Motaro is a centaur-like creature and a character from the Mortal Kombat franchise. He and his race of Centaurians hail from Outworld and serve Shao Kahn as hunters and warriors. Motaro himself commanded Kahn's extermination squads during the invasion of Earthrealm and personally slew the Earth warrior Johnny Cage, but he failed to stop Raiden's other champions from besting Shao Kahn and reversing the merger of Earthrealm and Outworld.
At an unknown point between the events of Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Motaro and his entire race were afflicted with a curse by their long-time enemies, the Shokan. This curse transformed the Centaurians into bipedal minotaurs and gave them another reason to despise the Shokan even more.
With four legs or two, Motaro still proved to be a lethal opponent during the Battle of Armageddon. However, like most of the kombatants, he too perished.
In the Mortal Kombat (2011) game, Raiden altered the course of history by sending a message to his past self. In this alternate timeline, Raiden killed Motaro during the Outworld invasion.
Abilities
- Brute Strength - Motaro is one of the strongest characters in the MK franchise. He can send most opponents flying with a single punch or kick and projectile attacks usually bounce off him. His charging attacks are particularly devastating.
- Tail - Motaro possesses a long, coiling tail that ends with a razor-sharp tip. As well as using it to trip or slash opponents, he can also use it to cast magical energy blasts.
- Teleportation - Motaro can teleport to avoid attacks or ambush his opponents.
Appearances in other media
Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm
Motaro and his fellow Centaurians appeared in two episodes of the Mortal Kombat animated series. In the episode "Skin Deep", he and the Centaurians are guarding an ancient temple where Kitana is being held captive by Rain. Liu Kang and Kurtis Stryker scale the walls of the temple before fighting Motaro and his warriors on a balcony. The battle goes poorly for the Centaurians as they are all sent falling off the balcony.
In the series' final episode "Overthrown", Motaro and the Centaurians defend Shao Kahn's palace when Kitana, Shang Tsung and the Shokan threaten to dethrone him.
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
In the sequel to the live-action film, Motaro serves as one of Shao Kahn's lieutenants during the invasion of Earthrealm. He is portrayed by former American Gladiators star Deron McBee.
In the film, Motaro is a proud and boastful warrior who competes with Shao Kahn's other lieutenants over how many humans they can slay. He joins Kahn, Sindel and Ermac during the film's final battle, taking on the cybernetically modified Jax Briggs. He severely damages Jax's strength-enhancing armatures, but Jax removes them and realises he can fight just fine without them. With his confidence restored, Jax easily manages to defeat Motaro.
Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge
A Centaurian who may or may not be Motaro appears late into the movie amongst a horde of monsters locked away inside the dungeons beneath Shang Tsung's palace. Kano releases the monsters from their cages to kill Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade, but the two heroes work together to overcome their otherworldly adversaries, defeat Kano and rescue Jax Briggs.
