'Mortal Kombat' Bosses Goro and Shao Kahn Will Not Be Playable

Apr 4, 2011 by Anthony Taormina

Mortal Kombat Bosses Not Playable

With NetherRealm Studios’ reboot of the Mortal Kombat series only two weeks away and the roster all but locked up, many might be looking towards the major content of the game to provide their big surprises.

One rumor that has been thrown around recently is that those iconic bosses from the series, Shao Kahn and Goro, might be playable after being defeated. Unfortunately it looks like NetherRealm, at least with this iteration of Mortal Kombat, wanted to stick true to the series’ roots and keep the bosses as purely that.

As fighting game franchises evolved over the years, gamers began to seek out new experiences, experiences that included playing as new characters with each new iteration. One way that a developer could really appeal to their fans is by allowing characters who were once only fightable to become playable. It has worked for a ton of fighting game series including Mortal Kombat.

While we are sure that, if this Mortal Kombat is successful, players will get their chance to once again play as Goro or Shao Kahn, it just wasn’t in the cards this time around. Speaking with Save and Quit, Hector Sanchez revealed that NetherRealm wanted to center the game on the “heroes” of the Mortal Kombat universe.

Obviously characters like Scorpion might not be labeled as heroes, but they are the fighters through which the player experiences the Mortal Kombat tournament storyline. On the other hand, characters like Goro and Shao Kahn, serve as the antagonists to each fighter regardless of if it’s Sonya Blade or Raiden.

It’s best to think of this iteration of Mortal Kombat as a return to form – NetherRealm trying to recreate that magic that was captured all those years ago. Sure, there are characters from the game’s recent past that are making appearances, but there is a lot of classic content debuting in a new form as well.

Mortal Kombat - Goro

Gamers still have plenty of content, both new and old, to look forward to in this Mortal Kombat and perhaps even a future DLC character pack could introduce Shao Kahn and Goro, if the first DLC is successful.

Are you sad to hear that neither Goro nor Shao Kahn, two iconic bosses from Mortal Kombat, will be playable? Do you hope to see them as playable fighters for NetherRealm’s next Mortal Kombat title?