imprisoned" for several years), killed in Armageddon, Killed in MK X.
Goro: allegedly killed in MK1, retconned in MK 4, killed again in MK DA, retconned again in Deceptiom for Gamecube/Unchained, killed in Armageddon, humiliated in MK X comics, a no shower in MK X Story Mode.
Shao Khan had a few deaths retconned like MK3 and a clone in DA.
Kintaro was supposed to have died in MK2 but Deception said that he was one of the many Generals in Shao Kahn's army.
The time travel shenanigans are unnecessarily convoluted
"Konvoluted" you mean
Time travel pitfalls
-Convoluted rules
- Retcons that worsen characterizations
-Contradictory rules
-Apathy because any emotional investment becomes nulled
@drekbleh7081 Netherrealm studios is a horrible game company. They suck at everything
Just try and follow Snake's recent videos such as on suggestions for Onslaught characters and different plotlines, if you're like me they right over your head and feel completely superfluous 😂
Love his videos though
@@ihevmilkdhoueeyyyy
I want to fatality Kronika while saying "let's kill some time."
Peak fiction ✍️🔥
Bravo, Vince
I like how half the video is just NRS games XD
Gamingwins: Um, achtually, alternate timelineh have alwayh been what Mortal Kombat'h htory hah been about.
Yeah, I may not have liked Gamingwins' MK videos very much, especially the MK9 one, why do you ask?
The timeline splitting from 1 to 2, like what Titan Shang Tsung initially believes to be the case actually sounds kinda cool and then it immediately gets ruined by it ACTUALLY being 1 timeline splitting into infinity. Some insane levels of shark jumping, to be sure. If it was the final battle of Aftermath that caused it then how are there even timelines where Kitana, Kung Lao or Raiden won when they were not only not in the room where it happened, but all three of them were either severely injured or dead at the time? (Kung Lao’s in the sea of blood, Kitana is beaten by Sindel and Raiden got SOUL SUCKED)
Yep
It's just meant to be a logical leap that any number of causalities would see different key kharacters die at the pivotal moment while those that died earlier survive and step up to the plate in their place. It's the infinite nature of parallel dimensions but yes it's such a huge leap in logic to take based on the very finite possibilities we see that it doesn't sell it so well and seems ridiculous. Utterly bored with this approach and can't wait for them to panic and just try and do a more straightforward "returning to our roots" reboot
@@thebackup2121 yep.
The funniest thing in the plot of mk1 is that the Sorcerer and the Monk, with their battle, were able to tear the fabric of time and space in the fortress of Kronik, while also creating several duplicates of her watches, titans, and so on, and this taking into account the fact that this is generally beyond the concepts of time and space. It simply exists higher than all these things. Just like titans, clocks, Elder Gods and some other things. But at least these two were able to share time and space where there is none. Even in Heaven, there is no such time, and it is lower in history than the Titans. This plot cannot even potentially exist, because it is impossible to divide into time and the like what is already above it. The screenwriters need to be changed, because they don't even know the very structure of the universe for which they are responsible
I forgot about Kronika's fortress being a place beyond time itself. 🤦
Your comment helped me realize, that Titan Shang Tsung's explanation of how he and Liu Kang both technically won the fight, makes no sense.
@@Meldrick-jv7sy in fact, I am very surprised that many people do not know that this place is outside of time and space, which is very important, especially in criticizing the plot of mk 1, although this is the biggest inconsistency in MK, which cancels not only the plot of mk 1, which cannot exist, but also its progenitor mk aftermath, where there were also 2 versions of the watch and Kronika
Consistency is key. Recent MK just has never had that.
I wondered after finishing M1K that, everyone of the final battle in MK11 had their own victory. Characters who are dead (like havik originally) should never have gotten that shot. But now, since anything and everything is possible the key is still consistency. Just make it so that, everyone from the Netherrealm timeline were the only version of themselves who’ve gotten the shot. If they fumble that plot point and just keep insinuating that it goes on forever, then they’ve royally screwed themselves.
