Mortal Kombat 1 - The HUGE Multiverse Problem With The Series!

[@brady_tyler]

Honestly I really was enjoying the main story of MK 1 and then let out a massive groan when the Multiverse crossovers started. It soured everything

[@D1smantle]

Same here

[@ralphwarom2514]

Same.

[@Magic6GMC]

Same😐

[@SuperGamefreak18]

Same that could have been saved for the next game them defending the hourglass and pushing him out of their universe would have been the perfect end then have the multiverse finale as the dlc story then chaos reigns as the sequel. There it fits ALOT

[@ultron_sigma]

Well wasn't the story overall just ok but not great?

[@samuelwolch1302]

Honestly, it’d be best that the next story expansion is to have the multiverse be sealed off in-universe, at least for a while

[@ncdream8317]

Mortal Kombat Tournament of Power is the only way to fix this.

[@darkron288]

I love the multiverse idea, but the problem here is it happened to soon after mk11, if mk1 and like 2 other sequels had their own stories first then introduced the multiverse idea it would have been been better accepted, but diving straight into the multiverse was bad espically after how controversial aftermath was

[@christianhenry4173]

Coronica already resetted the timelines before Liu Kang. No the multiverse collapse is old.

[@cemarz]

It's a terrible idea. All idea no function. There are so, so, so many elements that stories need to work. Adding a multiverse makes doing that take an absurd amount of time, generally triple. No MK story is going to spend that among of time doing what need be done. Any story in an MK multiverse is bound to be shallow crap. And worse, fruitless considering a multiverse both renders stakes pointless and de-grounds the original world/characters. To make it even worse than that, MK didn't need a multiverse. The brand already had an absurdly high suspension of disbelief.

[@mortalballgt52]

I'd have it to where the characters, most importantly Liu Kang discover the root of the multiverse problem and where it stemmed from. That would lead us back to the original timeline of Armageddon. Have it to where Liu Kang travels to a certain point before Raiden sends the message. Maybe save him from Shao Kahn's hammer perhaps. Then once that is done, every other timeline disappears including MK1 and beyond but have everyone retain their memories of previous timelines so that they can progress forward.

[@herooflight7931]

That's actually a good idea

[@mortalballgt52]

@herooflight7931 not a very deep concept. There are still warriors that are already dead in the Armageddon timeline (Liu Kang himself) but with a Raiden who can be reformed through the personality of his alternate timeline counterpart, it could be the beginning of a redemption arc for him.

[@herooflight7931]

@@mortalballgt52 I would say raiden achieved this redemption when he broke from Kronika's control And made liu kang a god. But your idea might make a good segue Into the next game.

[@TevyaSmolka]

Personally for me we really need to stop with the multiverse in mortal kombat and just tell one story that has no multiverse whatsoever in my opinion.

[@rayhoyer4829]

💯

[@TevyaSmolka]

@ 😎

[@jojordann12]

I want it to stop feeling like team earthrealm vs team outworld and expand on the things set up after the story, shao’s revolution, onaga being on the loose, the black dragons, OUR havik trying to bring khaos, rain making amends… like the only one they’ve expanded on is scorpion and subzero as always

[@HyperFoxx]

I think we need a new big threat in the story (or Onaga) to get involved and erase all timelines except for Liu's. Maybe he uses the Kamidogu combined with Quan's amulet or something entirely new and tries to erase all timelines and bring back The One Being or something, but Liu and his champions stop him from destroying his timeline which would allow us to continue with the New Era without other timelines or needing another reboot. That's the best i can explain my idea. Awesome video though HBTW!!!

[@Ninken_Senpai]

That would be great, but because of Liu I don’t think the one being is a thing or the komedogu 🤔 for that to be possible onaga would have to himself be from another time line preferably the original or deception area and then some how remove the hour glass and geras from the story then the next issue would be to erase all memory of them but with a time controlling onaga it will be a repeat. Just like in fiction our time is stuck in a loop because no matter what because of the introduction of time manipulation in the story it’ll keep happening there’s no end

[@HyperFoxx]

@Ninken_Senpai the Kamidogu were in Khaos Reigns though

[@Ninken_Senpai]

