The ending of Mortal Kombat 1 is actually an all-out war between the various characters of different timelines in the MK universe. This ending actually makes Mortal Kombat 11’s ending canon in the new universe created by Liu Kang. There is also a post-credits scene that hints towards the story of the sequel or maybe a potential story DLC.
- The final act of Mortal Kombat 1 consists of a huge war that includes characters from various timelines.
- You should complete the story yourself before reading the ending explanation of MK1, as it will contain vital narrative spoilers.
- The main villain who has been manipulating Shang Tsung is not Kronika but Shang Tsung from another timeline.
- Aside from the new timeline that Liu Kang created, there exists an infinite number of timelines where different events took place.
- During the final act, both Liu Kang and Shang Tsung summon characters from different timelines in all-out war.
- Liu Kang wins with the help of the player, and essentially, the evil is destroyed.
- The post-credits scene gives us hints regarding the story of the future titles in the Mortal Kombat franchise.
Mortal Kombat 1 Ending
In the grand final act of Mortal Kombat 1, you fight Shang Tsung and his forces of evil characters from different timelines with the help of Liu Kang and his own multiverse army. The post-credits scene already hints at a potential sequel, and the final act ends on a good note.
- Liu Kang reset the world and created a new timeline at the end of Mortal Kombat 11 after becoming the keeper of the Hourglass.
- But there was another timeline where Liu Kang lost to Shang Tsung, which is essentially the bad ending of Mortal Kombat 11.
- Essentially, aside from Liu Kang’s new timeline, there exists an infinite number of other timelines where different events took place, like Shang Tsung taking control of the world.
- In other timelines, we learn that other characters like Kitana or Raidden became the keeper of the Hourglass instead of Liu Kang.
Now that you understand the concept of different timelines, you can easily comprehend the main villain of Mortal Kombat 1. The character impersonating Kronika, who had been manipulating the Shang Tsung of Liu Kang’s timeline, is none other than the Shang Tsung that survives in the bad ending of Mortal Kombat 11.
Shang Tsung’s Revelation
Shang Tsung basically wants to take control of all other timelines and wants to destroy the world that Liu Kang has created. In the final act, we see an all-out war taking place on a multiverse scale. Liu Kang summons characters from various other timelines, and Shang Tsung summons the evil versions of those same characters from other timelines, such as Mileena and others like Scorpion.
- The two huge armies go against each other until only Liu Kang and the character that you decide to play during the final act survive.
- The final cutscene does not change drastically, but there are slight variations of the ending scenario depending on the character that you decide to choose during the final act.
- You will actually end up helping Liu Kang in beating Shang Tsung during the final battle of Mortal Kombat 1.
- After Liu Kang wins, he will return your character to the timeline they came from and return to his own timeline.
- Basically, this title offers a good ending where the supposed good guys win, and Shang Tsung has been destroyed for good.
Post Credits Scene
You might have noticed that you couldn’t choose Havik as your fighter for the final act, even though he is part of the base roster in Mortal Kombat 1. That is because Havik makes an appearance in the post-credits scene after the war is over and potentially gives us hints about the story of the sequel to Mortal Kombat 1.
After analyzing the dialogues of Havik during the post-credit scene, you can tell that he’s being set up as potentially the main villain of the next game in the Mortal Kombat franchise or maybe even the DLC. However, it is still speculation, and the post-credits scene is just a tease from the developers.
This concludes my guide on the main ending of the latest Mortal Kombat. I have explained the final act of the main campaign in complete detail. I hope that you were able to grasp the concept of the infinite number of timelines because that is key to understanding the overall ending. Let me know what you think about the ending from a narrative perspective in the comments below!
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