Consistency is mandatory.
Another thing to add to the MKD Time Travel theory: If you hover over "Konquest" in Deception's menu, you see a young Shujinko wander around in Orderrealm and Edenia in the preview video. This is impossible in the actual game, because Shujinko ages way before he even gets to those realms.
Though I can't remember where I heard the time travel thing either.
This is one more reason I vow to never use time travel in storytelling 😂
I cant wait for an MK series that doesnt involve time warps...
At this point, doing a multiverse is like doing a Trump impression; it was amusing at first, but it’s not impressive anymore because anybody can do it, so please do LITERALLY anything else.
A better comparison would be everyone can do an impression, but only few are able to actually perfect it and make it something more.
That line of thinking applies to literally any popular trope: anyone can do it, but only a FEW can do it well, and multiverse plots are no exception to this.
Aint no way💀
Fionna and Cake is a good recent example of a multiverse story that wasn't Spiderverse
Heh. I wasn't expecting the "Kill 'Em All" accidental series finale of _Mortal Kombat: Conquest_ to come up. I guess time travel in this series is unfortunately more difficult to escape than it seems.
Try impossible, considering mk has writers fapping over being a dc clone and more so about having powerscaling that rivals anime, in terms of stupidity
@@nabilahmed579 Yeah, it's probably been impossible since Kronika's introduction and retcon even though she's supposedly dead for good now. This despite the fact that the "infinite" multiverse decision directly contradicts that there was only ever one her. Just more proof both that Kronika was/is the worst character in the series--such a waste of Jennifer Hale's immense talent--and how much being on under current WB's thumb is dragging down NRS even more, especially if the "rumor" about _M1K_ being pushed out (too) early to try to cover for the inevitable failure of the _SS:KtJL_ live service disaster.
1:24 I'm pretty sure that's not supposed to be Noob Saibot in Chaosrealm, Just a random wraith using Noobs character model. Like how you fight Hotaru sometimes, but canonically it's just generic Saiden guards
This is exactly what's intended it's done a few other times too in the game, If a Character is indeed meant to be the actual character they're usually named in dialogue.
@@missionofsin3360 I imagine it would've made more sense if they used Noob's intended primary costume. Instead of the alternate with human skin.
@@liammech6694 Don't they use the Alternate though? Unless you mean not in the fight, I know they use the one with skin for the Konquest model, and they just reuse it for the Unnamed Wraith in Chaosrealm.
@@missionofsin3360 I remember hearing that they messed up and accidentally assigned their alternates as primaries in the game files for Noob-Smoke.
That's why their Primary Biography shows them with black skin for Noob, and smoke skin for Smoke, while the Alternate Biography shows them with human skin for Noob, and Smoke as a cyber-ninja. They also wear the black skin and smoke skin costumes in their Arcade Ending.
Whoever did the NPC models probably didn't realise this, and just gave Noob the human skin, assuming that's the correct costume. While the intended all black skin would've made more sense as a graveyard wraith
Haven't even played the series idk why i binge these videos
I just like the world and characters.
I know it's easy to blame trends or fan demands/backlash for decisions being made in recent games, especially time travel stuff. But looking at every aspect criticized of the games, it's clear the issue is that Neatherrealm has never been confident in their direction for the series. They didn't want to be beholden to the entire Midway history so they reset. Slaughtered a ton of characters in such a way it feels like they weren't even that sure it'd be successful enough to warrant a Mortal Kombat 10. Yet this was their most assured moment as they didn't chicken out with MKX. Only to immediately backtrack and make MK11 the worst sequel in the trilogy. Just a whole game about undoing a decade of continuity.
If people hadn't said M1K's story is actually passable, Netherrealm would have Havok destroying Liu Kang in the first 2 minutes of MK13's story and we would be starting from yet another timeline. I guarantee it.
