Everything in this chapter takes place before the first Mortal Kombat fighting
game. The information in this chapter is almost entirely from summaries in
different MK games. Although MK1 mentioned some of this, the a great majority
came from details provided by MK3, MK4, and the prequel action/adventure game
MK Mythologies: Sub-Zero. Minor plotpoints have also been added to this chapter
by portions of the other games.
0-1-1. Reality consists of many planes.
0-1-2. The elder gods exist in the heavens, watching as worlds are created and
destroyed, governing them with eons of untold wisdom. Examples of such worlds
include the Earth realm and Edenia/Outworld.
0-1-2a. Free-roaming sorcerers are able to travel between the planes of reality
without the elder gods detecting them.
0-1-2b. On the living planet called Earth realm, there are many gods; most of
them exist quietly without interfering with the everyday lives of Earth's
inhabitants, but some of them are appointed by the elder gods to perform
specific tasks. One such god is the Earth's god of thunder, Raiden, who was
appointed by the elders to defend the Earth realm soon after the planet's
creation.
0-1-3. A dead world called the Netherealm is used to contain unwanted spirits.
0-1-3a. The inhabitants of Earth have interpreted the concept of the Netherealm
in many ways, and have referred to it by many names, including Hell, Hades,
Gehenna, and Pluto.
0-1-3b. Netherealm has had many rulers in the course of its existence. Most were
born within its fiery pits, eventually overthrowing their masters.
0-1-3c. Creatures called Oni often reside in the Netherealm as tormentors of
souls who enter. Two notable Oni are named Drahmin and Moloch, who have resided
on the 5th plane of the Netherealm for many years.
0-1-4. Another of the realms that has existed in parallel to Earth is one called
Edenia. It was a civilized living planet similar to the Earth until it was
taken over by a dark emporer named Shao Kahn, at which point it first became
more often referred to as Outworld (0-4-2).
0-1-4a. The Shokan is a race of four-armed creatures who generally reside in a
specific province of the realm of Outworld. Their prince, named Goro, is of
particular importance to the history of Mortal Kombat, but he is not the only
notable Shokan.
0-1-4b. The Centaurians are natural enemies of the Shokan (0-1-4a). Their
rivalry dates back farther than the current members of each race can each
personally remember.
0-1-4c. The Outworld's Nomads are a mutant race who usually wander among the
realm's wastelands.
0-1-4d. The Dragon King has long been a mythological figure from an ancient
time. Evidence shows that he was once a powerful leader of a great undefeatable
army.
0-1-4e. A mysterious elemental named Blaze has long been on a quest through the
Outworld. At one point, an ancient sect of holy men, who served under the
powerful Dragon King at the time, ambushed him and enslaved him. He was then
forced to protect the last known Great Dragon Egg, a duty he has since served
until now, in a time when the Dragon King nothing more than a long-dead
mythological figure (0-1-4d).
0-1-4f. For many years, an Outworlder named Bo'Rai Cho secretly trained warriors
for competition. In his travels to the Earth realm, it is speculated that he
may have actually introduced Drunken Boxing to that planet.
0-2-1. Shortly after the Earth realm was formed, an elder god named Shinnok gave
into greed and false illusions of power. He aimed to take the Earth realm for
himself, so he could rule over it with unmatched power.
0-2-1a. In order to enter the Earth realm without the intervention of the other
elder gods, Shinnok created a sacred amulet that allowed him to do so, but it
could only be created once.
0-2-2. Upon entering the Earth realm, Shinnok met Raiden, god of thunder and
defender of the Earth realm (0-1-2b). Many destructive battles were then fought
between these two deities. This war plunged the Earth into centuries of
darkness.
0-2-2a. With the help of the true elder gods, Raiden eventually emerged
victorious from this war and banished Shinnok into the Netherealm. Shinnok was
then tortured and tormented there for thousands of years since, constantly
looking for a way to escape. He needed a way to regain possession of the amulet
(0-2-1a).
0-2-3. After the great darkness on Earth was lifted, humans were called together
to create a massive temple in the Himalaya Mountains to house the sacred amulet
(0-2-1a). The purpose was to keep the amulet from falling into the wrong hands,
particularly the hands of Shinnok. As long as the amulet remained in the Earth
realm and out of Shinnok's reach, Shinnok would be trapped in the Netherealm
indefinitely (0-2-2a).
0-2-3a. Raiden appointed four guards to protect the amulet, each of them was a
god of one of the four elements: earth, water, fire, and air. They are known as
the four Elemental Gods.
0-2-4. Over the centuries, the stories and legends that were orally passed on
from generation to generation eventually died. The above events (0-2-1 to
0-2-3) were left undocumented except for the creation of a single map, the
sacred Map of Elements. This map told of the great battles between Shinnok and
Raiden, and showed the way to the massive temple in the Himalayas where the
amulet was then being kept. This map was the key to Shinnok's escape from
Netherealm.
0-2-4a. The Shaolin monks discovered the sacred Map of Elements and kept it
hidden within their temples in China. Only a select few, including a Shaolin
monk, (the first) Kung Lao, knew of the map's existence and the story that it
told.
0-3-1. A free-roaming sorcerer named Quan Chi, aware of Shinnok's thousands of
years of sufferring in the Netherealm, struck a deal with the fallen elder god:
Quan Chi agreed to help free Shinnok from his confines and assist him in
overthrowing Lucifer (ruled of Netherealm at the time), in exchange for power
and the position of ruling at Shinnok's side once Shinnok is free.
0-3-1a. Shinnok and Quan Chi waged a war against Lucifer and his minions that
lasted for centuries. Eventually, the war came to an end when Shinnok managed
to viciously slew Lucifer, he then took his seat as the new ruler of
Netherealm. Additionally, as agreed, Shinnok gave Quan Chi the position of
arch-sorcerer to rule at his side in the newly-expanded Netherealm. However, if
Shinnok could somehow escape from the Netherealm entirely, they could rule over
a much larger territory, such as the Earth realm. The only way Shinnok could
have been able to escape and enter Earth realm would have been to regain
possession of the sacred amulet (0-2-1a). Quan Chi then spent centuries making
repeated failed attempts to acquire the Map of Elements (0-2-4).
0-3-2. Since the Netherealm had never been a living planet, Shinnok had nothing
to rule over but a wasteland of fire and brimstone that was inhabited by
grotesque demons. He decided to create a physical world out of it. He
transformed the demons into a form as human as possible and tried his best to
emulate the living planet called Earth realm, which had he wanted so
passionately. But the Netherealm was and always will be a dead world, with its
true form simply being hidden by Shinnok's transformations.