@ yes from time god haviks world, if we are sticking to the comic/novel canno they at some point have him unparalleled power, so it’s not a surprise he’d keep them around, but if we go off Lius explaining in the prologue he spent eons making the time line as well as he could removing any threats to the realms i don’t know if he’s up to date about the one being , but by that statement itself the realms are his creation not the separation of the one being sealed into the komedogu. Though I’m not against being wrong just going off what the games putting in front of me and there’s the fact that kahos realm don’t exist the havik we have in from sento or the realm of order and he’s Darius instead of the mysterious person we got back in the day. I like the idea it’s just time travel and multiverse adaptions place us in a box a lot more then the concept not existing at all. Example street fighter not comparing them game wise we all have our likes but all characters from our day have aged close to retirement and possibly passing so we have some newbies added for a fresh start and guided by legacy characters the story can progress, dbz though time travel exists the gods have limited any use of it and I think the creators saw how closed in they would be if it was allowed to continue. Same with tekken it’s history is on par with mk without bring in these concepts in all honesty it’s laziness not a lack of idea because I have seen ppl like yourself come up with Amazing concepts for a story better then this could but new characters take creativity and game devs are lacking in the regard it’s all about money not the joy of the consumer like back in the day

[@HyperFoxx]

@Ninken_Senpai Yeah, I'd scrap the one being part of my idea. I'm sure Onaga or whoever would be the big bad could easily have a different motive. Either way, the story desperately needs to move away from the multiverse story. It doesn't fit mk, and I think they only did it to justify skins in the game, which is pointless. Btw I think you meant Dairou for Havik.

[@Ninken_Senpai]

@ I did 😂 thanks for that correction I had the face in my head but not the name, and because of how onagas back story is depicted as for the classic games compared to this one he only wanted to merge the realms and become a conquer because of the one beings influence. Not sure if that means he was possessed or what but it’s the same for shao after he betrayed onaga whom was his mentor and master (he poisoned him) shao felt the same lust for power. 🤔 I think it was possion though since if you look at both their eyes from deception and mk9 they have glowing demon eyes where in the past for shao he had what we’d call normal eyes. As for mk1 I can’t remember if it was shao ending or rekio but onaga is shown to be more so a mindless beast so in order for him to have that list for power and apparently mental determination the one being would still have to be a driving force. That’s why I said time travel and multiverse concepts puts us all in a box. There’s no way to even come up with a decent story because of it. They’d have to do another reboot to the series again and find a way to make us forget the mess they created. Not to say the game isn’t fun to play but sometimes story is a huge selling point even though most fighting game players would say otherwise.

[@ShayTheValiant]

As much as I want to see Onaga or Shinnok or Shao as the big bad guys of a game again, I also kinda want to see an original story with a new big bad (that doesn't involve time travel/multiverse stuff).

[@rayhoyer4829]

Same.

[@IDKWHAT2NAMETHISS]

They tried with kronika and failed miserably

[@ShayTheValiant]

@@IDKWHAT2NAMETHISS Hence why I said "(that doesn't involve time travel/multiverse stuff)".

[@rayhoyer4829]

@GavinZbeatsfan9999 very true.

[@D1smantle]

Mk1 story was genuinely interesting until the entire multiverse shenanigans were introduced. I think theu should just JL: Crisis on infinite earth stuff, where the universe itself fought back and started erasing all other timelines until there is only one left

[@memeboyr6177]

Imo the multiverse should not have been explored in canon. Instead, non-canon stories and games, such as onslaught, should have explored it. It was a concept that was introduced on the side, so it should have been executed inside games that are on the side of the main games, such as onslaught ofc.

[@x-ScaryBerry-x]

IIRC, MK Legends: Snowblind is supposed to take place in a universe that Kano created from the hourglass. They have an outlet for multiverse stories in the animated films as well as the side games like you said.

[@CallemJayNZ]

It's one of those situations where its difficult to put the lid back on the jar once it has been opened

[@VRHyoumaru]

MK1 is basically the posterchild for "we're stuck in a rut". I agree the multiverse is to the detriment of the story and setting as a whole, and it just ends up becoming "look at how many ways we can remix these characters" instead of actually fleshing out any of said characters. Just toss it, get rid of it, it's not working.

[@seanamaso2091]

I said it before and I will say it again. I feel like the very last level is what killed the story for many people. You take us out of the universe that we invested a lot of time in for a place we know nothing about. If it was me, I would have the final level at the fire temple and have Titan Shang Tsung, Fire God Liu Kang, and their warriors fight because the story and the promotions were promoting the themes of nature vs nurture and that don't get a conclusion, especially the idea of prim Shang Tsung getting redeemed. Also, have Fire God Liu Kang and Titan Kitana together in the timeline from the start because it would be something different from the past games and it would give Kitana something to do.

