MK, mk or mK may stand for:

Locations[link]

Magic Kingdom, a theme park at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida

Magic Kingdom, Sydney, a defunct theme park in Australia

Milton Keynes, a town in southern England

* MK postcode area, postal districts in the Milton Keynes area

MK, the ISO country code for the Republic of Macedonia

* Macedonian language, ISO 639 digram

* .mk, the Internet country code top-level domain for the Republic of Macedonia

Mong Kok, a area of Hong Kong with the highest population density in the world

Morris Knolls High School, a high school in Morris County, New Jersey

[Minimal Kids] a Brighton based movement.

People[link]

M. K. Asante (born 1982), American author, filmmaker and professor

Maria Kanellis (born 1982), American professional wrestling personality

Mark Knopfler (born 1949), English musician, co-founder of Dire Straits

Michael Kors (born 1959), American fashion designer

MK, alias of American dance music producer Marc Kinchen

Mary-Kate Olsen (born 1986), American actor

Majak Kun Biliu (born 1978), South Sudanese

Titles[link]

MK, abbreviation for Machinery Technician, an enlisted rating in the United States Coast Guard

Mk, a post-nominal title in the Christian church indicating the bearer was a monk

In business[link]

Markup (business), a term for the difference between the cost of a good or service and its selling price

MK, the IATA airline designator for Air Mauritius

MK Electric, an English manufacturer of electrical goods

MK Sportscars, an English sportscar kit manufacturer

Mysore Kirloskar, an Indian manufacturer of lathes, part of the Kirloskar Group

In entertainment[link]

MK (channel), a South African Afrikaans-language music channel

Moon Knight, Marvel Universe superhero

Video games[link]

''Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome'', a tactical role-playing game

''Mario Kart'', a series of racing video games made by Nintendo

Meta Knight, a character from the ''Kirby'' video game series

''Mortal Kombat'', a series of fighting video games developed and published by Midway Games, and later Warner Bros

Mushroom Kingdom, the primary setting of the ''Super Mario'' video game series

In politics[link]

MK, nickname of Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), formerly a paramilitary wing of the African National Congress (ANC)

Mebyon Kernow, a Cornish political party in the United Kingdom

Mein Kampf, a partly autobiographical political treatise written by Adolf Hitler

Member of Knesset (the legislature of Israel)

In science and technology[link]

Mark (designation), a designation used to identify versions of a product or item

Megakelvin (MK), an SI unit of temperature

Midkine, a protein

Millikelvin (mK), an SI unit of temperature

Mk reference point, an interface of the IP Multimedia Subsystem used to exchange messages between BGCFs in different networks

mk (software), a make replacement in the Plan 9 from Bell Labs and Inferno operating systems

MK spectral classification, a stellar classification system based on spectral lines

In sport[link]

FK Mandalskameratene, a Norwegian football club

Milton Keynes Dons F.C., a football team in Milton Keynes often shortened to MK Dons

Other[link]

Finnish markka, the official currency of Finland from 1860 to 2001

Gospel of Mark, the second book of the New Testament in the Christian Bible

Missionary Kids, the children of missionary parents

Morse–Kelley set theory in the field of mathematics

See also[link]

MKULTRA (disambiguation)

cs:MK de:MK el:MK eo:Mk fr:MK ko:MK is:MK it:MK sw:MK lv:MK lt:MK nl:MK ja:MK pt:MK ro:MK fi:Mk sv:MK th:MK zh:Mk

Name	Liu Kang
Series	''Mortal Kombat''
Creator	John Tobias and Ed Boon
Firstgame	''Mortal Kombat'' (1992)
Voiceactor	Brian Tochi (''MK: DotR'')Tom Choi (''MKvDC'', ''MK2011'')
Motionactor	Ho Sung Pak (''MK'', ''MKII'')Eddie Wong (''MK3'', ''UMK3'', ''MKT'')
Liveactor	Robin Shou (films)Carmichael Simon, Jon Valera, Michael Li, Allan Sandoval (''Live Tour'')
Inuniverse	}}

Liu Kang () is a video game character from the ''Mortal Kombat'' series. First appearing in the series' first title, Liu Kang is portrayed as a Shaolin monk who enters the Mortal Kombat tournament to save his world, Earthrealm, from being destroyed due to having lost nine consecutive tournaments. Since his victory in the tournament, Liu Kang acts as defender from the Earthrealms along with the Earth's other warriors, his mentor, the thunder god Raiden, and his lover, Princess Kitana.

