After a long period of endless rumors, Mortal Kombat 11 finally confirmed that it would be releasing Kombat Pack 2, which will add new DLC characters to the player's roster of fighters. NetherRealm Studios confirmed that Kombat Pack 2 would introduce three new characters to the game, Rambo, Mileena, and Rain.
Of course, fans of the fighting game genre would be familiar with all of these characters, especially Rambo, given Sylvester Stalone's popular portrayal of the character. Mileena is also a popular Mortal Kombat character, and she has appeared multiple times in the series ever since Mortal Kombat 2. Like Mileena, Rain is also a character in the Mortal Kombat franchise, and he made his debut in the series in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Now, for those interested to know more about Rain's history, here are five things that most players probably don't know about Rain.
Rain's First Appearance Was Meant As A Joke
In older Mortal Kombat games, the developer had a tradition of letting players preview a character, suggesting that they would end up as playable fighters in the future. In Rain's case, he was originally meant to appear in Mortal Kombat 3, and the developer intended him to be a red herring shown in the game's attract mode. A recent interview revealed that Ed Boon himself placed Rain in attract mode to trick players. Since his first appearance, fans searched for him until they realized his status as a joke character. Eventually, Rain made his official debut in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, and his latest appearance will be his return in Mortal Kombat 11 in November as part of Kombat Pack 2.
Rain's Heritage
In the original timeline of Mortal Kombat, Rain was revealed to be the son of Argus, who is Edenia's godlike protector. He was eventually sent away to live with a human general serving in the Edenian army, and he was mostly unaware of his true heritage. Before the first Mortal Kombat game, Rain was smuggled from his homeland by his father when Shao Khan invaded the area.
Eventually, Shao Khan killed Rain's father, and Rain went into hiding for thousands of years before returning during MK Trilogy events. To avoid getting killed, Rain joined Shao Khan's team of assassins, betraying his homeland. After Shao Khan's demise, Rain went into hiding again. Of course, it is interesting to see Rain's return in Mortal Kombat 11 after years of not having him as a playable character.
Rain and Kitana's Relationship
In the animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, it was revealed that Rain was once engaged to Kitana, but he was thought to have been killed in battle against Shao Khan some thousands of years ago. Of course, Rain and Kitana's past sparked jealousy from Liu Kang. Throughout the animated series, Rain eventually betrayed the heroes, kidnapped his former comrade, and swore allegiance to Shao Kahn, given that the emperor showed appreciation of his talents.
It was also hinted during the animated series that Rain was only engaged to Kitana, given her power as a princess. Interestingly enough, Rain and Kitana's past was never hinted at in any of the games.
Rain's Connection With Mary Poppins
Given the violent and brutal nature of the Mortal Kombat franchise, it is unimaginable that one of the game characters would somehow be related to Mary Poppins. In Mortal Kombat Advance, though, Rain's Friendship move may be a reference to Mary Poppins, given that he was depicted flying with an umbrella similar to the English nanny who is "practically perfect in every way."
To the uninitiated, Friendship moves were first introduced in Mortal Kombat 2 to respond to the outrage from the public regarding the gruesome Fatality finishers in the franchise. As the name clearly suggests, Friendship moves allowed characters to perform acts of kindness to their opponents instead of killing them. Friendship moves were also featured in Mortal Kombat 3 and were not used again until Mortal Kombat 11.
Rains Origins Were Modified in Mortal Kombat 2011
It is no secret that 2011's Mortal Kombat served as a reboot of the franchise. Given this, Rain's origin story was heavily altered when he appeared as a DLC character. Although he is still the orphaned descendant of a god, Rain was raised by Edenian resistance fighters who trained him to become an elite warrior. However, as his reputation as a fighter grew, he also became arrogant. After he was denied the leadership of the resistance, Rain betrayed them and joined Shao Khan.
Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate launches November 17 for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.