[@rayhoyer4829]

The story was dead for ma as soon as they erased Hanzo and the gameplay is ass.

[@HeroShotz]

I find it weird that Liu Kang has lived through eons and seen everything is somehow surprised by EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS 😳. WTF KANG you didn't learn anything ?

[@GreatBocaj]

It would have been a big plot point that would have made sense if Liu Kang went crazy rebooting the timeline over and over. I liked the legend characters that this channel made up some years back.

[@TartanSamurai]

I think there's a relatively easy way to fix this multiverse stuff. If they do another expansion like Khaos Reigns, have the main villain be titan Shao Kahn. Not just any titan, but the very same one who killed Raiden at the end of Armageddon in the original timeline. Taking him down could have an effect similar to the Anti-Monitor in DC comics, ie, revert back to the original timeline, but with certain elements altered to allow a more cohesive narrative going forward.

[@DrMorganstien]

Love this vid and think Geras and the Hourglass stepping away from our MK1 universe is an elegant solution to this. Geras is cool and would sell well as dlc too, which means he doesn't have to be in the story.

[@phunnyphantom]

How about a focus put on Shao's resistance and staging a coup to take over and become Kahn of outworld, with a little help from a brute he brings in named Onaga. Eventually, losing control over him, having people on BOTH sides (good and bad) defecting to Onaga's side. Which leads to a bad ending that kills off a major main character, getting things ready for the games follow up

[@tyx8898]

You gotta make sense of noob now a bit. What happened to Havocs version of him? Why didn’t he turn into noob? Is noob now a multiverse character? Is subzero gone forever? Is frost and takeda taking over for scorpion and subzero? Does Noob now wield power of The One Being since he was made using the Kamidogu this time? Many questions need answered now. Given this new story i need answers

[@renerico6071]

If we doing multiverses then use the movies versions, shaolin monk versions, cartoon versions actual other universes not this create a fighter ass characters they created

[@chrislister570]

I think the problem is that MK11 is the results nd of Mortal Kombat. The writers wrote themselves into a corner where they didn't know how.to justify combat in Liu Kang's peaceful universe. Liu would never allow villains like Shao Khan or Shinnok to rise to power, so how do they introduce a conflict with true stakes now? This means that threats now have to come from outside of the universe, hence the multiverse.

[@vontheunknown7982]

They could make an event, to get rid of all the hourglasses and wiping the memories of the everybody that knew about it or something like that, I don't know?

[@fightingmedialounge519]

Events like those hardly last

[@vontheunknown7982]

​@@fightingmedialounge519True

[@AstroZombie69]

Anything is better than what they got going for them now, to be honest.

[@GreatBocaj]

I think that's the way to move forward, break the Hourglass.

[@rexisright]

It's still unclear to me where The One Being & Elder Gods fit into this "New Era" 🤔

[@______________________-___]

I just want the old story from mk9 and below while I only got my exposure from explanation the vibe and story telling is so different and better to what we got

[@HighLifeProds17]

The thing is, they *know* this stuff is stupid, too. Homelander says as much in his ending...

[@Garagelab164]

Yeah I was literally thinking that when I get his ending. Also… HOW DID HE SOMEHOW PUNCH LIU-KANG’S HEAD OFF?!

[@dannyleo5787]

My comment may not be a popular one, and as a mk fan, that was around when the real mk1 came out in 1992... the multiverse aspects are fine if not to interrupt the main line games. They clearly were planning on establishing a multiverse at some point in order to keep mk relevant. However when it comes to even introducing said realities to invade liu kangs vision of a more peaceful embrace, they didn't ask themselves of if they were truly ready to change everything that is mk. Imo, let the fans themselves make the multiverse, let them make contributions to refresh mortal kombat by being our own narrators, who in our eyes deserve to helm the reality. KZbin is the platform to do so.

[@BJI82a]

What I want them to do is go through the scrapped characters from the first timeline and bring them into this one since we can always use new fighters. Second is that keep this timeline alive and just keep the realms arch alive make them go to order realm or some other place but no multiverse stuff it’s been done too much. If they want that to happen then give a konquest version of what if and let us make our own fighter then we can explore timelines the right way. I hope that whenever we get hints at MK2 it’s much better and they listen to us.