Look, I get the 2 timelines thing, while dumb, could be fun to do and has some narrative possibilities. But MK11 splitting off into INFINITE timelines is extra dumb. I don't care if Kronika was driven to madness beforehand. Every character on the roster (and apparently some that weren't even in MK11) all being able to beat her somehow, means the supposed Titan above the Elder Gods is the weakest threat in the series. Adding on even more to why MK11 had 0 stakes. This isn't even considering that Liu Kang forgot the crown initially, so there's probably way more times Kronika was defeated than we realize, but those characters weren't aware of the crown's significance either so they couldn't make new universes.
Time travel is a concept that has to be handled with care even when it makes sense it can still anger the audience. I thought Our Friend Martin made sense with its rules but if someone alters the timeline they shouldn't have awareness of it. Then there is Sailor Moon R where she goes to the future this should have deleted Chibi USA from their presence but this instead reveals that free will doesn't truly exist and all the moral grand standing is just a cosmic program. Then there's Ocarina of Time where Link accomplishes nothing because he defeated Ganondorf in the future instead of the present so he accomplished nothing.
I agree there probably is a timeline where Kronika won or at least was spared
Wouldn't the hourglass not properly work without Kronikas crown if the other characters used it besides Liu Kang and Shang Tsung? Because most of them weren't even aware of that fact (say for small few in Aftermath). The Snow Blind film never made sense, given that Kano wouldn't have any knowledge of that detail, especially when he died early in the MK 11 story.
Didn't watch the video yet but I just wanted to say, I love your videos man. The way you put pieces together and making a better story than NRS is epic. It always amazes me. You're the only reason I still follow this franchise. Keep making legendary videos like this man. I hope you're doing okay in your life. Stay safe. ✌️
Yeah look they weren't cooking
Time moving differently in Outworld would clear up the strangeness of the thousands of years old Kitana hooking up with the equivalent of a infant
Would you be able to do a Wasted Plotential on M1K where it is the same story but the characters have their original backstories???
Could be interesting.
Great video, for a moment I feared you'd only mention canon stuff from MK9 forward.
That Quan Chi MKA ending always puzzled me, because the revelation that the amulet has really been Quan Chi all along is crazy, and we know the ending is not canon but usually character backstories can be valid even if revealed in non-canon endings or interactions.
When I tried to write the complete history of each character reconciling every revelation and every retcon as best as I could, I did account for this by claiming that the only way Shinnok could create a "sixth Kamidogu" of sorts without the other Elder Gods knowing, was to summon the amulet itself from the future (possibly by tapping into time manipulation powers he inherited from his mother), from a time "past Armageddon" after its use had already been exhausted. This means that as far as he and the reader knows, the amulet came into existence as a time loop item, something that is not created or destroyed... but the door is open for it being Quan Chi post-Armageddon.
Just sharing my own headcanon; my plan was to make a fan comic about each character but I never got around to it.
Your fan-comic idea sounds pretty interesting.
@KombatGod You mean Alternate timeline endings.
@@kendonl.taylor5111 Well, NOW they're seen as alternate timelines in a multiverse, and that changes things a bit, but usually the general point of endings in most fighting games (not just MK) is simply showing what happens if your selected character wins. So everything up to their participation in the tournament (or battle) should be valid either way, because them winning can't change their past.
So for example if Mileena wins MK2 she takes the throne of Outworld with her "secret companion" Baraka; that didn't happen but the revelation of their relationship still applies.
At this point mortal kombat needs to stay away from time travel and the multiverse as a whole on my opinion.
You'd prefer all the old characters stay dead and gone so all thats left going forward are kombat kids?
@@Axel_Kasai no I am not a fan of letting the old character stay dead because that feels lazy and really bad idea but I would really like to have both old characters and new generation of characters like kombat kids fighting side by side as allies that I think we were getting with mk11 which I think was cool at least in my opinion.