Liu Kang appears in most games as a playable character, including as the lead character from ''Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks'' along with Kung Lao, and has also appeared in the live-action films from the series and the comic adaptations. His character was created to be the hero of the series, with most of his moves being less violent and easier to perform than the ones from other characters. His critical reception was mixed, with some of them criticizing his gameplay while others noted him to be entertaining.

In video games[link]

Introduced in the first ''Mortal Kombat'' game as a Chinese Shaolin Kung Fu fighting monk, Liu Kang enters the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament in order to protect Earthrealm from being destroyed for having lost several tournaments. During the tournament, Liu Kang defeats Grand Champion Goro and the host Shang Tsung, emerging as the new champion of Mortal Kombat. In the sequel, ''Mortal Kombat II'', Liu Kang finds many of his Shaolin killed in a vicious attack by a horde of nomadic mutants under orders from Emperor Shao Kahn, Shang Tsung's master. Enraged, Liu Kang decides to travel to Outworld, backed by his friend Kung Lao to seek revenge. At the tournament, Liu Kang fights Shao Kahn, eventually overpowering the emperor. In ''Mortal Kombat 3'', Liu Kang and his friends fight against Shao Khan's extermination squad which invaded Earthrealm. Liu Kang once again defeats Shao Kahn, causing him and his forces to retreat back to Outworld. By the time of ''Mortal Kombat 4'' Liu Kang discovers that Kitana has been captured by the Elder God Shinnok's forces and begins gathering Earth's warriors to defeat Shinnok. Eventually, Liu Kang confronts Shinnok and once again emerges victorious with Kitana and her people having survived to the attack. However, he is unable to commit himself to a relationship due to his duty while Kitana has to stay in Outworld as reigning princess.

In ''Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance'', the sorcerers Shang Tsung and Quan Chi join forces to kill Liu Kang, who is unplayable in the game. By the time of ''Mortal Kombat: Deception'', his mentor, Raiden, reanimates Liu Kang's body and sends it on a rampage, causing his soul to attempt to control it. The undead Liu Kang appears as a secret character that can only be unlocked through the Konquest Mode. In the PlayStation Portable version of ''Deception'', ''Mortal Kombat: Unchained'', he is directly playable as the staff noted that it was very difficult to unlock him in ''Deception''. From there, Liu Kang enlists with the ninja Ermac to try to save his friends from Onaga who has been controlling them. He accomplishes this task in ''Deception'', but by ''Mortal Kombat: Armageddon'' he is still unable to fully control his body.

Along with Kung Lao, Liu Kang is the lead character in the spin-off action game ''Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks''. The game is a retelling of the storyline of ''Mortal Kombat II'' and features the two Shaolin Monks traveling to Outworld to find and defeat Shang Tsung, later ending in a fight with Shao Khan. Liu Kang also stars in the crossover ''Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe'', which features fights between characters from the ''Mortal Kombat'' and the DC Comics universe. In this game, Liu Kang appears as the protagonist of the first chapter of the ''Mortal Kombat'' story mode. Tobias said that the fight he expected to see in the game was between Liu Kang and Batman as he noted their back-stories to be very similar.

In the 2011 ''Mortal Kombat'' video game, Liu Kang reprises his role from the first two tournaments as Raiden who has visions from the future in which Shao Kahn remained as the last warrior believes him to be the warrior which his future self chose as the saviour. When Shao Kahn is preparing to invade Earthrealm, Raiden electrocutes Liu Kang before he could face him as he realized Shao Kahn had to win and merge the realms in order to avoid the events of the future.

Gameplay[link]

Liu Kang specializes in kicks, with his most common move being flying across the screen and connect with a kick to the opponent's torso. He also has a "Bicycle Kick" in which Liu Kang flies across the screen with a series of multiple kicks to the opponent's torso resembling pedaling a bicycle, hence the name. Another of his signature abilities is the "Dragon Fire": with it Liu Kang sends a fiery flame in the shape of a dragon across the screen out of his hands at his opponent. After ''Mortal Kombat II'', he gains the ability to perform this while crouching and in the air, same for ''Deception'' and ''Armageddon''.