[@x-ScaryBerry-x]

In hindsight, I think Onaga should’ve been Damashii again. It would be a nice call back and would’ve felt fresh for new fans, but I’m hoping he’ll show up in a sequel. Khaos Reigns was an opportunity to at least close the book on the multiverse BS. After the defeat of Havik, Liu Kang and Geras modify the hourglass so that other timelines can never invade his again. Which would mean he could never see his Kitana or his OG friends again. This would be a meaningful consequence, since the expansion was severely lacking in narrative impact as you and many others pointed out.

[@calebkay7974]

Although it made sense that they introduced the multiverse to the extent that they did, I feel it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as bad if only they would’ve kept it to Liu and Shangs timelines. I thought the story was amazing up until the point where Liu was talking about searching other timelines for allies to assist in fighting Shang.

[@johnalexanderson1945]

9:52 my suggestion to do this, is a MK tournament for the next release. But this time, not between realms but between Titans. Every dead Titan erases his timeline so we get rid of other Liu Kangs, Scorpions etc. I even have the name. War of the Titans or Titanomachy, from Greek mythology

[@arllyfat_cat9678]

Maintain the current continuity, no more multiverse and timelines, really should only be hinted as a form of potential conflict between Liu Kang and his subjects but more so in a way that affects the character relationships. And in regards to the overall story, go for a more basic, character driven story. Focus on the politics of Outworld with Shao's Civil War against the royal family, hell maybe have a slight bigger focus on Mileena and Tanya's relationship considering that Tanya is breaking her oath. And I wouldn't even have Onaga be the villain of the next game, I would build him up further for a 3rd title in the New Era storyline. I would also do some changes: like Liu Kang somehow free's Bi-Han from Noon Saibot, so he can stay as Sub-Zero but Noob becomes this roaming spectre, and I would even have Bi-Han go through a redemption arc. And maybe Shang Tsung could even be redeemed. If the New Era is about something different, then I'm wanting something different.

[@tizzellit2368]

I would like the idea of ONE MORE REBOOT of the timeline but a mix of all 3 timelines

[@nabilahmed579]

We technically had 3 reboots already. We don’t need another one

[@jbrookflores]

I hope they build off of this most recent one and not do another reset. I hope they bring in some new characters that they mentioned in intros (Shao’s siblings, Kitana and Mileena’s cousins, etc.) I hope they explore new realms as well!

[@nehemiahnicholson468]

I think with Liu Kang making Gerus the Keeper of time like he did, coupled with what happened to him in Khaos Reigns, I think it opens the door to Him becoming a new or possibly a returning, the One above All. Think about it. What if the one above all put the idea to create Geras as a fixed point in time in Kronikas' mind subliminally before he was defeated. Or he goes on the offensive as the keeper or time to destroy "bad" timelines to protect the one he has charge over. And as a by-product of destroying all of those timelines, he accidentally absorbed the energy and grows to become a new one.... ...after an Onaga arc, of course

[@nehemiahnicholson468]

Then the main timeline can act as a refugee timeliness and better versions of some heroes can become a part

[@darknessunderthewind]

I think Netherrealm needs to yes move away from the multiverse by not having multiversal threats at all in future games and to really get back on top, they gotta have Onaga as the villain of the next Mortal Kombat game.

[@RandomBitterMan]

If I had a shot for every time they said timeline Bo Rai Cho would steal sum shots 😂

[@NautoAis]

Return to form, go back to the main timeline and just continued from Armageddon, rebooting the series was a mistake.

[@wickdaline8668]

I wonder if the multiversal element was a WBG decision and not an NRS? The former tempting to capitalize on the MV trend and such. Must be why the third and fourth act must feel like a completely different game.

[@TrionGojira]

I honestly don't mind multiverses and enjoy most of them, but there is an overwhelming amount of it in media now, and it's too much on everyone. Though, if they can do it, I wouldn't mind a multiverse for mortal kombat as long as it's interesting and done well.

[@ClaytonPrestridge-jd8gv]

I love everything about multiverses, you can do anything and it be cannon. I like to see different versions of the characters.and stories. Even my Playstation tag is a what if scorpion became noob and not sub-zero.

[@ChronoUchiha]

We live in a gaming era where choose your own adventure stories are a reality. I think MK should start letting players choose the characters they want to main during the story mode, and the next game can read your save data and continue based on the character you beat the previous game with. I know it seems like a difficult task for the developer, but if you think about it we already have games with branching paths. I'm sure they can come up with a story and just insert the chosen character into story cutscenes, and the story can progress as the developer wants, just tailor the ending based on the chosen character. That way you still keep the multiversity angle, and the players get more agency over what happens.