@@Axel_Kasaiyou say that as though resurrection has never happened in Mortal Kombat before
Someone should probably send this video to Gamingwins.
Those who had the displeasure of watching his MK videos (especially the MK9 one) will understand why.
Remember when Mortal Kombat used to be about stopping evil outworlders in a tournament about beating people to death? Yeah no… let’s make the series about time travel like it’s the Final Fantasy VII Remake.
It stopped being about the tournament after mk2 😂
So what mk1 and mk2 wow yeah let’s go back to that oh wait mk fans are never happy and will complain how unoriginal that is it’s funny I don’t like nrs or midway but it’s so funny people suck midways d*ck like they didn’t go bankrupt because mk got extremely stale
Crazy how even the name of the series isn’t valid anymore doesn’t matter if you’re mortal if there’s infinite versions of you and you basically always come back
There really were many weird transformations in MK Armageddon's endings huh? Kano transformed into a half man half Dragon, Sektor transformed into an "abomination of flesh and metal", Hsu hao transformed into a "demon of emptiness" (whatever that means), and Smoke turned into, well, literal smoke.
And these are just the ones I remember.
And let's not forget Noob Saibot transforming into half shadow half ice being or Nitara transforming into goddess of blood (or something like that).
Just goes to show how much they didn't give a shit at that point anymore.
@@whyareyoureadingmynickname8158Basically the power of Blaze was a mcguffin that could do whatever the writers were smoking at that moment and would say it would do.
Still don't know why they reset the timeline in MK1. NRS is kind of bad at storytelling
Takeda the time traveler theory?
I feel like Netherrealm completely FUCKED MK’s story up at this point by introducing a multiverse/timeline component in the franchise. Like why bother adding new characters or expand on old lore when they could just be lazy (I personally believe it is) and go the fanfic route and have the alternate timeline troupe be used
With time travel and multiverse bs, nothing really matters anymore. Not as much at least.
@@ColonDee.But it's perfectly fine if they use the dragonballs and bring everyone back for Armageddon 😂
i'd make my own plot where the whole timeline ends with corrupted shinnok bringing about the end of the universe instead of time travel making bullshit plotholes
Hi Snake, why do you think multiverse stories are so popular? Especially reasons that aren't popularly discussed. Mine is that multiverse stories allow a really quick and easy way to build new characters, lore and events (take an existing character but give him a gimmick for example)
I think that the success of Spider-man: Into The Spider-verse played a part into that.
"LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!"
this really sums up how horrible the stories have been these past few years
Why couldn't"Noob and Saibot"only taken away from treshold's contribution those good things? Personally would've enjoyed"ShockJock"raiden, who emphasised"Wise"over"Crack"! You Snake?
Clever thumbnail art with Liu Kang putting his finger up Kronika's nose
(Idk if this was intentional or not).
Time travel had potential if the writers used this opportunity to twist the events of original games as much as possible. MK9, with all it's flaws and Outworld assassinations, at the very least had the right idea (cyber Sub-Zero, dead Shao, revenants), but MKX instead of following upon it just walked back upon most of the changes and brought mostly everything to similar status quo of original timeline (grandmaster Sub-Zero, new Khan, Dark Raiden). If writers weren't afraid to take risks, MK11 could've been the clash between Midway and NRS timelines which in turn celebrated the rich history of MK. Instead we got Kronika.
Do you realize how much more people would've complained if they tried to change the OG timeline like that?
@@Axel_Kasai None? I think after mk9 people had accepted things were going to change (that was the point after all), only weirdos who watch 4thSnake would've recognized the changes anyway.
@@Axel_Kasai How exactly the OG timeline changes besides coming back in MK11? I remember how hyped people were when they thought what second Scorpion in MK11 trailer was from OG timeline, so I believe you're incorrect. People wouldn't complain more at the very least.
DC comics had a too much influence on Mortal Kombat. But honestly invasions feels like xenoverse's parallel quests to me. With Liu Kang "Hey! You want to join time patrol?"