Liu Kang's first finishing move is the Fatality "Shaolin Uppercut". With it Liu Kang performs a butterfly kick on his opponent, before hitting an uppercut that knocks them into the air for several seconds. In ''Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks'', there were two versions; one where the victim explodes to pieces upon impact and the original, in which the opponent is torn to pieces upon falling to the ground. In another signature Fatality he morphs into a large dragon, chomping the upper body of his opponent. Developer John Vogel noted this Fatality to be his favorite due to how much Liu Kang's appearance changes and how big he becomes. This Fatality was turned into an Animality in ''Mortal Kombat 3'' and back into a normal Fatality in ''Mortal Kombat 4''. In the Game Boy and Game Gear versions of ''Mortal Kombat II'', he torches the opponent with a fireball. He also has a Fatality in which he disappears and then a ''Mortal Kombat'' arcade game machine drops down and crushes his opponent.

In other media[link]

Liu Kang was the main protagonist of Malibu Comics' adaptation of the ''Mortal Kombat'' series. In the first miniseries, ''Blood & Thunder,'' his backstory was mostly kept intact as a Shaolin monk out to restore the tournament to their righteous owners, with the only difference being that he was not the chosen one to defeat Goro, which instead fell on twin monk brothers named Sing and Sang, two original characters created specifically for the comics; after they are killed by Goro in the third issue, Liu Kang becomes the Shaolin's only hope in defeating Shang Tsung. The following miniseries, ''Battlewave,'' stated that Liu Kang won the first tournament after defeating Goro, which never appeared in the first miniseries. He returns to his normal life as an architect in Chicago, having left the Order of Light before the events of the first series. However, he suffers from constant attacks by an unknown force of ninjas and later receives help from Johnny Cage's bodyguard Bo when Goro ambushes him in an office building. Eventually he decides to travel to Outworld, realizing that he cannot avoid Mortal Kombat.

He is the main protagonist in both ''Mortal Kombat'' movies, portrayed by Robin Shou. Director Paul W. S. Anderson wanted Liu Kang's character to be "really engaging" and chose Shou, noting his skills with martial arts. In the first film, he takes part in the tournament out of guilt over his brother's death at the hands of Shang Tsung, and defeats Tsung in the final battle. As a result of the film's style the relationship between Liu Kang and Kitana is more of a metaphysical than a romantic nature. Shou, along with Talisa Soto (Kitana), was one of only two actors to reprise their roles in the sequel, ''Mortal Kombat: Annihilation'' (Keith Cooke, who played Reptile, returned as well, but as the new Sub-Zero). In the sequel, Liu Kang joins the Earthrealm warriors to stop Shao Kahn's menace.

Liu Kang was also one of the lead characters in the 1996 animated series ''Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm'', voiced by Brian Tochi. He was not the main protagonist therein as opposed to the game storyline, instead sharing this role with several other Earthrealm heroes.

In the animated film ''Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins'', Liu Kang appears as one of the main characters.

Concept and design[link]

Liu Kang was originally going to be called Minamoto Yo Shin Soo, a Japanese mythological character, but John Tobias stated that they could not "deal with the name". According to Tobias, Liu Kang "was originally going to be a traditional monk - bald and in robes - but he wound up resembling Bruce Lee." As stated on his ''MK: Armageddon'' bio card, Ed Boon mentioned that Liu Kang was designed to be the most easily "accessible" character, meaning that both casual and experienced gamers could play as him with little difficulty. Liu Kang was the only character in the first game whose finishing move (Fatality) did not explicitly murder his opponent, and also without the background dimming. This was because Liu Kang was depicted therein as a Shaolin monk, who in general have strict beliefs regarding killing and murder. However, starting with ''Mortal Kombat II'', he was given gory Fatalities as he was thereafter depicted as a renegade monk who decided to grow his hair back, and who had "strong Shaolin beliefs, but was no longer a part of the Shaolin monks." In response to rumors that Liu Kang would die in ''Mortal Kombat II'' and therefore not make it into ''Mortal Kombat 3'', Boon said, "It'd be like doing part three of ''Star Wars'' and not having Luke Skywalker in there. You don't do that." His eventual death caused Dan Forden, the music composer of the series, to make a "funeral song" for Liu Kang as he felt saddened for his death. The track, named "Liu Kang's Tomb", would be used in ''Mortal Kombat: Deception'' in the arena that shows Liu Kang's tomb.

