Summary
- Mortal Kombat 1's ending sees Liu Kang victorious in his struggle to protect his timeline, but a handful of new villains are teased partway through the credits.
- Titan Havik and his allies are looking to once again destablilize the peace won in MK1, this time across a wide array of timelines.
- This sequel tease helps reinforce MK1's theme of facing off against alternate versions of oneself in order to reflect and divine the proper path.
The following contains spoilers for Mortal Kombat 1.
As Mortal Kombat 1's story mode comes to an end, it seems the Fire God in Liu Kang has managed to preserve his timeline. He's harnessed the Sands of Time, becoming Keeper of the Hourglass once more. It's part and parcel of him keeping the various realities from spilling over in what's essentially the franchise's take on the Multiverse.
No matter what, Liu Kang has to ensure no more incursions occur. It's evident from all the chaos that the Titan Shang Tsung caused when the villain tried to invade this one. However, while Liu Kang is left battening the hatches after using allies from across this Mortal Kombat-Verse, MK1's mid-credits immediately foreshadows trouble and someone who'd be an ideal match as the next big villain in the series: Havik.
Mortal Kombat 1's Mid-Credits Explained
Mortal Kombat 1 ends with Liu Kang and his ultimate alliance defeating the Shang Tsung legion. They banish who they need to and imprison or kill others, all to protect the fabric of space and time at a giant pyramid that harkens to the Armageddon game. However, the mid-credits scene has four warriors walking down the pyramid who survived the scrap. It's the Titan version of Havik, who beat Kronika in another timeline and assumed full power the way the Fire God did, along with a Sub-Zero variant of Quan Chi, a Kitana-remix of Tanya, and a Chaosrealm-spin on Kenshi (the blind swordsman).
This group admits that the battle was fierce, and it's a shame it ended so quickly. But Havik laughs that notion off. He takes a spiked mace to Jax's head to finish him off before issuing a proclamation: the next time the chaos will last and the war won't be over so quickly. This scarred Havik laughs creepily before the screen cuts back to the credits.
This sequence hints that Havik will indeed continue Shang Tsung's mission of sowing discord in other realities. While Shang Tsung wanted to enslave or destroy, Havik is simpler -- he just wants to know all these worlds and timelines will eat themselves. This has been his destiny since he debuted in Deception as an agent from the Chaosrealm. In that sense, it shifts his purpose in a big way from causing anarchy in the Orderrealm known as Seido. Now, it's the entire MK-Verse he wants to upset.
Mortal Kombat 1's Mid-Credits Gives Havik a Familiar Purpose
Liu Kang and Shang Tsung both tried to create some sort of order under their respective rules. But this just doesn't work in the tapestry of MK. These games are made for total disobedience and war -- ergo the "It's In Our Blood!" tagline that suggests people shouldn't fight their nature or be shackled, whether by the light or the dark. In Mortal Kombat 1, Havik was retooled as an antihero who wanted to break the order and caste system of Seido. It's why he aligned with Shang Tsung's forces, thinking this was a warped way of doing the right thing.
But the Titan Havik is like the past version: doing things for fun. This allows all MK worlds to descend into fire and brimstone once more as he goes around invading, truly offering up what the tournament and fights outside it were about: death and destruction. Havik is once again a chaos agent, but this time, he's got a lot more power. He's a god now, so he can perfect Shang Tsung's vision by finding other evil Titans as partners.
Variants of Shao Kahn were used in the finale, so Mortal Kombat 1's sequel could find Havik recruiting new Titans such as Kintaro or Blaze. There's even a chance he finds monstrous versions of Onaga because MK1 confirms that the Dragon King is but a beast to be unleashed. There are also various dangerous relics such as blades and amulets to be found and deployed, teasing Havik will be taking over from Shang Tsung and Quan Chi by making deals a la Deadly Alliance. It's a clever way to meld both the new and old Havik while fitting exactly what Ed Boon and the Netherrealm's creative team engineered him for.
Mortal Kombat 1's Sequel Can Redeem Its Nuanced Villains
Other villains also get put in an interesting place in the finale. Liu Kang's de-powered Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, and General Shao were all imprisoned for their treachery and trying to help the Titan Shang Tsung assume control. They were betrayed in due time and ended up working with the Fire God to fix their mistakes and preserve their home. However, whether they escape or remain in jail, the Fire God can broker pacts to redeem them.
There's no greater purpose to these warriors' lives than atoning against a Titan Havik who wants to crush their very home. This paves the way for Liu Kang's Havik to make amends, too. Havik regretted his treason in the end, so the former in particular might become a hero against his Titan self. MK1 is all about refining villains, after all, as seen with Baraka and Reptile becoming aides to Queen Mileena. So, it'd fit the context of the story to have Havik trying to pass his principles onto the Titan Havik.
All Havik wants is freedom, expression and for people to have an identity in an oppressed Seido. This could perhaps get the Titan Havik to think twice about his incursions. Or the juicer option: have Havik go after his Titan self, nodding to how Liu Kang and Raiden once had to stop their dark alters from destroying the realms. Ultimately, it'd elevate all these villains and really subvert expectations by having Havik now be a Chosen One and champion for the battle to come. In the process, MK would continue its new path of introspection, using dark mirror characters to force the characters to reflect on the monsters they could be. In Havik's case, both would face an identity crisis, view each other as corrupt forces, and maybe understand they're meant for more in the Multiverse.
Mortal Kombat 1 (Standard Edition) is now available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.