General Reiko returns in Mortal Kombat 1, and he’s going to bring back memories from the old MK titles. This character was absent in the last three Mortal Kombat games. Some other Kombatants mentioned his name in their dialogues in MK11 and MKX, making fans wonder when Reiko returns. But now that he’s returning to MK1, do you know his backstory? Here, we’ll have a quick review of Reiko’s origin and how he’s returning to the MK series.
Who Is General Reiko?
Reiko is one of the Outworlders, known as the blood god. Before the events of the original Mortal Kombat 1, he sees the downfall of the former Outworld king, Onaga. This leads to Shao Kahn becoming the new leader of this realm, and soon after, Reiko becomes a loyal servant of the new Kahn.
In fact, Reiko is obsessed with Shao’s fighting style and even makes his appearance look like Kahn’s to imitate him. This leads to the events of the first MK games, where Reiko is absent, but he’s serving Shao Kahn as his general. However, after Earthrealm’s victory in Mortal Kombat and the invasion of Shao Kahn, Shinnok, a fallen elder god, makes his return.
During this time, Reiko gets obsessed with the elder god’s power and follows the command of Quan Chi to help Shinnok escape prison. The elder god rises, and Reiko chooses to side with him. However, Earthrealm’s champion, Liu Kang, defeats the sheer power of this elder god, marking the absence of Reiko for many years to come.
Reiko is not seen after the affairs of Mortal Kombat 4 until the event of Armageddon starts. MK: Armageddon had nearly all the Mortal Kombat characters in the MK universe, and Reiko was one of them. This is while the aftermath of this event was the death of all the Kombatants, which led to the reset of this timeline by Lord Raiden.
After the main timeline reset, Reiko is nowhere to be seen in MK9, MKX, and MK11. He is only referenced by other Mortal Kombat characters in these games. And now, with the complete reshaping of the Mortal Kombat timeline, he’s returning with a very different story.
How Does Reiko Return in Mortal Kombat 1
Reiko is seen in Mortal Kombat 1 as an Outworlder. But this time, he’s not trying to imitate Shao Kahn anymore. In fact, Shao is not yet a Kahn in this universe; he’s only a general serving Outworld’s ruler. Reiko is second in command in this timeline, making him a ranked sergeant, obeying General Shao.
In this timeline, there’s no Brotherhood of Shadows to be made by the sorcerer Quan Chi. However, there’s a mention of such a group, and its fighters like Nitara and Havok are seen in the game. Now, while Reiko is back in Mortal Kombat 1, his fighting style is definitely not the same as before. He no longer uses Shao Kahn’s helmet for the attack but still gets the shuriken he used to throw in both MK4 and MK: Armageddon.
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Mortal Kombat 1 is currently available to play on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