Liu Kang was played by Ho Sung Pak in the first two games, and John Tobias stated in an interview that he originally intended for the character to be a traditional bald monk, but the actor refused to shave his head. In the first game, Liu Kang was modeled after Bruce Lee, as he had short hair and went shirtless, with a threadbare outfit of only black pants and white shoes. The word "Otomix" was supposed to be written in his pants as Otomix is a supplier of martial arts and athletic wear, but the staff decided to remove to avoid advertising it. In ''Mortal Kombat II,'' his outfit was enhanced with red stripes, and now included a red headband, black shoes, and studded wristguards (the intro of ''MKII'' shows the younger version of the character defeating Shang Tsung in the background, while the updated character is in the foreground). In ''Mortal Kombat 3,'' his hair was considerably longer, with the only alteration to his outfit being thin black leg strips wrapped above his ankles in order to give him a "sleeker" look for the game. He was given a red tank top in addition to his usual costume in ''Mortal Kombat 4'', but his alternate outfit was blue and featured him shirtless again. His wardrobe from the third game was carried over into ''Deception'' and ''Armageddon'', but due to his resurrection, his skin was ash gray, and he wore hooked chains around his wrists. This form is also known by fans and ''Mortal Kombat'' producer Shaun Himmerick as "Zombie Liu Kang". Nevertheless, his alternate outfit for both games featured him as a living person in order to contrast his undead form. In ''Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe'', he sported a slightly altered version of his third costume, in addition to a championship belt adorned with the ''Mortal Kombat'' dragon emblem. Although in ''Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks'', Liu Kang's design remains similar to his ''Mortal Kombat II'' one, Himmerick comments that it was the most revised one from the game along with Kung Lao's.

Promotion and reception[link]

In 1996, Toy Island published a Liu Kang action figure which had a white shirt. Two Liu Kang action figures from ''Shaolin Monks'' were released by Jazwares. Apart from being flexible, both figures included different types of weapons such as swords and axes.

Liu Kang's character has received fairly positive response by gaming publications. GameSpot featured him in their poll for the title of "All Time Greatest Game Hero" in 2009, in which he has lost to Yoshi. BrightHub also ranked Lui Kang as the second best character in the series. In UGO Networks' 2012 list of the "Top 50 Mortal Kombat Characters", Liu Kang placed at 1st. He was also ranked as 94th on UGO's 2008 "Top 100 Heroes of All Time" list, noting his role in the ''Mortal Kombat'' series as well as character depth. GamesRadar featured him their article "Kickass Bruce Lee clones" citing his similarities with Bruce Lee and with one of his shouts featured in famous quotes. His relation with Kitana was ranked fourth in IGN's list of "Best Videogames Couples" in 2006.

Upon his death in ''Deadly Alliance'', IGN's Jeremy Dunham noted that Liu Kang was killed as the series needed "'starting over' mentality", as he regarded Liu Kang as the series' strongest character. ''Game Informer'' listed his death in their article "Characters That Died Under Our Watch" calling it a "shock" as Liu Kang was stated to be one of the "most loved" characters from the series. GamePlayBook ranked Liu Kang as the second best ''Mortal Kombat'' character, who commented "His nimbleness and fighting expertise make him an ideal pick" and how he is as good as zombie as when he was alive. His redesign in ''Mortal Kombat: Deception'' was praised by GameSpot for being one of the best ones from the title, and was featured in GamesRadar's list of "The 37 greatest zombie triumphs" in 2009, but was ranked as the ninth worst ''Mortal Kombat'' character by ScrewAttack in 2011. ScrewAttack also ranked Liu Kang's dragon Fatality as the second best in the series and referred to it as the most iconic Fatality in ''Mortal Kombat 2'', but ranked his cartwheel Fatality from the first Mortal Kombat as the second worst in the series. Additionally, GamesRadar noted this incarnation to be a stereotype of gaming heroes who reveal an evil alter-ego which ruins the character's appealing traits. IGN also said that "it just wouldn't be right having a game without him", noting that him to be as fierce as the DC characters from ''Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe''.

