Ermac and Quan Chi stroll through the forest. Sektor's disembodied head sits quietly alone. A drunken hand reaches up from the floor. A Tarkatan has a nasty tummy ache... These seemingly innocuous events can only be harbingers for new warriors coming to Mortal Kombat X! Scenes featured in a trailer leaked ahead of The Game Awards announcement [full story].

From the Palace Gates of Shang Tsung's Island, to the battle ravaged streets of Earthrealm 25 years later: The only constant shared by two generations is the need to fight! The tournament called Mortal Kombat has made legends of champions, and warriors of mortals. With a new generation of challengers emerging - it all begins again!

April 14th saw the long awaited release of Mortal Kombat X! Ending a four year cycle, the new game has changed the way we view the series and its fighters, challenging us to ask: Who's Next?

It is a question we've asked annually for years - each time finding a different answer! In 2014, the unknown of a looming sequel fuelled a whole new perspective. After months of debate and many thousands of votes, we crowned fan-favourite Ermac the ultimate victor! With Mortal Kombat X here, everything has changed! True champions must defend their title, and we must ask the eternal question with evolving truth: Who is the Supreme Mortal Kombat Champion?

The ultimate fan voting tournament has become an annual celebrated tradition on Mortal Kombat Online - summoning the entire fanbase to agree on a single champion from sixty-four fighters! In 2015: the battle will be tougher than ever! Mortal Kombat X will inform the entire bracket, introducing first-time competitors and omitting old favorites! Read on to learn more about what it all means and how you can join in! Visit the Fan Koliseum to share your votes and discuss battles more in depth!

Klassic Shaolin Monks Kung Lao & Liu Kang are back in action in the latest Mortal Kombat X trailer! Released to MAXIM Russia by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment - the Shaolin Trailer is our first look at some familiar faces:

NetherRealm Studios are back in the 'rasslin business! The developer released the free fighting app WWE Immortals earlier this month - just in time for the annual Royal Rumble! We think it's such a swell game, we're celebrating with our own take on the WWE classic - and we need you to make it work!

We'll be asking "Who's Next?" when 30 Kombatants are drawn randomly at regular intervals to enter the first ever Mortal Kombat: Royal Rumble!

It will all go down tomorrow (Sunday) - with the Fan Koliseum deciding characters' fates by voting for eliminations on the forum, and boosting their chances via Twitter! Better still, every participating fan will go into the draw to win themselves a limited edition Mortal Kombat kollectible pin! Here's what you need to know:

Mortal Kombat - Royal Rumble Rules:
• 30 Kombatants will be drawn randomly to enter at regular intervals.
• The MK Royal Rumble will begin when #1 & #2 are announced.
• Each entrant will be announced via @MK_Online & the forum.
• Kombatants begin with 12 elimination points.
• For every 5 Retweets & 10 Favorites a Twitter entrance receives - the corresponding character will gain +1 elimination points. [Tallied during each subsequent entrance.]
• Fans will vote to eliminate active characters by posting to the forum.
• An elimination occurs when the voting tally exceeds a characters points total.
• Fans can vote for an elimination once per entrance: Points will remain subtracted, but a new entrance will grant users the right to vote again for any character they decide.
• Eliminations will give points to randomly assigned eliminators.
• There must always be at least 1 kombatant active.
• Kombatants remaining after the 30th entrant will be systematically eliminated based on their points and the total Retweet & Favorites received.
• In the tradition of the Royal Rumble - expect surprises! The 30 entrants will be drawn randomly from a total field of 85 characters!
• Prize winners will be notified within 48 hours.

The upcoming Mortal Kombat live-action webseries has gone relatively quiet since its announcement last October.

The project is slated to be one of several 2015 online releases from Warner Brothers' newly established digital media studio - Blue Ribbon Content. With time ticking away, an open Mortal Kombat casting call appears to be the first indication of what's to come!

The LA casting call was listed on Actors Access for a January shoot, as reported on the Warner Bros. Forums by user UnicornFreedom.

The "digital series" listing bring backs several familiar names from Mortal Kombat: Legacy, including; Garrett Warren as director, and Jenny Hinkey & Lance Sloane as producers. More interesting, several roles that tie directly to Mortal Kombat X - including comics characters and klassics. Beware of spoilers:

[ BO' RAI’ CHO ]
50s-60s – ANY ETHNICITY - This drunken man tells Jin that he will show him the way to the Shaolin academy, for a small price. He is affable and appears harmless. However, later we see that he is an expert fighter, and no fool. He reveals himself to be Bo Rai Cho, the master of Wu Shi. He leads Jin to the Wu Shi Academy. He is a rotund man with healthy appetites and never without a drink. He teaches with every opportunity and has taught several great warriors, including Liu Kang, and Kung Lao at the Wu Shi Academy. Bo' Rai Cho originates from Outworld but has not, however, participated in a Mortal Kombat tournament, knowing that if he wins, his victory would be in the name of Shao Kahn for his status as an Outworlder. So he instead chose to utilize his fighting skills to train Earthrealm warriors...LEAD

[ DVORAH ]
Female, late 20s early 30s, bug-like articulation. Dvorah is of a sentient colonial race called the Kytinn, which populates the island realm of Arnyek. The solitary nature of the Kytinn meant a common defense of their realm was nonexistent; thus it was conquered and merged with Outworld by Shao Kahn. Dvorah’s loyalty and insightfulness, unusual traits for a Kytinn, led to her quick political rise. Soon she found herself among the emperor’s closest advisers. She serves the current ruler of Outworld, Kotal Kahn...LEAD