This just highlights that the series was better off when it was realm vs realm. Can we go back to that? please?
Love your content keep up the great work
Is amazing how WB overcomplicated a series that didn't need this in first place. One thing is the hard reboot of MK9 and other is the freaking mess that is MK11
Canon ball ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Time travel and multiverse nonsense has ruined the story telling in Mortal Kombat for me.
Two things:
1. 0:57 this whole part is very funny for some reason
2. I feel the same after seeing all the multiverse stuff that came in m1k, the whole goes downhill after that
Just imagine, a new beginning, Kronika, dead for good, can experience a new story where things could be different to mortal Kombat, now that liu kang is a Titan, but then they the most cheapest thing as a inginte multiverse battle, AND THEY DIDN'T EVEN WAIT TO USE IT IN FUTURE GAMES, it feels so damn rushed because Netherealm writes doesn't know how to continue a story, doesn't know how to even end it
It hurts more after seeing the endings of each, they'll led to nothing thanks to all the multiverse things because now will be reduced to simple cameos or mentions
Maybe I'm going to far, not optimistic about the next mortal Kombat, but as SugaPunch say, the story don't matter, nothing matters now
Hey @the4thsnake, I had a story game idea for a Scorpion game but so far it feels like a bad version of GOW. Here's it so far
Plot Summarise:
Hanson is with his clan where he trains his son until they are attacked by Lin Kuei. Hanson defends his village but sees his wife die by Sub-Zero. He attack but is killed by Sub Zero and lands in hell where he fights demons.
Quan Chi sees Hanzo and makes a deal with him to help him get revenge if he works for him. Quan acts as a friend, but all to manipulate. Hanzo agrees and is brought back as a Spector (since Quan Chi can’t fully restore people like Shang Tsung or uses Shang’s help. Either way, Hanzo is now Scorpion and control fire as Quan can insincerely abilities and Hanson uses a rope dart with a lighter as his weapon.
Scorpion travels different realms, like meeting the Earthrealm heroes and characters like reptile at Outworld tournament, Kenshi in Earthrealm and hell characters like Drahim at the Netherrealm that can train or fight him as bosses.
Scorpion meets Raiden who knows him and tries to steer him towards the light. This is where the Fatality or Mercy takes place, Fatalities make Scorpion hated whist Mercies can make allies. Both lead to different missions you can do and bosses you face.
In between we see Kuai Liang perceptive where we learn more about Bi Han and the Lin Kuei
Scorpion eventually kills Sub and goes back to hell. He joins an assault on the Lin Kuei where the foreshadowed cyberisation happens and many members try to escape. Hanzo meets Kuai and they escape via Raiden as he escapes Quan Chi and Sektor are trying to escape Shinnok from his prison to take other the realms. If you accept to stop them, Scorpion finds out that Quan Chi killed his family and was using him the whole time to get Bi Han at his side as Noob Siabot.
And people say Kingdom Hearts fucked things up when it introduced time travel when its use of time travel is downright _quaint_ compared Mortal Kombat.
Shao Kahn's unused MK9 ending implies that the Player-Controlled Shao Kahn would've been the version from the Midway Timeline, just after the obtaining Blaze's power.
So Kronika scrapped the MK-Armageddon timeline where Taven won Armageddon and defeated Blaze and then she created a timeline where the MK kombatants cross paths with the DC characters and she didn't like that so she scrapped that timeline up and created the MK-Armageddon timeline again but where Shao Kahn won Armageddon and she didn't like that timeline either and she influenced Raiden to restart the MK-Armageddon timeline but with a lot of changes in the stories.
Say what you will what about MKx, at least MKx had a story that didn't involve, “We’re going back in time to the first Thanksgiving to get Turkeys off the menu! That's right, we’re going back in time to the first Thanksgiving to get turkeys OFF the menu!”
Would you consider doing a wasted potential for Hotaru?
