I like the way you articulate your words and such and stuff

Anyways, this is what I think went down:

Tons of people entered. The playable characters in MK1 are the ones that managed to make it to the finals alive. Kang, Kano, Scorp, Sub, Sonya, and Johnathon kick a bunch of no name ass to get to the finals. Then this happens

Kang beats Goro
Tsung challenges Kang
Tsung sends Goro to kill Cage, Kano and Sonya for some reason
Cage + Sonya + Kano vs. Goro
Kang beats Tsung
Island collapses
Sonya, Kano and Goro fall to their apparent deaths when the Pit collapses. Cage is saved by Raiden
Scorp kills Sub. I don't think this was an official matchup. I think Scorpion just found Sub-Zero on the island and killed him

So if I got this right the only official matchup that happened was Liu Kang vs. Goro. Shang Tsung vs. Liu Kang was an unofficial tournament match that Shang had out of desperation. Kano, Sonya and Cage were chilling at the Pit for some reason when Goro showed up to kick some ass.

Now I'm going to go over there and wait for Razor to clear this up for me

LMFAO!
that was awesome dude!!
and proved my point on another thread!
Johnny Cage is Beast and the only kind of normal fighter!(except for stryker!

hhmm i think kang fought subzero, and ofcourse didnt kill him because you know ;p
then johnny cage
then shang tsungs guards
then goro
then that old geezer :)

More or less correct, though you have the Tsung vs. Liu part backwards.

Liu is the one who challenged Shang, because Shang was never actually supposed to compete and at that point, the tournament was already over and there wasn't a damn thing Shang could do about it except be pissed and order Goro and his guards to try and kill everyone out of spite. But Liu wanted a piece of him personally because his whole reason for attending the tournament was to take it away from Shang's control and return the host/grandmaster role to the Shaolin temple.

Anyway, years ago in XD's analysis topic, this topic came up before. And in that thread, I speculated a possible bracket that made sense to me, based on the character dynamics introduced in the series and the MK1 and 2 comics. Obviously, this isn't canon at all, just my own ideas, but it's fun to think about.

Here's what I came up with.

Scorpion and Sub-Zero had to be eliminated before they could face each other, because Scorpion doesn't kill Sub-Zero until after the tournament ends, while the guards are attacking and Liu is fighting Shang.

I thought Kano should beat Sonya to make their rivalry actually worth a damn. Because they fight again in MK3 and Sonya wins that one. It would kinda suck if she got the best of him twice in a row. Plus Sonya's whole reason for fighting in the tournament is if she loses, her men in Shang's dungeon will be executed. Having Kano be the one to cost those men their lives seemed appropriate to me. The alternative is that they never fought during the tournament at all, which is just anticlimactic.

I thought Johnny Cage should face Kano at some point to settle the grudge they started on the boat. I also tend to think of Johnny as being the next best thing to Liu out of the MK1 roster and deserving to make it to the semifinals.

Raiden had to be in there because he did compete, but I wanted him to be fighting solely to test the mortals and find out which one most deserves to be defender of Earth. So I had him fight Sub-Zero, who showed potential to change his ways in Mythologies, but ultimately fails, then he fights Liu and bows out to him because Liu is the guy.

I also think the Mirror Match should be canon 'cause it'd be a neat trick of Shang's magic, the idea that "everyone is their own worst enemy" in some way, and before you can win the tournament, you must face and overcome yourself.
(I also think Sub-Zero, Liu Kang, or both would have to face Reptile at some point since he's Shang's bodyguard and they're both out to get Shang...but obviously that wouldn't be a tournament fight, so it's not on the bracket.)

Excellent analysis, Razor.

I've always been pretty comfortable with the thought that there must be more fighters from around the word that weren't acknowledged in the first game. To give the characters featured full credit, you could suppose the other fighters were exceptionally skilled, but unable to affect the balance the way the featured (and enduring) characters were.

In the fancy pantsy land of do what I want, I felt it was a fair compromise to build a thirty-two fighter elimination bracket backwards from what we know, with an even split of Earthrealm and Outworld fighters.