[@pggalantd]

They had the opportunity to end the multiverse story with chaos reigns. It was suiting to Havik, but now they still have to figure out how to carry it into another storyline and end things.. If they end things.

[@redcoffeez]

I really wish nrs did not make the whole multi verse front and center in the game n instead focus on the characters

[@Macaulyn_97]

They had a story planned for after Armageddon. They should just go back to that and pretend none of this ever happened.

[@justamediocreyoutubechanne4172]

Awww damn man but geras is such a cool character 😩

[@danbauer3669]

Make the new game with 100% new characters and have it revolve around Kung Lao the Greater and the first canon MK tournament. There's my 2 cents.

[@MC24DB]

They need to get rid of the multiverse crap, it's such a lazy choice.

[@51R_samsoknight]

Great points made in this video. Plain and simple, the multiverse concept destroyed the MK rebooted subseries of games.

[@deadlyqueen9184]

It irks me deeply that you spoke about the idea of writing Geras out entirely. He's my favorite mk character, and that idea alone is enough to make me lose my interest in the franchise. He's the best NRS era character, I think there are definitely other options to write out the multiverse concept without snapping Geras out of the franchise entirely.

[@alex.pvsz1727]

Hourglass Liu Kang own timeline 4 realm ( chaosrealm already return) Havik own timeline All realm and chaosrealm

[@theamazingmaymay123]

There’s a lot I don’t like about the new timeline. But I can see where it goes. As long as the multiverse shit is done. They need to let the multiverse go, n a good writer can make that work without it being to messy.

[@alaamohammad2194]

I Just Need the next Expansion to end the Multiverse and start focusing on the civil wars and conflicts in liu's era. Kinda 3D vibes are needed Here

[@thegamingstation1097]

I hope they make an expansion sealing off the multiverse and just giving us the new era we were promised the concept we got in the base story was good adding more titans and timelines was the worst idea

[@MellowDarkflower]

Pull an Injustice 2 where outside of the opening 30 seconds, the mention of multiverse is never brought up again

[@DX2069]

I honestly don’t mind the timelines I think it’s leading to something wild so I don’t think they should change course

[@olschoolTonyCarter]

They should go back in time and start from the origin of The Great Kung Lao, kinda like a prequel to the original Mortal Kombat. They could also bring The Great Kung Lao to the modern-day timeline. A missed opportunity smh.

[@Ninken_Senpai]

This is WB, if no one notice once comic books start playing with time and multiverse concepts it opened the door as a cop out for every series in the world to adopt. Kill off a character that everyone loves time travel can’t move a story ahead because a specific character has been gone for years and time travel too shaky multiverse and the worse part of multiverse the specific person needed is in a universe that suck 3x more then the current verse possibly a better situation and they decide to keep them in that universe and said person is cut down to nothing more then a side character. 🙄

[@tyronleung5276]

We need to go back to a regular mk time line that goes back to the midway shit

[@BubblegumSempai]

I was actually a little disappointed with the final acts of MK11. I was hoping that instead of going into a reboot/reset, they were going to merge all the timelines. Even with the Armageddon references in MK1, it could have been the perfect opportunity to do one more "everyone is here" thing and create one unified true timeline going forward.

[@mrbubalophil1731]

There's a part of me that would have preferred Mortal Kombat to end with Armageddon and do a full reboot (No time travel) 10 years later and maybe we wouldn't be seeing this mess. But who knows, maybe in another timeline they did it and they did it well.

[@shadowmarauder6033]

I'm actually ok with multiverse; my problem is its overuse and the fear it creates. we just had MK11 so another multiverse story is too soon. On top of that as you said it can mean characters are easily replaced or events feel less unique, so even if both things don't occur the fear it brings will linger

[@joshuataylor7443]

Wouldn’t say university agree, I think it could work as a side thing like in dlc story exploring other world and have fun with different ideas and do not effect the main continuity like Marvel what if comics and DC Elsewords comic that just do fun ideas

[@pggalantd]

If they focus on this main, new time line, i want to see them flesh out the lore. Give some insite of what happens when characters die and create rules on how they can return from the dead. For instance, i would create several planes of the afterlife for where they go depending on the hate in their soul. Getting them back to life is a monumental task but possible. Maybe a deep sacrifice must be made to bring them back. They also will likely never be quite the same so it shows consequence. It would be way more interesting than just bringing them back as a mutliverse character. This is why the multiverse just invites lazy writing. There's no need to be creative and stick to any rules.