I think mk1's sequel will have more than 2 groups
Uurrgh this shows why a consistent narrative is so important to a story, and why I can't stand modern volumes in the MK Saga. I really can't stand the Deus Ex Machina approach of time travel being used as a crutch to avoid too much thought in characters stories, or take real risks with the series that could be worth holding onto and exploring, and undoing them just as easily. That's to say nothing of all the variants swamping the screen with no effort to expound on their backstories but just act as glorified mooks. Still, a nice clarification from John Tobias that time dilation may explain why Outworlders have longer lifespans than Earthrealmers, which in a vacuum is a really nice little idea that fills the fairly hazy gap in lore on how humans have come to exist in multiple realms but may have different biologies. Just wish that was all the time travel this universe made use of 🤷♂️
MK11 (the 3rd game in that timeline) ending with a reboot was already dumb but NRS going on to make a multiverse, that's just...urgh
Guess MK got his own New 52 and little Infinite Crisis
2019 the birth of multiverses smh
Great video as usual! God I love M1K's OST! Great recap on the usage, never knew MK9 might've taken some notes from the 90s tv show, ngl it makes your assumption about the Threshold continuity being a post-Kronika timeline make some sense if it had that aspect thrown in haha. Can't wait for more.
I positively *LOATHE* stories that involve time travel. It's such a cheap plot device to just be messy AF with your storytelling. My one wish for the future of MK is to stay away from time travel (and multiverses) from now on. But I know they won't because the writers are talentless hacks who lack imagination.
The writers definitely were comic book fans, but definitely didn't see or didn't care about the usual criticisms most of the comic book writing normally had 😑
Time travel and multiverses will be a cancer for MK because at this point there is no reason not to do more of it because otherwise it'd be a de-escalation. Its like Dragon Ball now, you can't have them fighting a planet buster after they just fought someone who threatened the entire universe so they just have to keep going and going. Now that the multiverse exists in MK, there is no reason for the hack NRS writers not to bring more powerful more evil version of (X character here) to be the main threat and to have it be a timeline wide threat because now they have escalated way too much. And given that Liu-Kang and Shang-Tsung fractured time with their fight, they (along with every Titan character) are now absurdly powerful to the point where it only makes sense to have an absurdly powerful foe. Regular Shao-Kahn won't matter much to a Liu-Kang who shattered time itself.
They should have just continued with the second timeline but whether it was stupidity or corporate mandate, they decided another time travel plot was needed, almost pulling a Sonic 06 of a story where it erases itself at the end, except they do something worse by creating a multiverse where everything goes and nothing matters anymore.
I was gonna say a time travel joke,
but nobody liked it.
I don't think MK should be about time travel and alternate realities. That should be left for other IPs. It might have been fun to have it being the focus in one game for a change, but it becoming the new identity of the series is imo a mistake. Especially when their time travel concepts after 9 are so messy, underdeveloped, lazy and not thought out at all.
The4thSnake. I watch your Mortal Kombat 2011 critique from 2012 every day. You make several valid points. You can create many Mortal Kombat characters on Skyrim, including Rambo and they would be perfectly viable. There are hairstyles and warpaint that would accommodate everyone from Liu Kang to Shang Tsung to Reptile, even Shao Kahn. I could find the armory to place Onaga The Dragon King as a Nord. Even having all 3 words of the Fire Breath shout. You should give it a try.
MK1 ‘s story was an absolute disaster…
Hopefully the next game will be better…
Was that ending d.c. comparison porposefully made, are but oversight? Given their crossover ultimately served for midway's complete swan song! Until further notice, await your comment.
Time travel in general is kind of a cancer on storytelling. The only time travel stories that don't completely collapse from a lack of logic are the ones with closed loops.
A fighting game franchise that needs to die and has no business continuing. NRS pick an ending and leave it alone, make a new fighting game series or just quit altogether.
next game has this kind of shit and im not buying it. Also they seem to not be able to make a fun game lol