For over 14 years, NetherRealm Studios has been famous for including a plethora of guest characters from other franchises in theirMortal KombatandInjusticegames. Beginning with 2011’sMortal KombatfeaturingGod of War’s Kratos andA Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger, each subsequentMortal KombatandInjusticegame would go on to feature at least one DLC fighter from a different franchise.
For theInjusticefranchise, their first guest character from a separate series first began withMortal Kombat’s very own Scorpion. WithNetherRealm potentially moving on to developInjustice 3following the release ofMortal Kombat 1: Definitive Edition, the developer may consider continuing the tradition of featuringMortal Kombatcharacters as DLC in theInjusticeseries.
The History of Injustice’s Mortal Kombat Guest Characters
2013’sInjustice: Gods Among Uslaunched with a Season Pass, allowing players to acquire all future DLC fighters once they officially debuted. WhileInjustice 1’s first DLC fightersin the form of Lobo and Batgirl were released in early 2013, Scorpion was announced as the third DLC fighter and first guest fighter from an alternate franchise for theInjusticeseries in early summer 2013. However, Scorpion wasn’t a one-to-one inclusion fromMortal Kombatas he featured an entirely new appearance designed by famed comic book artist and then-DC Comics Co-Publisher Jim Lee. In terms of gameplay, Scorpion still featured his iconic kunai and fiery powers as well as a sword, but he couldn’t perform any fatalities.
Scorpion’s inclusion inInjustice 1’s roster proved to be a highly successful and profitable move as Hanzo Hasashi went on to become the most downloaded DLC fighter in the game. Due to this success, NetherRealm chose to include not just one but twoMortal Kombatguest characters as DLC fighters forInjustice 2. InInjustice 2’s Fighter Pack 1, players were able to downloadKuai Liang Sub-Zeroalongside Red Hood and Starfire, while Fighter Pack 2 allowed players to download Raiden alongside Black Manta and Dark Horse Comics' Hellboy. LikeInjustice 1’s Scorpion, both Sub-Zero and Raiden’s appearances inInjustice 2were designed by Jim Lee.
Injustice 1’s Scorpion was played by Patrick Seitz, who previously played the character inMortal Kombat vs. DC Universeand 2011’sMortal Kombat, whileInjustice 2’s Sub-Zeroand Raiden were played by Steve Blum and Richard Epcar, who previously played their respective characters inMortal Kombat X.
Potential Mortal Kombat Guest Characters in Injustice 3
With every priorMortal Kombatguest character in theInjusticeseries being one of the original fighters first introduced in the original 1992Mortal Kombatarcade cabinet, it’s likely NetherRealm will continue this trend and have some of the remaining members of the original roster appear inInjustice 3. One likely choice for NetherRealm to include inInjustice 3’s DLC could bethe chosen one himself, Liu Kang. The most prominent protagonist of mostMortal Kombatstories, Liu Kang would make a good choice to be included inInjustice 3nowadays, not only for his popularity and significance in theMortal Kombatfranchise, but because he’s the literal creator ofMortal Kombat 1’s modern timeline.
As a Titan and God of Fire and Thunder, Liu Kang could additionally explain how he appeared inInjustice’s universe by simply claiming he opened a portal to that universe, similar to how he opened portals to Titan Havik’s timeline inMortal Kombat 1’s Khaos Reigns DLC. SinceInjustice 2featured twoMortal Kombatcharacters, it’s possible that NetherRealm could feature twoMortal Kombatcharacters inInjustice 3. If this turns out to be the case, another plausible choice to be featured inInjustice 3could be Johnny Cage, especially due to his prominent roles inMortal Kombat 1and the upcomingMortal Kombat 2film starring Karl Urbanas the Hollywood movie star.
A Potential Third Mortal Kombat Character in Injustice 3
The firstInjusticegame featured oneMortal Kombatcharacter, and the secondInjusticegame featured two, so NetherRealm could continue this trend by featuring threeMortal Kombatcharacters inInjustice 3. If this turns out to be the case and Liu Kang and Johnny Cage are the first twoMortal Kombatcharacters featured inInjustice 3, a possible third fighter could bethe four-armed Shokan Goro. The sub-boss of 1992’sMortal Kombat, Goro has become one ofMortal Kombat’s most iconic antagonists, having appeared in both the 1995 and 2021Mortal Kombatfilms as well as mostMortal Kombatgames. Goro could further spice up the fighter and gameplay variety ofInjustice 3, as not too many prominent DC Comics characters have four arms.