My thinking was to accept that a conspiracy of influences affected the course of the tournament. Shang Tsung had limited resources because A) Goro had dominated and they were arrogantly poised to take the final necessary victory, and B) because Shao Kahn was preparing contingency plans/invasion plots with his armies. Depending on your interpretation, that could lead to MKII and MK3 cleanly.

This way of thinking conveniently Earthrealm and Outworld fighters meet and eliminate each other in rounds 1 and 2, before the heavy hitters converge on Round 3. That bracket is Goro vs Johnny Cage, Sonya vs Kano, Liu Kang vs Reptile, and Shang Tsung progressing via a bye after Sub-Zero is conveniently killed off by Scorpion between rounds (Scorpion not technically a tournament entrant, just part of the plan to screw Earth).

If you assume that Goro was champion and would have had to meet Liu Kang in the final round, that sets up a convenient Liu Kang/Shang Tsung semi final, with Goro being lost to shenanigans as Sonya (and Kano) get involved with Goro/Cage -- and Shang Tsung implodes the island.

This, of course, negates any meeting between Liu/Goro, and spins off into a very specific stitching together of various ideas, primarily the notion that by destroying the island, Shang Tsung created circumstances that allowed Shao Kahn to trick the heroes into coming to Outworld, even though the tournament wasn't technically finished. Trickery, hoohahah, invasion of Earth, Shinnok plotting MK4 in the background, etc etc.

All obviously the subject of fan-fiction.

For me, contriving a conventional tournament bracket with more recognition for the rest of the world and its fighting styles is a better solution than randomly throwing in characters from later games. I'm not sure there's any 100% perfect solution to this, the great MK question, but I think this version of events would at least accomodate some of the wackier eventualities.

This version contains oversights and compromises, but I think that is really what the MKII-MK3 storyline is all about. So I consider them calculated and worthwhile compromises.

The way I've always thought of it is that the reason there's only one Outworld fighter in MK1 and Goro isn't in the bracket and has no fights until the end is because despite the movie and new game's claims, the old canon's idea of the tournament was that first the Earth's best fighters must face each other to defermine who the champion of Earthrealm is, then that fighter must face Outworld's best champion one-on-one.

Noobish question, had Ermac been present at the 1st tourney, who could've fought against him?
Just for funsies.

Kung Lao after having his Masked Guard cover blown.

Just for funsies.

Havik was there the whole time, chilling on a roof.

lol. Kung probably didn't like that very much.

A little Karate Kid with the stakes of the tournament, but not a bad way to go. Feels truer to the martial arts mythology, but then, that's fading away with each game, it seems.


How about a pre-Shang battle in the Warrior Shrine against Liu Kang that adapts the Mirror Match concept with a little telepathy and rule bending? That's kinda fun.

Sounds like fun.

I have to agree with razor here. Very succinct analysis. And the mirror match being canon is genius. The protagonist/antagonist character is such an overlooked facet of the game's storyline...

Who doesn't love a mirror match?
Who, I say?!!

Plenty of people have thought about the mirror match before me!

After a lot of thinking,here is what I got so far.

Let me elaborate.

1 - We know this happens. It's canon.

2 - We also know this happens,lol. As I recall,the official comic book mentions something about Scorpion killing Sub-Zero sometime during the hassle after Shang's loss,when everything on the island started fucking collapsing.

From a dramatic standpoint,if this was a scene in a movie or something,I could see that working. Scorpion wins,and then we see the place where they were fighting collapse,burying Sub-Zero's charred body underneath tons of rock.

But I think it'd be nice to see these two fight during the actual tournament. To any onlookers,watching these two go all out would be quite a sight to behold. Also,a perfect opportunity to implement one of the few canon uses of a fatality,further intimidating our heroes and establishing that in this place,WHEN YOU DIE FOR REAL YOU DIE IN THE GAME.

The problem with this,however,is that after Scorpion kills Sub-Zero,he'd have no real reason to stay in the tournament. He's no got no real beef with Shang,so he'd probably just leave.

