Mortal Kombat 9/Trivia

• Banned In Australia: According to this article, Australia's censors have banned the game due to the graphic violence in the fatalities. It's banned to such a point that they have the border patrol on the lookout for attempts to import the game. This could have been averted if they bit the bullet and introduced an R18+ for games, but that's a contentious issue.
  • It's also Banned In Germany. However, importing "banned" games isn't a big problem here.
  • Sheeva's ending in the game pokes fun at this controversy.
  • Following the introduction of an R18+ rating for video games in Australia in early 2013, the "Komplete Edition" has received approval and can legally be sold locally, as well as imported.
• Development Gag: The younger Sub-Zero (Kuai Liang, aka the younger Sub-Zero), according to his bio, went by the Code Name of Tundra before taking up his brother's title. Tundra was the original name considered for Sub-Zero.
• Executive Meddling: Kratos's different animations for when he falls victim to certain fatalities was a design decision which, according to Ed Boon, was requested by Sony Computer Entertainment as they didn't want to make him look weak.
• Fan Nickname:
  • Cyb-Zero for... guess.
  • "Portal Kombat": The release date of the game itself, simply for coinciding with that of Portal 2's; the temptation to switch out the "M" in "Mortal" for a "P" proved to be too great.
    • Scorpion and Noob Saibot's second fatalities and the latter's Babality wouldn't seem too out of place in the Aperture Science Enrichment Center.
  • Gravity Squeeze for Ermac's "Cannonball Slam" X-ray Move, due to its aesthetic similarities to Magneto's Level 3 in Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
  • Kittentaro: Kintaro's more feline appearance in this game (he more closely resembled a tiger in Mortal Kombat Armageddon). Can also be applied to his Babality.
  • Mortal Kombat 9 itself is a Fan Nickname, as the game's official title is Mortal Kombat. Depending on what community you're a part of, Mortal Kombat 2011 is also a common nickname.
  • Thunder Idiot or God of Blunder for Raiden due to his many What an Idiot! moments throughout the game.
  • Raidude (used by Johnny once in Story Mode) also seems to be picking up in certain circles.
  • Cyblax for Cyrax's human form; used primarily by the game's competitive community, as Cyrax's human and robot forms have subtle but game-altering differences in their movesets.
• Flip-Flop of God: In development, earlier reports noted that the Sub-Zero in this game was Bi-Han, the elder Sub-Zero. Sub-Zero's vignette and combo video shown that it was Kuai Liang, the younger brother instead, once again taking up his brother's title and out for Scorpion's blood. In the end, both Sub-Zeroes (and Noob Saibot), in a way, made the cut for the game, and none of them remains as human Sub-Zero: Bi-Han is killed by Scorpion and turned by Quan Chi into Noob Saibot; and Kuai Liang, the Sub-Zero of the roster, is turned into Cyber Sub-Zero. There's even a battle between them at some point. Of note is that both Sub-Zeroes have different costumes, and Bi-Han's one is the alternate.
• Hey, It's That Sound: The "End of Rage" sound from the DC crossover comes back in several circumstances in this game.
• Hey, It's That Voice!:
  • Reprising their roles from Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe are Tom Choi, Richard Epcar, Patrick Seitz, Jim Miller, Dana Lyn Baron, Ron Banks and Michael McConnohie as Liu Kang, Raiden, Scorpion, Kuai Liang!Sub-Zero, Sonya, Quan Chi and Kano. McConnohie also voices Ermac, whereas Seitz and Baron get another role in the form of DLC characters Freddy Krueger and Skarlet.
  • Jamieson Price (Iron Tager) voices Bi-Han!Sub-Zero/Noob Saibot, and he's also the announcer. He also happens to be the announcer for Super Street Fighter IV.
  • Matthew Mercer (Ganondorf) voices Stryker.
  • Terrence T.C. Carson (Othello) reprises his role as Guest Fighter Kratos.
  • Gerald C. Rivers (Exdeath) voices Jax.
  • Karen Strassman (Magoichi Saica and Rouge the Bat) voices both Kitana and Mileena.
  • Lani Minella, (Female announcer, Medivac pilot, Ivy, and Rouge the Bat) voices both Sheeva and Sindel.
  • Bob Carter (Bojack, Balrog) voices Shao Kahn and Baraka.
  • David Lodge (Jiraiya, Kenpachi) voices Kabal.
