Prolouge: The Beginning

When the spirit of a living being loses its anchor to the physical realm, it is either ushered into the kingdom of heaven, or dragged in to pits of hell. As a natural wasteland, the Netherrealm serves as the prison for the tainted souls of the universe. At the beginning of its creation, the realm was empty and devoid of all life, as it's world soul seemed to shun all living creatures, and revel in its own darkness. With a constant stream of adverse energy flowing into the lifeless world, the Elder Gods of the realm chose to keep close watch over the Netherealm to ensure that that balance would stay in tact.

As the eons past, many of the more advanced civilizations throughout the realms, such as the Edenians, saw fit to use the natural portals between the realms to banish their most vicious and dangerous criminals to the dead world. Unforeseen by any, save for the Gods, this act brought about a turning point in the Netherrealm. These mortal thought that when a living body went to hell, their physical and spiritual vessels would enter a state of decay. The body would wither over time and the soul would slowly become twisted and bound to the realm. While in actuality this fate befell many of those who were banished to the realm, a few somehow escaped their fate and flourished in their new environment.

This mixture of the living and dead energies, led to the evolution of a new race, the Oni. Instead of their physical and spiritual energies coming under constant attack from the realm itself, they were empowered by it, and were able feed off those negative energies. Ages passed as the Oni grew in number and tribal societies were formed throughout the realm. Within the collective of the Oni civilization, strength was revered and depravity a way of life. Through constant civil war and chaos, the stage was set for a leader to take charge and one Oni stepped forward to take the helm.