Ed Boon is back in deep teaser territory, giving us clues for what's coming next to Mortal Kombat 11. So far we've looked to the sky, faced our nightmares, and got down with the sixness. With his fourth hint we're thinking more deeply about the previous clue and where it might be leading us. Read on:

For the second time Boon has cited the number six. Last time it was seriously number six, this time it's six degrees... of Kobra? The latest Twitter clue includes a render wallpaper of the unloved karate brawler who was infamously introduced in the series' sixth installment: Mortal Kombat: Deception.

Early pre-release details condemned Kobra to forever be maligned as a parody of Street Fighter character Ken Masters. In the 2020 Supreme Champion tournament he received only 19% of votes against Kai. Introduced as a violent martial artist recruited to a new Black Dragon clan, Kobra had all the trappings of a klassic tournament entrant -- but made his second & final appearance in 2006's all-in smash-up Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.

Much like Freddy Krueger in his second clue; Ed Boon ruled out a return for Kobra himself with a follow-up tweet. He also deep-sixed inexplicable guesses of MK6 alum Havik, who would only be two degrees from Kobra, given the Cleric of Chaos inspired Kabal to recruit him in the same game.

"Six degrees of separation" describes the phenomenon of being able to connect two people through no more than six acquaintances. If that is what Boon is referring to, there are bound to be a lot of possible outcomes.

Ever since we started looking to the sky we've been thinking about Reptile, and as Deception was one of the few games to omit MK's original secret character, we might suppose there are six degrees between he and Kobra if we trace back to the first game. [That] might be a stretch, but let's face it. Nobody was overly satisfied when they unlocked a Scorpion skin after finding Reptile in The Krypt!

We've also noticed a tenuous link between each clue and Rain, which continues with the fourth hint. Kobra is a karate fighter, and the sixth belt in Shotokan style is often purple. Of course, if Kobra is a black belt, six degrees below him would be green. In Shorin-ryu, used by Kobra in Deception, the sixth belt is brown.

Boon has already confirmed that some fans cracked the code with the first two clues. Are we any closer? Share your latest thoughts and theories in the comments below and check out more hints in the Mortal Kombat 11 forum!