[@Raphmatic5000]

As a reader of comics for 35 years, i eat multiverses for a light snack

[@Childofgotham7624]

I don't believe in multiverse fatigue only in doing stuff right and quite frankly people have not been doing stuff right

[@christiangarcia1498]

The next mortal kombat game bring back tournament story

[@Blade501_]

Although the multiverse interacts with the Liu Kang's Timeline. It's more likely that other timelines/multiverse wants the peice of that world because of how Liu's sculpted his. Also there is the fact that other Kombatants and Liu's selected Choosen Champions. There is so much missing plot point in the continuity and connections. It's the writing is the problem within the story. Most Western Fiction is mostly fixated on Multiverse Theory. No cohearant story of whatsoever. Just having fun of some ideas but only bad thing is; "where is the official canon?" The answer: We don't. It's random at best. Main Continuity: - Injustice/MK/DC crossover Universe: The fact that MK Characters; Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Raiden; are just only dlcs. but a potential what if story that MK and DC collab once more like the old Mortal Kombat DC. - Hourglass of Time, Hourglass of Multiverse: Destroying/removing the Hourglass is a big risk. By writing to get rid of the hourglass is also removing the current world with the original Titan. - Different MK, Different World, Different Timeline: Although the Canonical is Demi-god Liu Kang. What if there is a story of other Kombatants who won against Kronica, use the Hourglass to restart their own Timeline. Like before Titan Shang Tsung erased from existance and already have all the realms, that what if he is the Titan learned that he saw that he failed to kill Liu in that point of time and ready on to battle against it. Though the badside is still being watered down. - Missing Plotpoint in Titan Liu Kang's Timeline: A lot of missing key point that needed to be adressed. Not only Liu remembers all of the timeline (aside from the multiverse), but the memories of Kronica each time she sculpted the sands of time. Liu's Keypoint in his world is still in the early stage of their own Armageddon. He knows of all of the characters but interact with only current roster. It is the matter of time that he cant occupy both battling his own enemies and the multiverse. Also, Liu's choice is to up to fate of his "creations" or the people around him. - Liu's Shang Tsung: Depite being a nemesis and weaker version than his Titan counterpart, he need to be a redeemed that he can proof himself to Liu, himself. Not only the tourment but the understanding of what Liu has going through batting his nemesis eons ago. Trying to be use for good if he didnt deserve a punishment because of his old incarnation. It would be a funny twist of fate that he would become a Champion to aid Liu.

[@reanukeeves1164]

Can someone please explain why lui kang says the timeline collapses after defeating shang tsung but then in post credit the timeline still exist? I dont get it.

[@wrestlerboy500]

I don’t think they need to get rid of the multiverse or other timelines. They just need to stop using it for the plot going forward. We know other timelines exist, but let’s stop making it a core part of the story. Focus only on the main timeline. Marvel comics has multiple timelines but because the stories are focused on the main Earth-616 timeline it’s not a muddied mess. There’s no reason why MK can’t understand this simple concept.

[@Nunbutvibesant]

Yeah I’m so over the multiverse concept. Things are better when it’s one timeline that has one story you can just build off of.

[@Graystaff]

It’s just been miss, after miss, after miss…

[@MrWii000]

