Easter Eggs You Missed In Mortal Kombat

From series standbys like Liu Kang (Ludi Lin) and Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) to more obscure fighters such as Nitara (Mel Jarnson) and Reiko (Nathan Jones), "Mortal Kombat" manages to incorporate a wide array of characters from the game series. And that's only to mention those who actually appear in the film. If you pay close attention, you'll notice that even more characters get referenced throughout the movie, even though they aren't seen on screen.

Early in the film, Sonya is showing Cole Young (Lewis Tan) her research on the Mortal Kombat tournament and Outworld. One of the documents is a page from a book that includes an illustration of a Native American man with the caption "Matoka warrior." The person in the illustration looks remarkably like Nightwolf, a fighter introduced in "Mortal Kombat 3" who's a member of the fictional Matoka tribe. Sonya's research also includes an image of what appears to be an Aztec bust, which could be a nod to Kotal Kahn. "Mortal Kombat X" introduced the intimidating character whose design draws some obvious inspiration from Aztec culture.

Elsewhere in the movie, characters namedrop Shao Kahn, the brutal Emperor of Outworld, as well as Bo' Rai Cho, the martial arts grandmaster who trained Liu Kang. Raiden's temple also contains a couple of visual nods to unseen characters. The signature fan blades of the Edenian Princess Kitana can be seen displayed in one of the temple's corridors, and one crucial scene sees Kano stealing an item that looks very similar to the Amulet of Shinnok. The appropriately named magical talisman in question belongs to Shinnok, an elder god who first appeared in "Mortal Kombat 4."

Colors play a huge role in "Mortal Kombat," especially the older games in the series. Much of the ninja characters like Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Rain were different from each other visually thanks to the primary colors used in their design. It only makes sense for the new movie to play around with this concept in its own unique way.

When we're first introduced to Cole Young, he's seen prepping his hands for a MMA fight, wrapping them yellow tape. This is a reference to Scorpion and his clan, the Shirai Ryu, whose main color is yellow. It's also an early hint that Cole is somehow related to the clan and Scorpion. There's even a spot of yellow on the strap of his gym bag.

Not to be outdone by his rival, Sub-Zero also provides us with a major visual clue that hints at his ultimate fate. During his final battle with Scorpion and Cole, the ice-cold assassin gets rid of the blue parts of his outfit showing himself in complete black — a reference to the super-dark Noob Saibot, a character that the first Sub-Zero, Bi-Han, later becomes after being killed by Scorpion in the games.

Noob Saibot is a play on the names of "Mortal Kombat" co-creators Ed Boon and John Tobias: "Boon" backwards is "Noob," and "Tobias" backwards is "Saibot." The character was introduced in the series, thanks to Boon, in "Mortal Kombat II." However, Noob Saibot was so secret a character that not even Boon's partner Tobias knew about him at first. As Tobias revealed to Polygon, he was already a few months into development on "Mortal Kombat 3" before he even learned about the secret character's existence.

Early on in the film, Sonya fills Cole in on the legend of the Mortal Kombat tournament by showing him her collection of newspaper clippings and other research materials. We've already touched on the character references that appear during this moment, but there are also a few other interesting things that can be found on her wall.

One obscured headline reads "—ning storm causes panic." Although the first word is mostly cut away, it seems possible that the whole phrase is meant to read "lightning storm causes panic." Considering it's on Sonya's wall of research, that could be a reference to Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano), who arrives in Earthrealm via an intense series of lightning strikes on multiple occasions. The headline could be describing what Raiden's strikes looked like to normal Earth-dwellers who were unaware that they were witnessing the approach of the God of Thunder.

Similarly, another incomplete headline reads "— breaking hailstorm." Presuming it's meant to say "record-breaking hailstorm," that could be a reference to Sub-Zero. Earlier in the movie, he arrived in Earthrealm and manifested a fierce ice storm while attempting to kill Cole. Could he have done something similar at another time, leading to people confusing his supernatural powers for an extra intense weather event? It's possible.

"Mortal Kombat" more than earns its R rating thanks to the graphic fatalities that conclude many of the brawls in the movie. In fact, the film actually recreates several of the iconic finishing moves from the game franchise.

Early in the movie, an encounter between Kano and Reptile ends with Kano reaching into the creature's chest and ripping out its heart. That same move was used as Kano's fatality in the very first "Mortal Kombat" game. Similarly, the fire-breathing finisher that Hanzo Hasashi, aka Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada), pulls on Bi-Han, aka Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim, is a throwback to the original game.

Two of the movie's goriest moments also come directly from the games. Kung Lao's (Max Huang) hat is the butt of quite a few jokes throughout the film, but he proves its brutal utility when he quickly ends an encounter with the winged Nitara (Mel Jarnson) by turning the bladed headwear into a buzz saw and feeding her into it. A version of this particularly gruesome fatality was first used in the spin-off game "Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks," and has gone on to become a mainstay of Kung Lao's repertoire in the main series.

Meanwhile, Jax (Mehcad Brooks) gets the chance to test out his new arcana-powered metal arms while fighting Reiko. After beating Shang Tsung's (Chin Han) lackey to his knees, Jax claps his hands on Reiko's head, bursting it like a melon. This move was one of Jax's first fatalities when the character made his debut in "Mortal Kombat II."

Liu Kang gets an opportunity to show off his impressive arcana power as well. After subduing Kabal (Daniel Nelson), Liu summons from the ground a dragon made of fire. The fiery creature bites Kabal, lighting him on fire and ultimately burning him to death. This is a variation of Liu Kang's dragon transformation fatality that he first started using in the franchise's second installment.

Fatalities aren't the only moves from the "Mortal Kombat" games that pop up in the film. Cole's spirited daughter Emily (Matilda Kimber) frequently tells her father to use an uppercut during his fights, a punch that has been ubiquitous for nearly every character in the series starting with the first game. During a 2016 interview with Game Informer, series co-creator Ed Boon even said that nailing the uppercut was integral in the development of the first game. He recalled, "The big thing was this uppercut. Once we got this uppercut going ... suddenly everybody is coming into my office 'Aw, let me see the game!'"

Another frequently used maneuver from the original games that got a special callout in the movie is the leg sweep. In what appears to be a nod to players who love to spam the move in order to score an easy victory, Liu Kang leg-sweeps Kano several times during one of their training sessions. After Kano successfully hops over one of the sweeps, Liu Kang then fakes him out before getting him with another one. This will no doubt feel familiar to anyone who has thrown their controller in frustration because their friend wouldn't stop using the move.

And, of course, many of the characters get a chance to show off their special abilities. Liu Kang gets his fireballs, Kano has his laser eye, and even Sonya's pink energy rings make an appearance.