Some video game publications criticized his gameplay and shouts while others noted him to be entertaining. IGN's Douglas Perry wrote that he preferred Liu Kang over Kung Lao as a playable character in ''Shaolin Monks'' because of his "intuitive fighting moves," adding that his shouts were "annoying" yet "strangely pleasing." GameDaily also complained on his voice, saying that "Liu Kang screams out like a chicken". Eurogamer commented that Liu Kang's kicks are ridiculous, while their intensified versions from ''Shaolin Monks'' are demented. Liu Kang's finishing move turned into a dragon fatality has been listed as one of the best fatalities from the series by both ''Game Informer'' and UGO. On the other hand, his fatality in which he throws a ''Mortal Kombat'' arcade and his first fatality were pointed by both ''Game Informer'' and ''GamePro'' as one of the worst from the series due to their humor and lack of violence, respectively. Like all the characters from ''Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe'', Liu Kang was selected to be a playable character based on his popularity.

References[link]

External links[link]

Liu Kang - The Mortal Kombat Wiki

Category:Fictional Buddhist monks Category:Fictional characters based on real people Category:Fictional Chinese people Category:Fictional Jeet Kune Do practitioners Category:Fictional martial artists Category:Fictional undead Category:Fictional wushu practitioners Category:Film characters Category:Male video game characters Category:Malibu Comics characters Category:Mortal Kombat characters Category:Video game characters introduced in 1992

ar:ليو كانغ ca:Liu Kang es:Liu Kang fr:Liu Kang it:Liu Kang nl:Liu Kang pt:Liu Kang ru:Лю Кэнг ur:لیو کینگ (مارٹل کامبیٹ)

name	Jason Hall
birth date	May 20, 1971
birth place	Buffalo, New York
death date
nationality	American
other names	Jace
occupation	artist, producer, writer, gamer }}

Jason "Jace" Hall (born May 20, 1971 in Buffalo, New York) is an American film, television and video game producer, best known for being founder and Chief Executive Officer of Monolith Productions Inc and President of HDFILMS, INC.

He is also the star, producer, and writer of the reality online series, ''The Jace Hall Show'' as well as the current Executive Producer of The Morning After (web series) and previously on ABC's new "V" Television series.

Career [link]

After becoming the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE) in 2004, Hall produced and released video games including ''The Matrix Online'', ''F.E.A.R.'', ''Condemned: Criminal Origins'', ''300: March to Glory'', ''Justice League Heroes'', ''Happy Feet'', ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'', ''Batman Begins'' and ''Friends: The One with All the Trivia'' video game. One of his most notable roles inside a video game is as the voice of Tchernobog in ''Blood'' and ''Blood II: The Chosen'' as well as The Voice, the BloodBath commentator.And the up and coming adventures of where's Waldo.

In 2007, Hall founded HDFILMS INC., a production company that produces film, television, videogame and online content. The company is best known for its original reality show, ''The Jace Hall Show'', which debuted on Crackle.com and reached over 4 million viewers. In 2010, the show switched to IGN and is currently in production on its 5th season.

HDFILMS also produces The Morning After, a daily, pop culture online series appearing on Hulu's front page.

Hall is adding singer-songwriter to his resume with recent release of the new Mortal Kombat music video (over 18 million views) and his EP VIDEO GAMES AREN’T BAD FOR YOU

Hall is also the main author of the Jace Hall Show website, one of Alexa.com's Top 100,000 sites.

Year !! Title 2007 ''300: March to Glory'' 2006 Happy Feet (video game)>Happy Feet'' 2006 ''Justice League Heroes'' 2006 Xiaolin Showdown (video game)>Xiaolin Showdown'' 2005 Batman Begins (video game)>Batman Begins'' 2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005 video game)>Charlie and the Chocolate Factory''

==Television credited==

V The Series (2009–2010) (Warner Bros. Television) Executive Producer

Television series based on V (1983 miniseries) which premiered on NBC. Pilot in development with ABC and written by Scott Peters of The 4400.

''The Unforgettable'' (2011) – (Warner Bros.) Co-producer and Original Concept by

Original concept entitled ''Species X'' or ''Iniquity'', created by Hall and Nathan Hendrickson, is the basis for the movie as well as the video game ''Condemned: Criminal Origins'' and ''Condemned 2: Bloodshot''.

''Brothers in Arms'' (2009) – Executive Producer

Supposedly based on a true story, action is set at the end of WWII, when Gen. George S. Patton ordered up a top-secret mission to rescue his son-in-law from a POW camp 60 miles behind German lines. The brass said 3,000 men were needed for the job; Patton allotted 294 and a leader who wouldn’t quit, a 24-year-old captain named Abe Baum.

