Summary
Mortal Kombat 1will bring the dawn of a new era for the beloved fighting franchise. Featuring a rebooted timeline, new character origins, and theintroduction of the Kameo Fighter system, the title is bound to make an impact on nearly every facet of theMortal Kombatcommunity. Kameo Fighters in particular provide a massive shake-up as their introduction will impact casual and professional players alike. While many of those chosen to be Kameo Fighters have seen their status elevated, reviving them for a new age, Goro’s inclusion sees the character’s return utterly wasted.
Mortal Kombat 1introduces fans to Fire God Liu Kang’s new timeline following the events ofMortal Kombat 11: Aftermath. While the Earthrealm of this new timeline appears to have enjoyed a long period of peace and prosperity, early trailers reveal that a malevolent force threatens to see history repeated. to maintain peace, Liu Kang recruits various characters, each featuring a new backstory and forming new alliances, in order to combat this evil presence. While the “big bad” ofMortal Kombat 1has yet to be revealed, trailers allude to Shang Tsung having a hand in seeing the villain’s plan fulfilled.
RELATED:All Features Confirmed for Mortal Kombat 1 So Far
Goro is One of Mortal Kombat’s Most Intimidating Figures
Prince Goro of the Shokan, or Goro, is one of classicMortal Kombat’s most infamous fighters. Those who grew up with the original title remember Goro as the ultimate test of strength, as defeating the four-armed Shokan was the final step to reaching Shao Khan. Goro marked a dramatic increase in difficulty, becoming an insurmountable obstacle for many young gamers. While his difficulty and abilities have varied over time, Goro’s inclusion in mainlineMortal Kombattitles is often accompanied by a major story beat or a challenging new moveset for players to overcome.
Within the canon ofMortal Kombat’s narrative, Goro boasts a similarly intimidating history. The character is introduced in the original title as the undefeated champion of theMortal Kombattournament, having dominated all opponents for the last 500 years. Following his defeat by the player, Prince Goro turned his attention towards leading his people to victory over the Centaurians and Princess Kitana, eventually allying the two races against the remains of Shao Khan’s army.
Inthe Alternate Timeline, Goro is restored to his role as Champion of the Mortal Kombat Tournament. However, this timeline saw the character eventually killed by Kotal Kahn in a spin-off comic book series forMortal Kombat X. The character did not appear as a fighter inMortal Kombat 11orAftermath, but his corpse can be seen on his throne.
Why Goro is Wasted as a Kameo Fighter
Despite being an incredibly iconic member of theMortal Kombatcast, Goro is often overlooked for the series' main roster. Not since 2006’sMortal Kombat: Armageddonhas the character been featured on the base roster at launch. InMortal Kombat 9Goro was restricted tothe Challenge Tower, and inMortal Kombat Xplayers could only get Goro through a pre-order bonus or by purchasing the Kombat Pack DLCs. With his death at the hands of Kotal Khan, the character appeared to be gone for the foreseeable future, butMortal Kombat 1’s new timeline sees the character revived alongside other long-dead characters.
Goro being featured inMortal Kombat 1, but exclusively on itsKameo Fighter roster, is an immense waste of the character’s potential. Each of the previous timelines saw Goro introduced as the strongest opponent that the Mortal Kombat Tournament had ever seen, butMortal Kombat 1’s Goro is a simple combo extender. The implications of this designation seemingly remove Goro from the narrative of Liu Kang’s new timeline, possibly meaning that he will cease to exist moving forward. That said, fans of the Shokan Prince and classicMortal Kombatwill have to wait untilMortal Kombat 1’s release to discover Goro’s fate.
Mortal Kombat 1will be released on September 19 for PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X/S.