EDIT: Although now that I'm thinking about it,he might still decide to continue. Isn't the winner supposed to have some kind of prize bestowed upon them by the gods,or was that from the movies and other non-canon material? Would he maybe want to get his actual life back? Does he even know that his entire clan is dead at this point?

3 - This is something I ran into that I like to call FUCKING RAIDEN. I can't seem to find a good place to put him in. One thing I know for sure that I want him versing Liu Kang at some point. Right before Liu faces Goro would seem dramatically appropriate. Of course,he'd ultimately throw the fight,but the whole point of it would be to test Liu's resolve,to get him prepared for the opponents ahead by showing what it's like to fight a being with powers beyond mortal understanding and to teach him some life lesson or some bullshit.

4 - Another possible place to put Raiden in would be against Sub-Zero. The reason being is that they actually have some history together. Raiden would try to ascertain if this is still the same person who helped save Earthrealm a while ago,but seeing that Sub-Zero's pretty much consumed by the darkness in his soul,gives up on him.

5 - This has to happen at one point or another. The only thing I'm not sure about is how to let Kano live,because Sonya would definitely go all out trying to kill the bastard.

6 - I like this matchup because we have people who are allies and,possibly,friends at this point,but need to fight each other nonetheless. Another good part about this is that Sonya would still have a strong motivation to get to Shang,because he's still keeping her team hostage.

7 - Like in the movie,this is Johnny's first real encounter with the supernatural side of the tournament. Scorpion defeats Johnny,but doesn't kill him,because he doesn't want to be like Sub-Zero. If this were a movie or a TV show,here's where we'd start to get some insights into all the bad blood between Scorp and Sub,the full extent of which would be revealed in a flashback before the final encounter between the two.

8 - This whole time,Reptile is watching from the sidelines. Heroes might even catch a glimpse of the monster who lives at the bottom of the Pit and fucking eats people,but he doesn't actually fight until the very end. I'm thinking maybe after Liu defeats Shang,the other heroes try to intervene to finish Shang off (because Liu refused to) or prevent him from escaping to Outworld,and that's when Reptile shows up and kicks everyone's asses,because he's supposed to be the bodyguard.

9 - This game features Ermac as an actual tournament participant,right before Goro. I don't like this idea at all. If he's on the island as all of this is going down,he should be nothing more than an observer at this point.

Discuss.

Personally, I prefer the idea from the comics that Scorpion didn't get to kill Subbie until after the tournament, because it illustrates a compromise of his morals.

The dude flat-out says to Sub-Zero in the MK1 comic "I could kill you now, but I'm saving it for the tournament and give you a fair fight because I have honor, unlike you!" But Scorpion is a guy who's facing the ongoing corruption of his soul and always fails to redeem himself or achieve the ability to rest in peace, so it makes perfect sense that he'd miss his chance to get the honorable kill, stew over it for a while, and then fly into a rage and attack Sub anyway.

The idea here is for everyone whom we know met up with each other, outside of the tournament, to be eliminated at the same time.

Liu Kang vs Raiden
Sub-Zero vs Kano
Scorpion vs Johnny Cage
? vs Sonya

Liu Kang vs Sub-Zero
Scorpion vs ?

Liu Kang vs ?

And then the rest. Of course this gives a lot of credit to some ? character. Could it be Goro? No that wouldn't make sense as Razor was saying. What if Goro lost in the early round, there would be a new champion while the tournament still continues? And what if the new champion also dies after?! Anyhow, Cage, Kano, and Sonya group up and do God knows what until they need to fight Goro, and then Raiden swoops in to save Johnny. Scorpion and Sub-Zero meet up and Scorpion wins.

Liu beating Goro in the championship round and Shang after that is canon.

What are you saying.

I am saying that it's canon the last official fight of MK1 is Liu vs. Goro.

Therefore, your "what if Goro was eliminated earlier?" idea is impossible.

I got all info. from this site http://pastehtml.com/view/1dkw1yp.rtxt

Oh cool, someone finally organized the demo leak.