Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

"Face each other, or face me? It makes no difference! YOU! WILL! FIGHT!"
—Dark Kahn

Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe is a Fighting Game launched in 2008 for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. It's a Crisis Crossover between the Mortal Kombat and DC Universes, featuring characters from both sides beating the crap out of each other.

This game stands out from similar Crossover Fighting Games by having an actual plot, which is strictly followed in Story Mode: instead of picking up the characters, you choose a side and play the story with all of them, in order. Both sides' story happen in the same time and space. It's set up between Mortal Kombat II and Mortal Kombat 3, and it's considered a Spin-Off and an Elseworld respectively.

In Metropolis, upon his defeat at the hands of Superman, Darkseid tries to escape, using a BoomTube, but Superman blasts him through the portal. Meanwhile, in another universe, Shao Kahn's invasion on Earthrealm has failed, and he's blasted by Raiden's thunder right into the magic portal. It seems that peace has returned to both worlds. But it doesn't last long. Quickly, heroes, villains and fighters from one universe gets transported to the other, both world's magic is disturbed, while powerful, irrational rage starts randomly taking over the characters, making them brutally attack anybody they see, even their allies.

The game features the following characters:

It also features some unique minigames which you can play during a fight, such as the Freefall Kombat (which happens if you throw your opponent out from the ring, your character will jump after him and, if you push the right buttons at the right time, kick his ass in the air, before landing on a new arena), Klose Kombat (a guessing game where you try to block your rival's hits during up-to-four turns), the return of Test Your Might as a mid-battle event, replacing the Freefall Kombat in enclosed areas, and the plot-pointal Rage, a temporary Limit Break where you can't be hit-stunned and where you're able to do a load of damage in six seconds.

The reception of this game was somewhat mixed, and marked the end of Midway Games. Interestingly enough, the Mortal Kombat franchise is now owned by Warner Bros, which also owns DC Comics.

It has a character sheet.

See also Capcom vs. Whatever.

