The Battle of Armageddon was the final event of the original Mortal Kombat timeline. The event was even foreseen and foretold by the Elder Gods among all both mortal and immortal alike who feared the Great Battle that will end all battles, and even all of reality itself. It took place in the southlands of the realm of Edenia as the Apocalypse begins, to decide the fate of the universe. The battle occurred next to the Pyramid of Argus.
History[]
Eons ago, the Elder Gods foresaw that one day Mortal Kombat might give rise to the destruction of all reality as the tournament produced numerous warriors of great power. The kombatants' continued fighting would eventually tear at the very fabric of the realms, unravelling all of creation. The Elder Gods appointed Argus, the guardian deity of the realm of Edenia, the task of preventing Armageddon. Argus and his wife Delia came up with a solution: a contest between their sons, Taven and Daegon. They would race each other to the top of his pyramid and defeat the firespawn Blaze, with the mystical weapons and suits of armour that their parents had given them to find. With Blaze's defeat, depending on which one of the brothers defeated him, not only would they gain full godhood and replace Argus as Protector of Edenia, but the excess energies from Blaze would be absorbed by their armour and either kill or nullify the special powers of the other kombatants, preventing their fighting from tearing the realms apart. Argus created several obelisks for his sons to train in on their journeys, where he and Delia had left their images in.
Taven and Daegon's quest would draw the attention of various figures and directly involve others. With the fate of the universe hanging in the balance, the Forces of Light gathered in order to prevent Armageddon whereas the Forces of Darkness came together in order to claim the prize for themselves. The battle was savage and brutal and each one of the kombatants died struggling to reach the top of the pyramid to confront Blaze. In the end, it seemed that the worst possible outcome would come to pass: Shao Kahn the Konqueror reached the top of the pyramid and defeated Blaze, claiming the elemental's awesome power as his own. Now unstoppable, Kahn destroyed the remaining kombatants and stood ready to conquer all of reality.
The Battle of Armageddon ended with Shao Kahn facing Raiden atop the pyramid after all other kombatants had been killed. Kahn easily beat Raiden to the floor, but before he finally destroyed the thunder god, the crippled Raiden uttered an incantation, allowing him to send a message across time to his past self in the form of visions of things to come as well as the cryptic words "He must win". With this last act, Raiden caused history to follow a significantly different path and the Battle of Armageddon thus never happened.
Kombatants[]
Every fighter that appears between Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon participates in the Battle of Armageddon.
Forces of Light[]
Kombatants who were good-aligned and were fighting to prevent Armageddon.
- Taven - One of the twin sons of Argus who embarked on the quest to prevent Armageddon. He ultimately fails as Shao Kahn defeats Blaze instead.
- Raiden - God of Thunder and Protector of Earthrealm. Though he had been corrupted following his encounter with Onaga, he nonetheless fought alongside his former comrades during the final battle. Before being killed by Shao Kahn, he sends a message to his past self, thereby beginning a new series of events and preventing Armageddon.
- Johnny Cage - Former Hollywood actor turned hero having fought against the forces of Outworld and the Netherrealm in the past. He was decapitated by an unknown opponent.
- Fujin - Elemental god of wind.
- Sonya Blade - A colonel in the Special Forces. She was torn in half by an unknown opponent.
- Jax Briggs - A member of Sonya's Special Forces unit. He wound up being impaled on Hotaru's spear.
- Cyrax - A cyborg ninja formerly of the Lin Kuei but later joined the Special Forces. He is killed by Sheeva who hurls him down from high up on the pyramid.
- Kenshi Takahashi - A blind swordsman with psychic powers. He was killed by Shang Tsung who was disguised as Ermac.
- Kung Lao - A Shaolin warrior monk of the White Lotus Society. He is killed by one of Shinnok's skeletal aberrations.
- Kai - A former member of the White Lotus who had previously aided Raiden in defeating Shinnok's invasion of Earth.
- Bo'Rai Cho - A martial arts master from Outworld and former mentor to Liu Kang and Kung Lao.
- Sub-Zero - Cryomancer and Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei. He dies when Baraka stabs him in the back.
- Sareena - A former member of the demon cult known as the Brotherhood of Shadow who allied herself with Sub-Zero.
- Smoke - A Lin Kuei cyber-ninja who had been reprogrammed by Noob Saibot only to be freed by Sub-Zero.
- Sindel - Queen of Edenia. She is killed by an unknown kombatant who stabbed her with a sword.
- Kitana - Daughter of Sindel and heir to the Edenian throne.
- Jade - Kitana's closest friend and confidant. Believed to have been killed by Tanya.
- Ermac - A being created by Shao Kahn out of thousands of warrior souls. He gained free will following the invasion of Earthrealm and had since dedicated himself to good. He was replaced by Shang Tsung during the battle and most likely killed by him as well.