Honestly: What disappointed me was the fact that they ruined Shang Tsung's Aftermath ending... If you've played Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath, then you'll noticed that the game had the option where you could decide who would ultimately rule the New Era: Fire God Liu Kang or Shang Tsung. In Liu Kang's ending, he defeats Shang Tsung and creates his New Era of peace and prosperity, leading to the events of MK1. In Shang Tsung's ending, he absorbs Fire God Liu Kang's soul, becomes a Titan, creates his New Era, and launches a conquest against all the realms; it then ends with Raiden and Fujin telling Titan Shang Tsung that Earthrealm, Outworld, and Netherrealm had been conquered, and that Chaosrealm and Orderrealm (which had hardly been explored since "Deception" by the way) were next. You get the picture? The ending hinted at the possibility of a non-canon "What if Shang Tsung won in Aftermath?" kind of spin-off game where Chaosrealm and Orderrealm are the last line of resistance and the only hope left in stopping Titan Shang Tsung's tyranny. And, in all honesty, that would've been the PERFECT game! (Just have Tecmo-Koei/Omega Force make the game in the style of Dynasty Warriors, create some brand new Chaosrealm/Orderrealm-originated Kombatants, have them fight with/against the Klassic Kombatants we know and love, and the game is complete.) But then, MK1 revealed that not only did BOTH Fire God Liu Kang and Titan Shang Tsung both create their own universes...but that Titan Shang Tsung is now eyeing to conquer Liu Kang's universe. Basically, if they weren't got going to continue Shang Tsung's Aftermath ending, then NRS should NOT have pretended that there WERE (OR, at the very least, they should've left Shang Tsung's Aftermath ending open to the imagination). This means that my "What if Shang Tsung won in Aftermath?" dream game will never be made because we obviously know how it's going to end: Titan Shang Tsung conquers Chaosrealm and Orderrealm, then sets his sights on Liu Kang's universe (and YES, by the way: I'm saying "universe", NOT "timeline"). Why couldn't Shang Tsung's Aftermath ending just end with Raiden and Fujin saying that ALL realms (including Chaosrealm and Orderrealm) were now under Titan Shang Tsung's control (annihilate all hope in Titan Shang Tsung being stopped). THEN, when the multiverse concept came into effect, it wouldn't be too disappointing for me. Instead, Titan Shang Tsung's Aftermath ending led to NOTHING, and THAT felt like the BIGGEST missed opportunity in Mortal Kombat history to me (especially considering how little popularity Mortal Kombat has in Japan).

[@thetower8553]

sometime a franchise should just end

[@James-hm3cu]

There's no jeopardy in MK anymore. I dont care about any of the characters any more because I know there are multiple versions of them. Additionally, I don't care about any new villains they introduce because I know there is an identical one waiting in another timeline. Everything is now "I want your timeline" and that's it! Multiverse killed MK storylines dead. I can't see the game lasting if they keep this up.

[@brandonscott4808]

NRS never should've used timetravel to reboot the MK series back in the 2011 game because all it did was create plot holes for the series. If anything, NRS could have just done a reboot MK game without relying on timetravel, and it would've been alright. MKX using legacy characters wasn't a bad concept, but in reality, it was underdeveloped and used at the wrong time. If NRS hadn't skipped over the 3D Era events, there wouldn't have been a need to reboot again. Introducing the multiverse concept in MK11 and MK1 was an even bigger mistake because not only did it create more plot holes but also made the higher stakes and consequences seem pointless.

[@LostOneOmega]

Multiverse is too easy and removes all the stakes in a story

[@vivekharuncyd4807]

Pal multiverse can exist but it must not become the focal point in next game focus on the lui kang timeline dc comics and marvel comics multiverse exists but they don't always go there so flesh out lui timeline more before facing titan onaga

[@frederickallgood7592]

October 24 2025

[@WelshDragon8423]

Mortal Kombat has always had a multiverse in my opinion due to the tower endings and time travel and the retconing that has been around since the 90s. Having a Mortal Kombat multiverse opens up many possible stories like for example different versions of the MK tournament, a different character being the Chosen One and so on but it is the way the multiverse is done that is the problem. I don't think the writers understand that you can have a multiverse without having one universe invading others but it is clear they are taking inspiration from comic books which lets be honest the comic book companies took the ideas way too far. Multiverses have been around in fiction for over a hundred years and even some religions in the world have a multiverse concept. So being a 30 year fan of the franchise and as someone who loves the idea of multiverses both in fiction and the multiverse theories I'm fine with Mortal Kombat having one but they need better writers to handle the concept correctly.

[@the_sixxness]

I dont care about the story of Mortal Kombat. But admittedly I started playing in arcades when it wasn't a big deal.

[@Starfire_Storm]

If you really need to reboot it again, then I believe that, at this point, a Hard Reboot is more needed. Not a Soft Reboot like 9 and 1 have been where, while it's a new world, everything that happened before is still acknowledged and did happened. No, a full Hard Reboot where you start entirely from scratch with no acknowledgement of the previous games in the story of the new one, leaving the old world as completely finalized and this one being a blank slate. I'm not a massive fan of the idea of rebooting again, but if you must, then have it be that. What I'd prefer, is to just write off the multiverse. Not necessarily with Geras and writing him off too as a consequence, just have it simply.... Not be a problem anymore. It sounds kinda lazy, but it's not like we need a super complex explanation, just have it not appear, maybe mentioned in passing, but that's about it.