Tropes used in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe include:
  • All There in the Manual: Where are the likes of Johnny Cage, Goro, Robin or Aquaman? Erased from existence thanks to the universes merging. This was only mentioned in the comic book that accompanied the limited edition of the game.
  • Alternate Company Equivalent: To the Marvel vs. Capcom series as the other top comic book publisher's characters butt heads with the other top fighting game franchise of The Nineties.
  • Badass Abnormal: All the Badass Normal characters have been temporary powered up, so they can beat up warriors like Raiden and Superman.
  • The Cameo:
    • Johnny Cage, Goro, Robin and Aquaman appear in the prequel comic as some of the disappeared characters.
    • Quan Chi appears across the entire MK part of the Story Mode. He's never seen in the DC part.
    • Quan Chi also mentions that Shinnok will be displeased of Shao Kahn's failure at conquering Earthrealm in the MK chapter 1.
    • Kano mentions to the Flash that he would give Kabal a run for his money.
    • Ganthet appears in chapter 3 of the DC side.
    • Wonder Woman mentions Martian Manhunter in chapter 4 of the DC side.
    • Fujin and Argus appear in Liu Kang's ending. The latter also appear in Kitana's ending.
    • Sinestro appears in Green Lantern's ending.
  • Clothing Damage: The fighters Shows Damage as the fight progresses.
  • Combo Breaker: By filling half of the Rage bar, you can break a combo string.
  • Cool and Unusual Punishment: Shao Kahn being trapped in Phantom Zone, at least for those unaware with DC Universe. Especially compared to Darkseid being chained to a deep section of the Neatherrealm.
  • Crossover:
  • A Day in the Limelight: The Story Mode's chapters function like this. Everyone except for Kano, Baraka and Kitana on the Mortal Kombat side and Catwoman and Deathstroke on the DC side gets one.
  • De-Power: After the destruction of Dark Kahn, both Darkseid and Shao Kahn end in the opposite universe, where they're rendered, apparently, powerless. That lasts until their respective endings in the Arcade mode, where they're repowered again.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: Superman and his friends find out that some force is merging their world with another, which is destroying them both. The merging is causing certain characters to act violent and hostile. Superman and co. travel to a void between the worlds, with lots of floating rocks. They run afoul of a team of warriors from the other world, and the thunder god challenges them. Superman and the thunder god battle bitterly until they realize that they've been victims of the rage caused by the merging, and the two of them join forces against the main villain. The villain is defeated, and the two worlds are separated and restored to normal... but a major villain ends up suffering an ironic fate. Sound familiar?
  • Enemy Mine: First, the heroes and villains band together against another Universe. Then everybody joins forces against Dark Kahn. It doesn't end well. Thankfully, Raiden and Superman manage to restore everything to normal.
  • Forgotten Fallen Friend: Despite his presence being an indispensable element in Mortal Kombat 1 and Mortal Kombat II, Johnny Cage does not appear or is even referenced. Even his best friend (Liu Kang), mentor (Raiden), ally (Jax), rival (Kano) and lover (Sonya Blade) seem to have forgotten he even existed.
  • Free-Fall Fight: One of the game's mechanics.
  • Gameplay and Story Integration: The "Kombat Rage" is the handwave to explain why the heroes are constantly fighting each other, and it's also an actual gameplay mechanic which allows you to change the flow of a fight.
  • Heel Face Turn: Shang Tsung, Quan Chi and Lex Luthor.
  • Let's You and Him Fight: The whole premise of the game. Dark Kahn planned to gain power from champions of both worlds fighting each other. Also used by Quan Chi, who manipulated Scorpion and Sub-Zero into fighting each other so the power of their battle would fuse his prison with part of DC Universe, freeing him.
  • Lighter and Softer: Compared to the last Mortal Kombat games before it, thanks to the T rating.
  • Mirrored Confrontation Shot: Batman and Sub-Zero in the trailer, with the addition of Superman, Wonder Woman, Raiden and Scorpion on the cover.
  • Ms. Fanservice: The "Bio" bonus feature gives you the option of getting a tight close of any part of a character's anatomy that strikes your fancy. Both male and female characters can be viewed this way, but let's be real: the number of players taking time out for a closeup of Catwoman's Absolute Cleavage far outnumbers those seeking a closeup of Luther's backside.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: All this mess started because Superman and Raiden had the brilliant idea to blast some crazy gods of evil into portals. Lex Luthor even points this to Supes' in the DC side of the story (see the character sheet for this).
  • Nintendo Hard: Don't even think of playing the storyline game without spending a lot of time practicing the moves and learning the various commands. If playing the DC side you begin as Flash, who is pretty lame in terms of his fighting style. Then, after you switch to Batman, you're faced with a one-sided battle against one of the Mortal Kombat characters who will wipe you out almost instantly if you don't know what you're doing.
  • Non-Lethal KO: Played straight with the Heroic Brutalities, though half of them look pretty damn lethal anyway, if only by the standards of series not named Mortal Kombat.
  • Power Creep, Power Seep: Part of the reason for the Kombat Rage in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. Justified as the fusion of both worlds and Battle Rage weakens some characters, while empowering others. Lampshaded at last once, when Deathstroke figured out that the Joker could beat Sonya Blade:

Deathstroke to Joker: Since when you can beat up anybody?

Shang Tsung to Kano: A clown? You were defeated by a CLOWN?

  • Sequel Hook: Many endings in the Arcade Mode suggest a sequel, such as Lex Luthor forming a Deadly Alliance with Quan Chi in his ending, Liu Kang and The Flash agreeing to warn each other when another interdimensional hole is opened in Kang's ending, and finding said hole later, the Green Lantern Corps trying to prevent Sinestro from obtaining the power of Pyramid of Argus, and Batman having installed a new system in the Batcave in order to detect interdimensional rifts (called Outerworld Monitor and Auto-Containment, funnily enough).
    • In Story Mode, Shao Kahn is banished to the Phantom Zone, and Darkseid to the Netherrealm. In their Arcade Mode endings, Shao Kahn escapes the Phantom Zone with an army of Kryptonian supervillains, and Darkseid escapes the Netherrealm and forces Shang Tsung into his service (making him his new Desaad), effectively having the Big Bads trade places with one another.
  • Shout-Out: Check the page.
  • Shows Damage
  • Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Trailer: The first trailer of the game is pretty much just Batman and Sub-Zero fighting, nobody else appears, even in the Mirrored Confrontation Shot.
  • Story-Breaker Team-Up: Thanks to DC's involvement in the development, the game was forced into a T rating.
  • Versus Title
  • Yellow Eyes Take Warning: THE RAGE! THE RAGE!
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