- Kurtis Stryker - An officer of the New York Police Department who had previously helped thwart Shao Kahn's invasion of Earth.
- Nightwolf - Shaman of a native American tribe.
- Shujinko - An elderly warrior capable of copying the abilities of other kombatants.
- Ashrah - A former Netherrealm demon wielding an enchanted sword.
- Li Mei - Student of Bo'Rai Cho. She was the first to die in the battle, having been impaled by Hotaru.
Forces of Darkness[]
Evil kombatants attempting to seize the power of Blaze for their own self-interests.
- Daegon - Leader of the Red Dragon criminal organisation and one of the twin sons of Argus who embarked on a quest to prevent Armageddon. He ultimately wanted Blaze's power for selfish reasons, intending to conquer Earthrealm.
- Shinnok - Fallen Elder God and ruler of the Netherrealm. It was he who rallied the Forces of Darkness by informing them of the prize. He was unable to participate in the battle directly as he was imprisoned in the Netherrealm but created a clone to serve as his avatar.
- Quan Chi - Demonic sorcerer and former servant of Shinnok. He almost makes it to the top of the pyramid only to be thrown back down by Shang Tsung.
- Shang Tsung - Outworld sorcerer and former advisor to Shao Kahn. He is killed near the top of the pyramid by the zombified Liu Kang.
- Shao Kahn - Emperor of Outworld. He succeeds in reaching the top of the pyramid and defeats Blaze, gaining the firespawn's power. He kills the remaining kombatants and executes Raiden, but not before the thunder god sends a message to himself in the past, thus beginning the events of the alternate Mortal Kombat timeline.
- Onaga - The Dragon King. He attempted to take revenge on Shao Kahn for stealing his throne, grabbing the Konqueror and flying away with him. However, Kahn was able to wrest himself free of Onaga's grasp and most likely killed him.
- Goro - Prince of the Shokan people.
- Kintaro - Shokan general and Outworld gladiator.
- Sheeva - Shokan warrior who is killed by the swordsman Kenshi.
- Kano - Former leader of the Black Dragon crime syndicate. He is knocked from the pyramid by a blow from Shao Kahn's Wrath Hammer.
- Kabal - Leader of the new Black Dragon group.
- Jarek - Former member of the Black Dragon.
- Kira - Earthrealm terrorist and member of Kabal's reorganised Black Dragon.
- Kobra - A street-level thug who was recruited by Kabal for the new Black Dragon.
- Scorpion - Spectral ninja who had sworn revenge against the Elder Gods for resurrecting the Shirai Ryu clan as undead ghouls. He only fought in the battle to kill Taven and Daegon, thereby ruining the Elder Gods' plan to prevent Armageddon. He was impaled upon Sub-Zero's Kori Blade.
- Noob Saibot - A demonic ninja created by Quan Chi. Though formerly a servant, he had used Smoke's nanotechnology to build an army of cyborg demons to help him take over the Netherrealm.
- Reptile - The last of the Saurian race.
- Baraka - Commander of the Tarkatan hordes. He was sliced in half by Kung Lao's hat.
- Mileena - Edenian/Tarkatan hybrid created by Shang Tsung.
- Motaro - A Centaurian afflicted with a curse that transformed him into a minotaur.
- Sektor - Son of the former Lin Kuei Grandmaster and cyborg leader of the Tekunin.
- Reiko - General of Outworld's armies.
- Rain - Edenian warrior with the power to manipulate water. He is also a son of Argus.
- Tanya - Treacherous Edenian warrior.
- Mavado - Member of the Red Dragon.
- Hsu Hao - Member of the Red Dragon.
- Drahmin - Oni Tormentor from the Netherrealm.
- Moloch - Oni Destroyer from the Netherrealm.
- Frost - Former member of the Lin Kuei possessing the same ice powers as Sub-Zero.
- Nitara - Vampire warrior seeking vengeance against Ashrah.
- Havik - Cleric of chaos.
- Hotaru - Captain of the Seidan Guard in Orderrealm.
- Dairou - Mercenary; former member of the Seidan Guard.
- Darrius - Leader of the Seidan Resistance.
Neutral kombatants[]
- Blaze - The fire elemental stationed atop the Pyramid of Argus. If defeated by an opponent, they would gain his godlike power to reshape the realms. It was intended that one of the sons of Argus would gain Blaze's power, but it was ultimately Shao Kahn who won the prize.
- Liu Kang - Shaolin monk and champion of Mortal Kombat. After previously being killed by the Deadly Alliance, Kang's corpse was later reanimated by a corrupt Raiden who sent it on a killing spree. Kang's spirit, after being released from Shang Tsung's body, had found its way to Nightwolf who served as his anchor to the physical plane. Kang's body attacked Shang Tsung on the Pyramid of Argus but would later be destroyed. When Nightwolf was slain, Liu Kang lost his anchor to the physical realm and passed into the hereafter.