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During development, the team had made extra sprite animations, such as both characters walking onto the screen and bowing before the match. But the animations could not be used because of hardware limitations.
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Sub-Zero's Fatality was inspired by the scene in Predator (1987) in which the Predator rips out the spine of his victim.
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During the early stages of development, lead artist John Tobias had the idea to rotoscope over the motion captured footage of the characters, though the idea was dropped due to time constraints.
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When Mortal Kombat was first tested in arcades, creators Ed Boon and John Tobias never expected anyone to find its fatalities. In an interview, however, Ed Boon said they were discovered by a 12 year old boy on the very first day it was in arcades, and spoke of how the boy spent the rest of the day trying to convince his friends of their existence.
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![Attachment](/media/thumbs/5/11021.gif)
• Goro turning to stone and breaking. This was possibly meant to be used as a dying animation.
• Johnny Cage flipping backwards in the air. He has a similar move in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance and in Mortal Kombat (2011) as a special move.
• Three sprites of Shang Tsung. One is of Shang Tsung laughing, which may have been intended as a win taunt. Another is of Shang Tsung clapping, which may have been intended for the background of the Throne Room stage. Lastly, there is one where he actually uses his sword during combat. Shang Tsung was also originally meant to have a Fatality where he beheaded his opponent.
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![Attachment](/media/thumbs/4/8528.png)
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On The Pit stage, there is a 1 in 30 chance that a secret game over screen will show up. The Game Over screen pans from The Pit stage down to the Pit Bottom stage, showcasing multiple impaled bodies on the spikes on the way down.
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![Attachment](/media/thumbs/3/5113.gif)
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In the games data is an unused message, which seems to greet a number of people. This is likely a sort of "Special Thanks" list that is never visible in the game.
HELLO TO....
MOM
FRANK
SONIA
MIKE
EIDIE
TANIA
MATT
FIFA
SEAN
JASON
RAMON
CLARA
DAVE
NIGEL
MARTHA
KENT
CHRIS
MATTHEW
AMY
BRIAN
LESLIE
MOM
FRANK
SONIA
MIKE
EIDIE
TANIA
MATT
FIFA
SEAN
JASON
RAMON
CLARA
DAVE
NIGEL
MARTHA
KENT
CHRIS
MATTHEW
AMY
BRIAN
LESLIE
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Originally, Jax was going to be in the game, going under the name Kurtis Stryker. He was later dropped and replaced with Sonya Blade (who also adopting Jax's backstory) when Ed Boon wanted to add a female player to the then all male cast. Jax would later be made into a character for Mortal Kombat II, where he was made into Sonya's partner. The name Kurtis Stryker was later given to a police officer in Mortal Kombat 3.
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Raiden's look and moves were based on Lightning from the movie Big Trouble in Little China.
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Mortal Kombat is partly responsible for the creation of the ESRB; mostly due to Sub-Zero's head rip Fatality being so violent.
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![Attachment](/media/thumbs/2/2220.gif)
According to Guinness World Records, Reptile is certified as the first ever secret character in a fighting game.
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In the audit menu of the arcade version, there is a useless row of text that says "ERMACS" (which stands for Error Macros) and is listed under "Reptile Battles." Because of this, players thought that Ermac was a hidden boss like Reptile. Ermac became a running joke for the developers, so much so that they even made him a real character for Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, with his BIO saying he was hiding in the first Mortal Kombat.
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Johnny Cage is based on Jean-Claude Van Damme. The creators wanted Van Damme to be in the first Mortal Kombat, but Van Damme was unable to due to his busy work schedule. Johnny Cage's clothes in this game are almost identical to the clothes Van Damme wore in the last match in the movie "Bloodsport", and his Split Punch is taken directly from a move done by Van Damme in Bloodsport. Cage's Nutcracker Split Punch was also inspired by Bloodsport.
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