''PVC-1'' (2008) – Producer

Film was an award-nominated entry in the Cannes International Film Festival in 2007. IFC Films announced the acquisition of the film in 2008 for its Festival Direct arm.

Online content credited[link]

"The Morning After" (2011–Present) (HDFILMS, INC.) Executive Producer

Pop Culture, Daily Online-Series appearing on Hulu.com

''Chadam'' – Executive Producer Animated series created by Alex Pardee and produced by HDFilms and Warner Bros. Television with Todd Roy to air online in 2009. The entire series was built using the Unreal Engine 3 - known as the engine behind the games Gears of War and Bioshock. Hall pushed the boundaries of traditional filmmaking by using a computer game engine in order to meet the challenge of animating Pardee's surreal work.

''The Jace Hall Show'' – Executive Producer

The Jace Hall Show is an online reality show co-created with Todd Roy, which airs on Microsoft's XBOX Live Marketplace, Sony's Crackle.com and Ign. The show covers video game news and personalities as well as interviews with film/TV/sports celebrities.

Sources[link]

Moby Games Database

GameSpy

HD Films

External links[link]

''The Jace Hall Show''

''HDFILMS, Inc.''

References[link]

Category:1971 births Category:African-American people Category:American chief executives Category:American film producers Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American video game designers Category:Living people Category:Monolith Productions Category:People from Buffalo, New York Category:Video game actors

Name	Johnny Cage
Series	''Mortal Kombat'' series
Firstgame	''Mortal Kombat'' (1992)
Voiceactor	Jeff Bennett (''The Journey Begins'')Jeff Pilson (''MK2011'')
Liveactor	Daniel Pesina (''MK'', ''MKII'')Chris Alexander (''MKT'')Linden Ashby (first film)Chris Conrad (second film)Jeff Durbin (''Live Tour'')Matt Mullins (''Rebirth'') and (''Legacy'')
Inuniverse	}}

Johnny Cage is a video game character from the ''Mortal Kombat'' series. Cage, whose real name is John Carlton, is portrayed as a film actor who enters the game's tournament, and provides the comic relief of the franchise.

In video games[link]

Johnny Cage introduced as a playable character in the first ''Mortal Kombat'' game. He enters into the titular tournament to prove he does not use special effects in the films he stars in. In the sequel ''Mortal Kombat II'', Cage goes to another tournament in the realm of Outworld after allying with the warriors who wish to protect Earth led by the thunder god Raiden.

He does not reappear in the series until ''Mortal Kombat Trilogy'', where he was killed by Shao Kahn's forces invading Earth. He is shortly revived to help his former comrades defeat Shao Kahn. In the next game, ''Mortal Kombat 4'', Cage is allowed to continue his life after seeking Raiden's help to revive and joins friends once again to defeat the forces from the former god Shinnok who plans to initiate a war between the realms.

By ''Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance'', Cage once again joins Raiden's group, in order to stop the menace from the alliance of sorcerers Quan Chi and Shang Tsung. However, Cage is killed alongside most of his comrades and he is resurrected by the Dragon King Onaga to use him as a slave. He is freed from his mind control by the ninja Ermac and Liu Kang's ghost. He returns in ''Mortal Kombat: Armageddon'' as a playable character, participating in the new tournament Armageddon that will decide mankind's fate. In the ensuing battle, Cage is decapitated by an unknown opponent.

He has also appeared in the spin off game ''Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks'' that reprises the events from ''Mortal Kombat II''. Besides being a supporting character across the game, he is also playable in the fighting mode.

He reappears in the 2011 ''Mortal Kombat'' game. As the game retells the events from the first tournaments, Cage joins Raiden's forces to save Earth. He and Sonya Blade become the only Earthrealm warriors to survive the course of the game's plot.

In other media[link]

Johnny Cage is one of the main characters in the ''Mortal Kombat'' comic book series. His portrayal in the comics is faithful to the games, keeping both his desire to prove his moves are real and his personality traits. He appears during the whole ''Blood & Thunder'' series, most of the time alongside Sonya, with whom he shares a relationship in the comics. His most serious moment is during issue 4 when he, under Raiden's advice, decides to not seek the power of the Tao Te Zhan, since he felt it would be like faking his moves in his films. During the second series, ''Battlewave'', he is seen resuming his acting career when Sonya asks him to help with an investigation after Jax was brutally attacked. He initially refuses, but later reconsiders what's important and decides to follow with Jax into the Outworld. In the meantime, he sends his musclebound bodyguard, Bo, to protect Liu Kang.

