Fans who've weathered the controversial launch of Cyberpunk 2077 have been rewarded with the discovery of a surprising nod to Mortal Kombat. An in-game collectible pays direct homage to one of the series' most popular characters. Take a closer look:

The "Yellow Jacket Warrior" statue can be discovered by accepting and completing the Fly Me Away side quest initiated through Panam. You'll receive the in-game reward from a character named Mitch, who calls it a good luck charm carried by someone named "Scorpion".

Mitch hands over the good luck statue in Cyberpunk 2077. [image via @TheJohnorrhea]

The digital trinket bears more than a passing resemblance to Mortal Kombat's Scorpion. It even seems to be posed in a hybrid action-stance similar to the original Mortal Kombat 11 box art and collectible statue included with European Mortal Kombat X Kollector's Editions.

A life-size version of the authentic Scorpion statue can be found at NetherRealm Studios in Chicago. The lunging ninja received a formal unveiling for the launch of Mortal Kombat X, which quickly went on to be the best selling installment in the series. Popularity that might account for developer CD Projekt Red's easter egg tribute.

The Yellow Jacket Warrior statue pays homage to Scorpion. [image via @Xbudz]

Fans eager for a Scorpion memento in real life can look forward to McFarlane Toys' MK11 The Shadow variant this month, or seek out the original MK11 Scorpion where available

Scorpion is also on the cover of Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate -- out now for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC! Find and discuss all the latest from the game in the Mortal Kombat 11 forum!

Happy Holidays! Christmas Day marks another year of Mortal Kombat Online and we're excited to celebrate with the launch of a new version of the site that will make us an even better part of your online Mortal Kombat experience!

By now you'll have noticed general aesthetic and navigational updates that compliment many of the changes we've made. The Site Menu is much like our metaphorical mantel -- decorated with Christmas stockings stuffed with plenty of goodies for the kommunity to enjoy!

Fight Klub is obviously a major part of our V9 update. It began with a desire to make the online gaming experience a bigger part of Mortal Kombat Online. The result is a new system that will make it easier for the kommunity to issue challenges, compete for leaderboard ranks, and participate in gameplay analysis and streaming -- both as players and spectators!

You can watch the Fight Klub trailer and find out more to get involved with the open public beta that is now underway. You can also download the new MKO App from the App Store to further enhance your experience with a modified mobile version of the site, and notifications that will keep you informed any place, any time!

Keeping you in the loop is also the function of the new MKO Calendar, which will highlight upcoming milestones and special events with detailed information, and ways you can get involved. You can already celebrate the Mortal Kombat Online Anniversary, or keep up to date with episodes of Survival Saturdays!

Following MKO's Stream Team will be even easier with the addition of the Kasts section that will keep you up to date on what's next for Survival Saturdays and the soon-to-return Fatal Friday. Soon you'll also be able to stream non-stop kombat wtih Fight Klub TV!

We've also made improvements to our long running Kreations section to make it easier to discover, follow, and share your favourite artists and their different works. Galleries will also continue to appear in updated User Profiles alongside various personal links and Fight Klub video content.

Curating your customized experience goes beyond profiles with updates to the Kommunity Forums, as well. Forum tags will help you seek out topics you're interested in and make it even easier to get involved in the discussion by commenting or liking posts. It's like having a forum dedicated to your favourite niche!

Some of these ideas go back many years, even to my earliest days as Mortal Kombat Online Webmaster, and it's been a pleasure not only to see designs and concepts come to fruition - but evolve and expand!

Please join me in congratulating and acknowledging Co-Founder & Administrator CCShadow, whose efforts have built and assembled so many iterations of MKO over the years, and continue to do so! Sysadmin DArqueBishop, who laid the bedrock upon which new systems have been built, without whom it simply would not have been possible! Likewise, the many contributions from Stream Team FataLKaDe & Survived_Kombatants, Community Manager m0s3pH, Co-Founder Scott-Howell, and the many who've helped along the way.

We continue to enjoy Mortal Kombat 11 and look forward to new dvelopments in the new year, as well as the long awaited arrival of the Mortal Kombat Movie! On behalf of everyone at MKO we bid you seasons greetings and a very happy holidays! Hope to see you on MKO soon!