[ SCORPION AKA HANZO HASASHI ]
In his 30s to 40s, angry, tortured, and tough, Hanzo is a Ninja master. Hanzo was a member of the Shirai-Rya clan until they and his family were killed by Sub-Zero of the rival Lin Kuei clan. Hanzo's soul was claimed by the Netherrealm sorcerer Quan Chi, who resurrected him as the revenant Scorpion and gave him the chance to avenge his family's deaths. Full of rage and hellfire, Scorpion fights alongside Quan Chi in Netherrealm's invasion of Earthrealm...LEAD

[ TAKEDA ]
In his mid 20s, quiet and mild-mannered, but with an angry streak, he is the "nice" one of the group. He is a world-class swordsman and he is adept at telepathy and telekinesis. Takahashi Takeda is the son of the hero Kenshi and a young Thai-American woman named Suchin, whom Kenshi met during his travels. When Suchin passed away, Kenshi was shocked to learn he had had an eight-year-old son with her. He took Takeda to Hanzo Hasashi, the former Scorpion, to be instructed in the Martial Arts. Takeda had no contact with his father for many years, until the day he was to leave Hanzo’s tutelage. Kenshi revealed that he had left Takeda with Hanzo to protect him from his mother’s murderer. Despite this revelation, and subsequent reconciliation with Kenshi, Takeda has abandonment issues yet to overcome—which makes working with his father in Johnny Cage’s Special Forces team a challenge at times...LEAD

[ SALAZAR ]
In his 30s to 40s, quiet, reserved, downcast, he is a mercenary in the service of the Emperor. Intelligent and eloquent, he sounds like he may be American. Salazar’s exact origins are unknown. Born on Earth, he somehow found himself in Outworld. There he spent years wandering its vast territories, selling his amazing weaponry skills to local warlords. Now in the employ of the emperor, Kotal Kahn, Salazar shows no inclination to return to Earthrealm—or aid them in their present struggles...LEAD

[ KUNG JIN ]
In his mid 20s, with a slight Asian accent, Kung Jin is the younger cousin of the Earthrealm hero Kung Lao. He is cerebral but streetwise. He is American in speech patterns/idioms. When Kung Lao was killed in the war against Outworld, Kung’s family’s fortunes took a turn for the worse. He journeyed to the U.S. and became a thief. An encounter with Raiden changed Jin’s outlook, and he joined the Shaolin monks. Now a member of Johnny Cage’s secret Special Forces offshoot, Jin’s streetwise past provides him extra insight into the minds and motivations of those who would harm Earthrealm...LEAD

[ RON TAN' CHO ]
Male, 45-60. Asian. Ron Tan' Cho is an underground crime boss. He does what he wants, takes what he wants & always get what he wants. He has one wicked smile that if shown to you means trouble. He enjoys toying with his enemies & seeing the fear on their faces. D'Vorah attempts to attack him, and she fails due to his Goons apprehending her. LEAD

From the Palace Gates of Shang Tsung's Island, to the invaded streets of metropolitan Earthrealm: The more things have changed, the more they've stayed the same! The tournament called Mortal Kombat has raged for over 20 years -- and for the first time since that momentous anniversary -- the game is about to change!

June 2nd will reveal the long awaited next instalment of Mortal Kombat! As the month of May winds to a close, we have been asked a simple question in promotional anticipation: Who's Next?

We asked a very similar question this time last year! In 2013, it was Smoke who emerged from the months of debate and thousands of votes as a controversial victor! Like the warrior himself - the conclusion was enshrouded in a fog of doubt and uncertainty. With the new game mere days from launch - and new measures in place - nothing can be taken as fact! True champions must defend their title, and we must ask the question eternal: Who is the Supreme Mortal Kombat Champion?

The ultimate fan voting tournament has become an annual tradition on Mortal Kombat Online - summoning the entire fanbase to agree on a single champion from sixty-four fighters! In 2014: the event will reflect the promotional cycle of a brand new game - introducing newly revealed elements as the tournament unfolds! Read on to learn more about what it all means and how you can join in!

This time last year, Mortal Kombat Online put the call out to the entire fanbase. The purpose: to celebrate twenty years of Mortal Kombat by determining once and for all who could be called the true champion of the tournament!

After months of debate and thousands of votes it was Sub-Zero who emerged victorious! The MKII ice warrior was a worthy winner, but as any champion knows, there comes a time when the title must be defended! With 2013 marking the twentieth anniversary of Sub-Zero and the sequel he debuted in, it's almost inevitable that we ask the question anew: Who is the Supreme Mortal Kombat Champion?

From the top of the Pyramid of Argus, back to where it all began at the Palace Gates of Shang Tsung's Island: a lot has changed in twenty years of a tournament called Mortal Kombat! We gather sixty-four kombatants and put the call out to the entire fanbase! It is up to you to help us find the true champion! Read on for more details, including how you can win prizes!

From the Palace Gates of Shang Tsung's Island, to the very top of the Pyramid of Argus: for twenty long years, characters from multiple realms have battled it out in a tournament called Mortal Kombat! Now, the kombatants face the greatest fight as we call upon the entire fanbase for the ultimate challenge!

In the early days, you could take for granted that Liu Kang would be the hero of the hour, but as Mortal Kombat has developed in complexity, the question of who truly reigns supreme becomes increasingly open to circumstance. Many characters have risen through the ranks in arcade endings, offering dozens of possible outcomes in each game, but story modes and what ifs can never truly reflect the powers of the mightiest mortals in kombat history.

With the series' twentieth anniversary mere months away, it is time for Mortal Kombat Online to vote for the very first time! We hope to gather the entire MK fanbase to answer a question that has garnered debate across three decades: Who is the Supreme Mortal Kombat Champion?