Mortal Kombat 1 is now out. The good news is that it combines old and new lessons to provide a fighting game experience that most players will likely enjoy. The bad news is that its story is very convoluted and could prove hard to follow. One of the most interesting and complex aspects of the MK mythos has always been Scorpion. Let’s see what Hanzo Hasashi, the original Scorpion, has been up to.
Scorpion in Story mode
It’s strange that Hasashi, one of the most popular characters in the franchise, is absent in the story mode. That’s because MK1 has Kuai Liang, the previous Sub-Zero, taking the mantle of Scorpion. Also, MK1 has a new game mode dedicated just to Hasashi’s story.
Scorpion in Invasion mode
Invasion mode is MK1‘s new seasonal gameplay mode which will bring new updates every six weeks. The new season is all about telling Hanzo Hasashi’s Scorpion, and buckle up because it’s damn wild.
As you may know by now, despite what the name seems to indicate, MK1 is a sequel, not a reboot. MK1 is the sequel not just to Mortal Kombat 11, but to basically every Mortal Kombat timeline in existence.
The constant in Scorpion’s story across all timelines is the death of his wife, Harumi, at the hands of Sub-Zero. In an attempt to break the cycle, Scorpion ventures through the multiverse to find a timeline where he gets to save Harumi. He fails to get to her in time in all timelines except one, but things don’t go well for him there, either. In the only timeline where Harumi doesn’t die at the hands of Bi Han as Sub-Zero, she marries Kuai Liang, the other Sub-Zero who’s now Scorpion. I warned you that this plot is wild.
That sucks, and you just know that the guy known for the phrase “get over here” isn’t about to just let go. Hasashi gives in to rage and sets out to destroy the timeline. Luckily, he doesn’t succeed.
Liu Kang captures Hasashi and decides to give him a fate more constructive than death. He uses his abilities and Kronika’s hourglass to send Hasashi to a timeline that his limited powers hadn’t previously allowed him to reach. In this new timeline, Hasashi finds a version of Harumi who had lost her Hanzo to Sub-Zero, which caused her to become Scorpion. The two Scorpions then bond over their mutual grief and their need to destroy evil via extremely violent means. That’s a recipe for a fighter who is well-adjusted!
You can now choose your fighter on PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.