How do they come up with all those fatalities? It's the question that's been puzzled by interviewers for longer than we remember. We've seen concept sketches and motion capture in the past. Now Ed Boon has revealed some of his original 2010 notes for an iconic stage fatality. Take a look:

Mortal Kombat 3 first introduced the perils of The Subway stage, where players could uppercut their opponent into the path of an oncoming background train. For the 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot, the series co-creator came up with something more ambitious.

Boon uncovered the 2010 notes on his iPad and shared a nostalgic screengrab to Twitter. He apparently finds amusement in the suffering of his characters, describing the notes with a laugh as an example of the "germ of an idea" that all game features start with.

The notes roughly describe what became the new Subway stage fatality, where players will grab their opponent by the throat and walk them to the platform edge to thrust their head into the path of the train. After banging against each oncoming car, the loser is then tossed into the background to be swept away by another train.

Stage fatalities recently made another return in Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath. You can catch a glimpse of the Shaolin Trap Dungeon and Tournament Arena finishers in the Aftermath launch trailer.

What are your all-time favourite stage fatalities? What would you like to see in future MK11 updates? Share your thoughts in the comments below and discuss the latest in the Mortal Kombat 11 forum. Or, go back to the reboot that started an era in the Mortal Kombat (2011) forum!

Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate picked up Best Fighting Game at The Game Awards earlier this month, and now the hit franchise sequel can add a performance arts award to its list of accolades, as well! Beata Poźniak took honors at the 7th Annual Voice Arts Awards. Read on for the full story:

The voice of Skarlet took to Twitter to celebrate her victory in the category for Outstanding Video Game Character, Best Voiceover. The awards are presented by the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences. She edged out nominees for Madden '20, Fire Emblem, Cloudpunk, and The Lighthouse.

Pozniak thanked NetherRealm Studios Story & Voiceover Director Dominic Cianciolo, Audio Director Rich Carle, Studio Head Shaun Himmerick, and Creative DIrector Ed Boon for their roles in her success. Ed Boon responded with applause for her success.

Skarlet received a compelete overhaul for her appearance in Mortal Kombat 11, instantly emerging as one of the best received characters from the game's reveal event. Along with a bold new design, Shao Kahn's blood assassin adopted a slavic accent, inflected by the Polish born voice actress.

Share your congratulations for Beata Pozniak's win in the comments below. Find and discuss more from the game in the Mortal Kombat 11 forum!

Reptile is one of the klassic fighters still sorely missed in Mortal Kombat 11, but old hidden fighters won't be forgot by Ed Boon these holidays! The series co-creator shared a "random" fan video to Twitter showing the green palette swap sliding through MK11. Take a look:

The "Random Reptile Video", as Ed calls it, was originally posted to YouTube by KayGee, and appears to cinematically isolate Shang Tsung's Reptile transformation in the acid slide and win pose.

Shang Tsung can transform into klassic palette swap fighters in various special attacks, as seen in his gameplay trailer, or in his Brutality win pose when triggered by holding both shoulder buttons (ie; L2 & R2) and an attack button. 2 triggers Reptile -- triangle on PlayStation, Y on Xbox.

Reptile was a surprise omission from Mortal Kombat 11, but the Zaterran warrior does make a dramatic cameo in The Krypt, subtly alerting fans to his hidden presence in various corners of Shang Tsung's island.

The invisible Reptile can be discovered with Kenshi's blindfold, and striking him with Kahn's hammer eventually unlocks a Scorpion "Forest Ninja" skin. Kombat League eventually delivered more complete Reptile inspired skins in the Summer.

Ed Boon can't do much without inspiring wild fan theories and requests, but he must've known this one was ripe for speculation. During a New York Comic-Con interview, the MK11 Creative Director discussed deliberate methods used to stoke appreciation for Mileena. On the subject of teasing fans he noted, I wouldn't be doing that if I knew she [wasn't] eventually going to show up."

[Related Article: Mortal Kombat Legends Preview Reveals Reptile vs Sonya]

Would you like to see Reptile make a return as DLC? Share your thoughts in the comments below and find & discuss more from MK11 in the Mortal Kombat 11 forum!