In the first ''Mortal Kombat'' film, Johnny Cage was played by Linden Ashby, whose portrayal was faithful to the games in keeping with Cage's personality and his comic relief role. During the film, he fights both Scorpion and Goro in ''Mortal Kombat'', and manages to defeat both. In the film and its novelization, Johnny has been trained from a youth by Master Boyd (full name Bill Boyd), portrayed by Peter Jason.

Johnny Cage reappears in ''Mortal Kombat: Annihilation''. He was played by Chris Conrad. In the opening scene, Shao Kahn takes Sonya Blade hostage, and Cage attempts to save her. He is killed when Kahn snaps his neck.

Matt Mullins appears as Johnny Cage in the internet video, ''Mortal Kombat: Rebirth''. He was an action movie star, whose career was dying. To allow his talents to still be used, he became an undercover agent for Jackson Briggs. However, Alan Zane / Baraka killed him shortly thereafter in battle. Mullins reprised his role in ''Mortal Kombat: Legacy'', in which he plays a failing (but still alive) Johnny Cage who, after all but ruining his show career after a fist fight with TV executives and security, is approached by Shang Tsung with an offer to provide "a way out of everything".

Creation and design[link]

The character was modeled after actor and martial artist Jean-Claude Van Damme. Cage's appearance in the first game was loosely based on Van Damme's portrayal of Dux Ryu Ninjutsu founder Frank Dux in the 1988 movie ''Bloodsport'', incorporating both Van Damme's appearance/outfit and his signature "leg split" move. Designed to be a Hollywood star, Cage is meant to be comic relief character in contrast to more serious characters like Liu Kang and Raiden. His real name came from Midway Games artist John Carlton, who worked on the ''NBA Jam'' series.

Reception [link]

UGO Networks ranked Johnny Cage fourth on their "Top 11 Mortal Kombat Characters" list, praising his role as the comic relief of the series with the added statement that "there's nothing better than kicking somebody's ass with a fighter that's supposed to be a joke". GameDaily put him 23rd in their feature "Top 25 Gaming Hunks", stating "If you can't marry Brad Pitt, you can always settle for Mortal Kombat's Johnny Cage". 1UP.com ranked him ninth in their "They Is Risen" feature, which covered the ten most notorious video game resurrections. The publication noted that one of the most remarkable part of his character was that he was one of the few ones who died during the storyline. In UGO Networks' 2012 list of the "Top 50 Mortal Kombat Characters", Johnny Cage placed at 23rd, who commented "there's nothing better than kicking somebody's ass with a fighter that's supposed to be a joke".

Cage's Split Punch was in GamesRadar's article "Gaming’s most devastating genital attacks" with its author commenting that "It’s hardly Cage’s most impressive or most damaging move, but it’s inarguably his best." In another article, the split-punch was listed as his signature move with notes that while it is performed in a "decidedly un-Street Fighter way", it was the first "silly" moment in the franchise. Johnny Cage's split-punch on Goro in the ''Mortal Kombat'' film was rated by UGO.com as one the top 11 Game Movie Moments. He was also ninth in Game Revolution's "Top 10 Old School Mortal Kombat Characters" with praise on his special moves that made him stand out. IGN listed him as a character they would like to see as downloadable content for ''Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe'', stating Johnny "remains a favorite among MK heroes, even though he's spent a good portion of the series' life in a coffin".

References [link]

External lnks[link]

Official Twitter account

Johnny Cage - The Mortal Kombat Wiki

Category:Fictional American people Category:Fictional actors Category:Fictional characters based on real people Category:Fictional characters from Florida Category:Film characters Category:Fictional Jeet Kune Do practitioners Category:Fictional karateka Category:Male video game characters Category:Mortal Kombat characters Category:Video game characters introduced in 1992

ar:جوني كايج az:Conni Keyc (Mortal Kombat) ca:Johnny Cage es:Johnny Cage fr:Johnny Cage it:Johnny Cage pt:Johnny Cage ru:Джонни Кейдж simple:Johnny Cage fi:Johnny Cage tr:Johnny Cage ur:جانی کیج (مارٹل کامبیٹ)