[@nabilahmed579]

Honestly I have to agree, if you are planning to keep the story somewhat going. Problem is with NRS, it’s been too many times in which they have fucked up the canon by now to the point where you might as well make a mk game without a story

[@dionysisnance4204]

To much mutiverse problem everywhere but mortal kombat just wasted what they could have done with it

[@vaibhavwasnik4996]

Only mk 1 - mk 4 ( 1991- 1997) was golden era of mortal Kombat games after then John tobias left the NRS company that's why after mk 4 whole mortal Kombat game franchise was destroyed.

[@pedromuniz638]

I really enjoyed mk11 and aftermath but the time stuff should've stopped there

[@michael_thq]

The Multiverse idea was a bad idea for Mortal Kombat.... Netherrealm should just take the L and move on

[@rayhayes7701]

You and Ian from 616 Entertainment are valid in your point however I don't care and like multiverse stories. Blame DC Comics

[@C.R.Cole331]

The problem is it's badly done and poorly executed. Their existing universe hasn't been fleshed out at all with the unnecessary second reboot so why would I care about these other random universes?

[@christopherharris6601]

Nothin wrong wit multiverse stuff the problem the good guys somehow always winning not a threat

[@fs0598]

i hate multiverses by default but i think there are ways to do it well. that said, mk absolutely does not. my issue with mk1 is that we have this brand new universe that was meticulously designed to fix the in universe issues that existed in the past. but it goes almost completely unexplored. we have this whole brand new outworld that is supposed to be better than shao khans outworld but it turns out this whole idea of outworld having a golden age is a facade bc people like the tarkatans and zaterrans are suffering. okay? why dont we really get to see that? instead you just keep trying to remind us "hey guys remember shang tsung and liu kang fought to the death?" "hey guys remember havik just being super chaotic?" like it just shows an overall lack of confidence in this new world that they built. they would rather try and fail to nostalgia-bait everyone than stand confidently with this new lore they created. they want to do multiverse things? fine, whatever, let it wait until after this new universe has been sufficiently explored. i am WAY more interested i hearing about this zaterran conspiracy or onaga than i am hearing about yet ANOTHER boring titan

[@Darkyugi92]

How are you?

[@jamescarter6468]

I like the multiverse aspect, only because it fixes a lot of plot holes we’ve had. Honestly I don’t get the hate.

[@papaadot9369]

It's killed mortal Kombat story it has to go

[@scottchaison1001]

It didn't fix anything, what are you talking about? XDDDDDDDDD

[@nabilahmed579]

If they were actually stated to be the reason as to why the plot holes happened in which any of the games used this as an excuse for the plot holes, AT ALL.

[@booooiiiiii6930]

First and always am first I love your content bro

[@phasekasumi4459]

When MK11 story ended what do they next? Who’s the big bad that eclipse over Kronika? I mean y’all hate the idea of titans, What more can they do to continue the series if Liu Kang didn’t make the MK1 timeline? I get that y’all hate the multiverse shit but MK characters die and when you don’t have sorcerer like Quan Chi and Shang Tsung and probably even the fallen elder god Shinnok that dead that’s also known for necromancy there’s probably no other way to bring back the fallen characters. Characters like Mileena, Sonya, Kano, Frost, Sheeva, etc would be no longer.

[@nabilahmed579]

The problem was with mk11 that we genuinely did not need to have kronika be the main villain of that game. It would have felt more natural if they just continued with the dark raiden storyline but the stories feel as if they are barely connected since some events basically become insignificant to one another

[@phasekasumi4459]

@@nabilahmed579 They kinda did for a little with Raiden in the beginning. What happens when more characters die though? I know you got a favorite character what if your favorite character die with no other way to have them return?

[@j.p.walkman9671]

I don't get all the Cassie Hate. I loved her. She was a main for me. I kind of want her to return as Johnny's Estranged Daughter.

[@scottchaison1001]

Booooooooooooooooooring

[@Kryo_GTS]

Restore the original timeline before the unnecessary and unwanted retcons and move forward from that. Stop with all the time travel and multiverse BS. Easy fix 😊.

[@tyruku18]

Pretty much hate it because it was done poorly. Also don't really like the portrayal of some characters, too.

[@rayhoyer4829]

I disagree hard reboot!

[@AlexIn_ThaCosmos89]

The whole multiverse thing is becoming a boring trend

[@jamespeak9653]

The midern games ruined things now its all about mutivere but the main thing was always the different realms not a mutiverse. Ive bought and played them nutnalmkstnregret it. Becausr whime game play mostly was fine the story ended in Armegedden the two reboots sucked story wise. And i dint like quest charactere or the new live feature shop in mk1