  • Andrew Kishino (Koki, Yuri Solotov) voices Shang Tsung and Sektor.
  • Jeff Pilson (Foreigner bassist and former Dokken and Dio bassist) voices Johnny Cage.
  • Ken Lally (The German) voices Smoke, Goro and Shinnok.
  • As usual, series co-creator Ed Boon moves his chords for Scorpion's iconic "Get over here!" and "Come here!" quotes, as well as voicing a few minor background characters on the side.
• I Knew It!:
  • Seeing as Mortal Kombat: Deception's Konquest mode established that Kenshi (the Blind Weaponmaster swordsman from Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance and one of the few Ensemble Darkhorses from the post-Mortal Kombat 3 era) had been around since the time of the first game (he had apparently Missed the Call for joining the tournament, and thus missed his chance to enact his revenge on Shang Tsung), many assumed that he had a good chance of making it onto the roster here. He was confirmed as DLC.
  • There had also been a fan theory since the time of Gold (thanks to Cyrax's ending) that the Lin Kuei's ranks do not consist exclusively of Chinese people (or those of Chinese ancestry in the case of the Chinese-American-Cyromancer Sub-Zero bros., who were taken to China against their will by their father). Smoke and Cyrax's bios confirm this to be true; the former hails from Prague and is named Tomas Vrbada, while the latter is Motswana and was recruited to join the clan (so... Slavic and African "ninjas"?).
• Jossed: It had been assumed for years among the fandom that Jade's parents were Edenian nobility, thus explaining how she and Kitana were so close during their childhood and beyond. In reality, Jade was actually offered as a tribute to Shao Kahn in her infant years, where she was raised alongside Kitana as one of Kahn's assassins.
• The Other Darrin: Most of the VAs for the Mortal Kombat side from Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe return here, with a few exceptions:
  • The Announcer: Herman Sanchez (the announcer in the main series from Mortal Kombat 4 up to Mortal Kombat Armageddon and Mortal Kombat vs. DCU) --> Jamieson Price.
  • Kitana: S.G. Willie --> Karen Strassman.
  • Jax: Dan Washington --> Gerald C. Rivers.
  • Baraka: Dan Washington --> Bob Carter.
  • Shang Tsung: James Kyson-Lee --> Andrew Kishino.
  • Shao Kahn: Patrick Seitz --> Bob Carter.
• Relationship Voice Actor:
  • Jax^[1], Stryker^[2], Noob Saibot/the Announcer^[3], Shao Kahn/Baraka^[4] and Ermac/Kano^[5] are M. Bison, Fei-Long, the Announcer, Balrog and Seth.
    • Jax's and Shao Kahn's/Baraka's VA also reprise their Street Fighter roles in Street Fighter X Tekken, with Kitana/Mileena^[6], Scorpion/Freddy Krueger^[7] and Noob Saibot/Announcer being Poison, Hugo/Bob and Heihachi.
  • Kano/Ermac^[8] and Scorpion/Freddy Krueger^[9], are The Lich King, Prince Arthas Menethil/Warchief Garrosh Hellscream.
• Serendipity Writes the Plot: Freddy Krueger's story in the game specifically calls out the fact he's wearing two claws when he normally only uses one, due to the game's reversible stances (since the Front and Back limbs aren't fixed because of the ability to swap a character's stance on a dime, any attack Freddy can use with one hand, he must be able to do with the other).
• Talking to Himself:
  • Michael McConnohie voices both Ermac and Kano.
  • Karen Strassman voices both Kitana and Mileena.
  • Lani Minella voices both Sindel and Sheeva.
  • Jamieson Price voices both Noob Saibot and the Announcer.
  • Andrew Kishino voices both Shang Tsung and Sektor.
  • Bob Carter voices Shao Kahn and Baraka.
  • Ken Lally voices Smoke, Goro and Shinnok.
  • Rhasaan Orange voices Cyrax and Kintaro.
  • Dana Lyn Baron voices both Sonya and Skarlet.
  • Patrick Seitz voices both Scorpion and Freddy.

1. ↑ Gerald C. Rivers.
2. ↑ Matthew Mercer.
3. ↑ Jamieson Price.
4. ↑ Bob Carter.
5. ↑ Michael McConnohie.
6. ↑ Karen Strassman.
7. ↑ Patrick Seitz.
8. ↑ Michael McConnohie.
9. ↑ Patrick Seitz.